S1467-119

What This Bill Does

The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to restrict mortgage trigger leads. Consumer reporting agencies generally could not furnish a consumer report to a third party based only on a consumer's mortgage-related inquiry unless the recipient fits a narrow exception.

The allowed exceptions cover parties authorized by the consumer, current mortgage originators or servicers, assignees of existing mortgage loans, and certain depository institutions or credit unions with an existing relationship to the consumer. The bill takes effect 180 days after enactment.

Who Benefits and How

Homebuyers, mortgage applicants, and consumers shopping for residential mortgage loans benefit from more privacy and fewer unwanted solicitations after a mortgage inquiry. Current mortgage originators, mortgage servicers, insured depository institutions, and credit unions with existing customer relationships benefit because the exceptions let them keep using reports tied to existing relationships or consumer authorization.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Consumer reporting agencies must stop furnishing mortgage-trigger reports outside the statutory exceptions. Mortgage lead buyers, third-party marketers, and lenders that rely on purchased trigger leads lose access to many prescreened leads. Compliance teams at credit bureaus and mortgage-market firms must update furnishing rules by the 180-day effective date.

Key Provisions

• Prohibits most consumer-report furnishing based on a mortgage-related inquiry.
• Requires consumer authorization before a third party can receive many mortgage-trigger reports.
• Preserves exceptions for current mortgage originators, servicers, and assignees.
• Restricts depository-institution and credit-union exceptions to existing customer relationships.
• Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act trigger-lead framework.
• Delays implementation until 180 days after enactment.