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Committee advances bill to ban sale of mortgage 'trigger leads'
Summary
House Bill 240 would prohibit sale of consumer contact data generated when lenders pull mortgage credit reports (so-called trigger leads), while allowing original servicers to contact their existing customers; the committee passed the bill by voice vote.
The House Banks and Banking Committee passed House Bill 240, legislation that would restrict marketing uses of consumer data created when a lender pulls a credit report for a mortgage application, commonly called “trigger leads.�
Sponsor remarks framed the bill as a consumer-privacy measure designed to reduce deceptive marketing and unsolicited contact that can follow a mortgage credit pull. The presenter said the legislation would ban trigger leads while preserving the ability of servicers and original lenders to contact their own customers.
The bill sponsor described how a mortgage credit pull can lead credit-reporting companies or lead brokers to sell the resulting consumer contact information to marketers, which can produce misleading solicitations or attempts to steer borrowers into less favorable loans. The presenter said the Mortgage Bankers of Georgia strongly supports the measure.
The sponsor noted the proposal had passed committee unanimously in the previous legislative session but did not advance to final passage. “This is a consumer friendly across the board,� the presenter said, adding he had not received opposition in his discussions and describing the bill as a clarification of best practices to protect consumers from confusing solicitations.
During the hearing committee members asked whether language had changed since last year; the presenter said it was “apples to apples� with the prior version. Representative questions included requests for practical details about the consumer notice the bill would require; the sponsor said the notice would be in a form consumers sign or receive in practice.
Consumer advocate Liz Coyle of Georgia Watch testified in support of the bill and thanked the sponsor for the protections it would provide.
A motion to pass the bill was made and seconded; the committee approved the measure by voice vote. The transcript records the voice approval but does not include a roll-call tally or named vote count.
