How to Stop Trigger Leads

At my company a BIG topic of discussion has been the HUGE INCREASE in calls our clients receive after asking us to order their credit reports. I have been told some people are receiving dozens of calls and emails from other lenders after we ordered their credit report. Why does this happen? The 3 credit bureaus sell this activity of applying for a mortgage to other mortgage companies as a Trigger Lead. And the Federal Trade Commission allows for this to happen as they believe consumers will get more financing options this way. Ugh!

So, how to stop this from happening to you and your clients—
1. Register at www.Optoutprescreen.com as this will stop unwanted solicitations for 5 years. However, you must sign up for this at least 1 to 2 weeks in advance of applying for credit.
2. Sign up on the Do Not Call list at www.donotcall.gov. Signing up this way should take affect within 24 hours, however a borrower may have already been on a different trigger lead list and may still receive calls for another 31 days.
3. We can now order a soft-pull credit report that does not create a trigger lead. But, we can’t pre-approve clients with only a soft-pull credit report. So, we order the soft pull credit report and then have our clients register at one of the 2 websites above and wait that extra time of 1 or 2 days or 1 to 2 weeks.