New privacy law prevents loan marketers from flooding mortgage applicants with unwanted calls and messages.

When you’re in the midst of getting a mortgage, the last thing you want is a deluge of unsolicited emails, texts and phone calls. Yet for years this is what millions of homebuyers have experienced after they applied for a mortgage. Within minutes of a credit check by their chosen lender, marketing calls and messages would begin. Some borrowers would receive 30, 50, even 100 or more calls from lenders they had never heard of. A new law, the Homebuyer Privacy Protection Act, stops the flood of unwanted marketing messages. Here’s a closer look at why the Act was needed and what it does.

Who’s responsible for the unwanted messages?

To understand why the law was enacted, we need to look at how homebuyers’ personal information got into the hands of so many marketers.

When you apply for a mortgage, your lender runs a credit report that is maintained by a credit bureau. The bureaus are companies you’ve probably heard of before: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. When the credit bureaus saw a credit inquiry for a mortgage, they would sell this information, called a trigger lead, along with borrowers’ contact information to companies that manage marketing leads. These are less-familiar names, but you may recognize some: LendingTree, LowerMyBills, Bankrate, QuoteWizard and Smart Financial. Lead companies weren’t the only ones buying borrowers’ private information. Numerous call-center style mortgage shops did the same.

Frustration for homebuyers and mortgage lenders

When buyers’ phones start ringing and their text and email notifications start pinging just minutes after they talk to their lender, many think their lender sold their personal information. The lender did not. Why would they sell their customers’ information to competitors?
Trigger leads were frustrating for homebuyers who already have enough to deal with when getting a mortgage. In some cases, the unwanted calls, texts and emails created confusion. Trigger leads irritated lenders, too, who had to explain they weren’t in the business of selling customer information.

What the Home Buyer Privacy Protection Act does

The Homebuyer Privacy Protection Act restricts credit bureaus from selling consumers’ information after a mortgage lender does a hard credit inquiry, unless they have an existing relationship or the consumer opts in. The law went into effect March 5, 2026.

The law is a big win for mortgage applicants who will receive far fewer spam calls, have more privacy and enjoy a better mortgage experience. It’s also a win for lenders like Consumers because we build our business on referrals, relationships and doing the right thing.

 

All loans subject to approval. Rates, terms, and conditions are subject to change may vary based on credit worthiness, qualifications and collateral conditions.