Don’t pull that trigger

Trigger leads have hit an all-time high creating challenges and undue stress for our borrowers, and us.?

1. Unwanted Solicitation: When your borrower’s credit report is accessed for a mortgage application, it can generate "trigger leads" that are sold to various lenders. Your borrower will receive numerous unsolicited offers from lenders they did not contact, leading to a barrage of marketing calls, emails, texts, and letters.
2. Privacy Concerns: Borrowers will most likely feel their privacy is invaded. At times leading to you, the originator, being blamed for sharing their information.? Although it’s the bureaus selling your clients’ information. Perception is reality.? Adding an unnecessary objection/challenge for you to work through.
3. Confusion and Stress: The multitude of offers is overwhelming and confusing, making it difficult for borrowers to navigate the process and potentially adding stress to the mortgage process.?
4. Potential for Scams: Some lenders might deceive borrowers with misleading offers or terms that aren’t real. This can create a general mistrust for the mortgage industry as an entirety. ?

There are several steps that we, as lenders, can take

1. Educate Clients:

• Inform clients about trigger leads and how they are generated. Understanding this process can help borrowers anticipate and manage unwanted solicitations.
• Advise clients on how to protect their credit information and privacy during the mortgage application process.

2. Create a systemic Pre-Approval Process around credit:

• Your Pre-Approval process could involve a soft credit check, which does not trigger leads, compared to a hard inquiry that does.? FNMA early assessment will drive a DU recommendation with a single soft pull credit file.? https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/applications-technology/desktop-underwriter-desktop-originator/early-assessment
• Encourage clients to limit their number of credit inquiries to minimize/eliminate a hard pull until needed.
• Encourage clients to use the credit reporting agencies opt-out services. Clients can opt out of receiving unsolicited credit and insurance offers by contacting the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). Opt-Out Website: Clients can visit the official website (OptOutPrescreen.com) to opt out of prescreened offers.? This can take up to 5 days to take effect.? If you’re not using a soft-pull credit in your process.? Have your client opt-out and wait 5 days before running credit.

3. Create a process for when the loan is live:

Once your loan is live a hard pull will need to eventually be done.? If your clients haven’t opted out yet.? This is the time (OptOutPrescreen.com).? You’ve earned their business and poured time into your clients.? Don’t miss this step.

By implementing these strategies, you can help their clients reduce the likelihood of trigger leads and mitigate their effects, ultimately leading to a more streamlined and less stressful mortgage experience.