The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2024, a U.S. Senate bill introduced this past December that targets mortgage trigger leads, has been incorporated into the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This is a bill that Congress must pass each year, since it refers to laws that specify the annual budget for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
Organizations including the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) have been vocal advocates for such a move. The MBA argued that the incorporation of the bill into larger DOD-affiliated legislation would go a long way toward curtailing the practice of trigger leads that it and other housing groups have called “abusive.”
Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) recently moved to include the bill in the upcoming version of the NDAA.
In a statement released on Thursday, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit commended the move by both sponsors and a bipartisan coalition of 40 others in the Senate. He termed the amendment to NDAA as a “carefully-calibrated consumer protection amendment” to include “as part of the NDAA debate.”
“MBA will continue to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — including trigger lead reform champions Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) – to highlight the importance of preserving this important proposal during the forthcoming Senate debate and eventual NDAA negotiations between House and Senate leaders later this year,” Broeksmit said.
The move was similarly lauded by the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA). Its director of external affairs, Rob Zimmer, said the move is the culmination of years’ worth of advocacy work.
“The passing of S.A 2358 would protect veterans, active-duty service members, and other consumers from abusive trigger leads,” Zimmer said. “Reigning in abusive trigger leads has been an initiative that CHLA has spearheaded for nearly two years. We urge the House and Senate to pass the conference report to the NDAA and for the president to quickly sign this into law.”
The response was also positive from the Broker Action Coalition. The BAC is co-founded by former Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) CEO Katie Sweeney and also lobbied for attention on the issue.
“One reason we’ve been effective in lobbying for this is that we bring the unique perspective of the originator,” said Brendan McKay, chief advocacy officer for BAC and the owner of McKay Mortgage. “There are a lot of other groups that are amazing and do a lot, but I am a loan officer, and I’m in those meetings and I’m taking client calls in between. Katie [Sweeney] is a consumer and we’re bringing that perspective, and I think that is helpful as well.”
In December 2023, a bipartisan group of senators introduced S. 3502, which was designed to “amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to prevent consumer reporting agencies from furnishing consumer reports under certain circumstances,” according to the language of the bill. Reed was the sponsor and Haggerty was the co-sponsor. A U.S. House of Representatives version serves as a counterpart to the Senate bill, and it was introduced into the lower chamber in February by Reps. Rose and Torres.
The process is taking place against a tumultuous legislative backdrop. With less than 50 days until the 2024 general election — where the White House and majorities in both the House and Senate are on the line in highly competitive races nationwide — Congress faces a funding deadline of Oct. 1.
If a longer-term spending accord or a short-term continuing resolution are not signed into law by then, the government will shut down with weeks to go before Americans go to the polls. The most recent spending bill championed by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) failed this week on the House floor and faced bipartisan rebuke.
