Mortgage Action Alliance Call to Action–Urge Elected Officials to Cosponsor H.R. 7297 & S. 3502
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s grassroots advocacy arm, the Mortgage Action Alliance, issued a Call to Action on Thursday, encouraging readers to urge their members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 7297 and S. 3502.
On Feb. 7, Congressmen John Rose (R-TN) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) introduced H.R. 7297, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2024. This legislation–which is identical to S. 3502, as introduced by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) late last year–would eliminate mortgage trigger lead abuses while preserving the use of prescreen reports in appropriately limited circumstances.
H.R. 7297 is a revamped, bipartisan House bill that evolved from discussions regarding separate proposals (H.R. 4198 and H.R. 2656) previously introduced and led by Rose and Torres this Congress. MBA’s statement of support for this latest Rose/Torres bill can be found here.
A consumer reporting agency (CRA) would not be able to furnish a trigger lead to a third party unless: (1) the third party certifies to the CRA that the consumer has authorized the solicitations; OR (2) the third party certifies it has originated the consumer’s current residential mortgage loan, is the servicer of the consumer’s current residential mortgage loan, or is an insured depository institution or insured credit union and holds a deposit account for the consumer to whom the consumer report relates. In short, the bill targets widespread abusive trigger lead practices while preserving the legitimate use of these leads in a narrow set of market-based circumstances.
Why it matters: Since last year, MBA members have worked to build bipartisan momentum–in both chambers of Congress–for legislation to curb the abusive use of trigger leads. The enactment of H.R. 7297/S. 3502 would curb the consumer harm resulting from firms seeking to confuse and/or deceive mortgage applicants by inundating them with phone calls or direct mail solicitations.
What’s next: This recently introduced bipartisan House bill reflects ongoing discussions by Reps. Rose and Torres aimed at advancing trigger leads legislation this year. MBA will continue to work with the House and Senate bills’ sponsors–and policymakers on both sides of the aisle–to advance these bills to the House and Senate floors as soon as possible.
The Call to Action urges individuals to contact their U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators* and ask them cosponsor H.R. 7297 or S. 3502.
For more information, contact Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2936.
To learn more about the Mortgage Action Alliance, Click Here.
*If you’re a constituent of Senator Jim Risch (R-ID), please edit the letter to be under 1400 characters.
