Sometimes, after knocking on the front door and receiving no answer, it’s OK to try the back. Apparently, this strategy works for moving legislation through Congress, too.
The Homebuyers’ Privacy Protection Act, or “trigger leads bill” (Senate Amendment 3502), has passed through the U.S. Senate with bipartisan approval, and now awaits approval in the House of Representatives.
With tomorrow being the last day Congress holds session before the winter recess, few hours remain for what would be a life-saving show of hands for this controversial piece of legislation.
In a statement released late Tuesday evening, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Bob Broeksmit, applauded Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) for passing the piece of legislation the group “championed to stop the abusive use of mortgage trigger leads while preserving their use in appropriately limited circumstances.”
“We implore the House of Representatives, which has more than 90 bipartisan cosponsors of the bill, to pass it during the remaining days of the current Congress,” said Broeksmit.
Lawmakers and proponents of the bill had hoped trigger lead restrictions would receive a vote after its inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed each year to specify spending for the Department of Defense.
However, the bill was nixed from the NDAA approximately two weeks ago, signaling almost certain death for a bill that advocates across the mortgage industry have pushed hard to pass.
“Absent a House vote this week,” Broeksmit continued, “MBA plans to work aggressively with industry stakeholders and members of the 119th Congress to advance this needed change to trigger leads policy as soon as possible.”
The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) also commended the Senate's bipartisan passage of the reform bill, and urged House lawmakers to follow suit before leaving town for the holidays.
"CHLA has been warning Washington for over two years that this part of the mortgage business needs drastic reform to protect American families from unwanted spam," said the group's Executive Director, Scott Olsen, in a statement. "This is a giant step forward, and we urge the House to do its part to make this reform a reality."
