On March 17, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little accomplished what the national mortgage trade associations have repeatedly failed to do—passing a law that restricts the distribution and use of mortgage trigger leads and shields in-state homebuyers from being inundated with credit solicitations.
Gov. Little (R-ID) successfully passed House Bill 149 (HB 149) under a new section titled “Consumer Privacy in Mortgage Applications” to the Idaho Residential Mortgage Practices Act, placing restrictions on how mortgage trigger leads can be used and which companies are authorized to use them. The new provisions are expected to go into effect July 1, 2025.
The term "mortgage trigger lead" is defined in the bill as “a consumer report obtained pursuant to section 604(c)(1)(B) of the fair credit reporting act, U.S.C. 1681b, where the issuance of the report is triggered by an inquiry made with a consumer reporting agency in response to an application for credit.”
However it does not include “a consumer report obtained by a lender or servicer that holds or services existing indebtedness of the applicant who is the subject of the report.”
Idaho legislatures require clear disclosures from companies purchasing and using trigger leads on how they obtained consumer information and must clarify that they have no affiliation with the original lender.
Additionally, the law mandates full compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (FCRA) pre-screening rules, including the requirement that any outreach must include a firm offer of credit. In other words, companies can no longer use consumer information to mislead or aggressively target mortgage applicants.
The new rules also prohibit companies from soliciting consumers who have opted out of pre-screened offers or who are listed on state or federal do-not-call registries. Violations of the new provisions will be considered violations of the Idaho Consumer Protection Act.
Previously, some of the nation’s largest mortgage trade associations such as the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), National Association of Mortgage Bankers (NAMB), Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA), and the Brokers Action Coalition (BAC), advocated for national restrictions on the distribution and use of trigger leads.
In 2024, the associations advocated for Senate Amendment 2358, put forth by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS), had aimed to broadly limit the distribution and use of trigger leads sold by the national credit reporting agencies (NCRAs), unless the company was given proper consent, originated the loan, or has a current banking relationship with the consumer.
Senate Amendment 2358 used the text of the MBA’s proposed “Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act” which notably stated the restrictions would not apply to “an insured depository institution or insured credit union.”
The bill was included in the the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Fiscal Year 2025 — a budget that Congress must pass each year — leading many in the mortgage industry to believe a ban on trigger leads was imminent. However, the amendment was removed by U.S. Congress in mid-December, sending the associations back to square one.
That is not the first time a trigger leads bill has flopped in U.S. Congress, but MBA’s Chief Lobbyist Bill Killmer had stated that they intend to keep pushing.
“We will work aggressively to advance this needed change to the mortgage credit trigger leads policy with other stakeholders next year,” Kilmer commented after the amendment was stripped from the defense budget. “In the short term, we will be disappointed that consumers who remain vulnerable to trigger lead abuses won’t realize relief heading into the spring homebuying season.”
Although a bill restricting mortgage trigger leads has repeatedly failed at the national level, Gov. Little proves regulation and consumer protection can be enforced at the state level too.
