Lawmakers advance national trigger leads bill

A trigger leads bill on Capitol Hill is moving forward as lawmakers backed the effort to protect the privacy of mortgage applicants nationwide.

The House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday unanimously adopted the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which would prohibit some lenders from contacting borrowers. Consumers and trade groups have derided the trigger leads which stem from a credit bureau selling a consumer’s data when a lender pulls an applicant’s credit report.

The bill, H.R. 2808, was introduced in April by Reps. John Rose, R-Tenn., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., after a similar effort fell short of passage last year. The recent amendment passed with unanimous support and heads to the House of Representatives with a favorable…