Denver — U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) celebrated the final passage of the bipartisan Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, which will prevent prospective homebuyers’ personal information from being sold and crack down on deceptive lending practices, dramatically reducing spam calls, texts, and emails from irresponsible players in the mortgage industry. The legislation now heads to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
Specifically, this legislation targets “trigger leads” – a term for when credit reporting agencies sell prospective homebuyers’ contact information to third-party mortgage brokers, lenders, and other businesses following a credit check. Prospective homebuyers, who often have no idea their information was sold without their consent, are then bombarded by solicitations.
“When you apply for a mortgage, credit companies should not be allowed to sell your data to dozens of other lenders without your consent,” said Bennet. “This bill stops that practice and ends the unsolicited spam nightmare that follows every mortgage application.”
“This is a big, bipartisan win for consumers that will halt a flood of unwanted solicitations. Homebuyers going through an already stressful process should not have their private information sold to spammers who then bombard them with unsolicited, predatory offers. Passing this bill is a smart, bipartisan solution to halt abusive trigger leads,” said Reed. “This is a rare data privacy win. The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act will put consumers back in the driver’s seat and help cut down on the spam. It will help reduce predatory practices and provide much needed relief from unwanted calls, texts, and emails.”
The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act will prevent credit reporting bureaus from selling trigger leads to mortgage brokers and lenders when the bureaus learn that a consumer has applied for a mortgage. This legislation will amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to include specific restrictions on the use of trigger leads in the residential mortgage lending space, with limited exceptions for institutions that certify to the credit reporting bureau that they have an existing financial relationship with the consumer. Trigger leads would also be permitted if a consumer opts in to receiving them.
Currently, eight states – Rhode Island, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin – restrict the use of trigger leads in some fashion. Idaho, effective July 2025, and Arkansas, effective August 2025, recently passed trigger lead laws that will soon take effect.
At the federal level, a broad coalition of consumer advocacy groups and financial trades support the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, the American Bankers Association, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the Broker Action Coalition, Community Home Lenders of America, the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), the Consumer Federation of America, and Americans for Financial Reform.
In addition to Bennet and Reed, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tom Tillis (R-N.C.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Angus King (I-Maine), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) cosponsored the bill.
The text of the bill is available HERE.