Congress Cracks Down on Spam Offers Targeting Homebuyers

August 5, 2025 — Press Release

Consumer Advocates Celebrate Sen. Reed’s Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, Ending the Sale of Prospective Homebuyers’ Contact Information

WASHINGTON – On Sunday, in a win for mortgage borrowers inundated with spam offers, Congress sent the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act to the president’s desk. The bipartisan bill, led by U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and co-authored by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), targets abusive “trigger leads,” generated when credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) sell prospective homebuyers’ contact information to third-party mortgage brokers, lenders, and other businesses following a credit check for a mortgage– triggering an influx of unsolicited credit offers.

“We are pleased to see Congress work together to protect consumers from a deluge of unwanted, spam credit offers following a credit check,” said Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center. “Once this bill is signed by the President, the personal information of prospective mortgage borrowers will no longer be for sale to the highest bidder.”

The National Consumer Law Center advocated for the bill and joined a broad coalition of consumer advocacy groups and financial trades in support of it. “We thank Senator Reed, Senator Hagerty, Representative Rose, and Representative Torres for their leadership in sponsoring this bill,” said Wu.

The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act will give prospective mortgage borrowers more control over their personal information, dramatically reducing spam calls, texts, and emails from aggressive mortgage companies. 

Senator Reed’s bill will limit the ability of credit bureaus to sell trigger leads to mortgage brokers and lenders when these companies receive a request for a credit report in connection with a mortgage application. This legislation amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to include specific restrictions on the use of trigger leads in residential mortgage lending, with very limited exceptions.

The bill is en route to the Oval Office and will go into effect six months after it is signed. It will prohibit credit bureaus from selling a trigger lead unless a mortgage broker or lender certifies to the bureau that they already have a financial relationship with the consumer, such as an existing mortgage loan or a deposit account. Trigger leads would also be permitted if a consumer affirmatively opts in to receiving them.