Any time your credit is pulled, Consumer Credit Reporting Companies are allowed to add your name to a list that is used by creditors and insurers who might contact you with various unsolicited offers for credit, insurance or other financial products. These are called “trigger leads” because they are “triggered” by hard inquiries, which occur after applying for a loan or credit account. Unfortunately, they often result in an influx of unwanted calls and emails that are annoying and inconvenient.

Opting out of trigger leads

The good news is that you can opt-out to reduce the number of solicitations you receive. It’s recommended to opt-out before applying for a loan, credit card or insurance.

Online: Visit optoutprescreen.com. To process your request, you’ll need to provide your Social Security number, date of birth and name. From here, you’ll find an option to opt-out of trigger leads for either a five-year period or permanently.

By phone: 1-888-5-OPT-OUT

It usually takes around five business days to process an opt-out request, so make sure you allow enough time between opting out and submitting an application. Also, it can take up to a couple of months to stop receiving prescreened offers altogether. This is due to some companies buying your information prior to you opting out.

Do Not Call List: Trigger leads are supposed to be removed if they are on the Do Not Call List. Be sure to add yourself to the Do Not Call List as an added layer to avoid these unsolicited calls.

Online: www.donotcall.gov

By phone: 1-888-382-1222

We hope these steps will provide a stress-free mortgage application process. As always, we are here to help, so please reach out to your loan officer if you have questions or need assistance.