How to Stop Unsolicited Mortgage Offers

If you apply for a mortgage, your inbox, voice mail, and mail box may fill up quickly with competing offers from other mortgage companies. 

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It’s not Iowa State Bank who is selling or sharing your information. But there is a way you can stop the offers.

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What to Know About Pre-Screened Offers

Creditors – including mortgage companies – are taking advantage of a federal law that allows them to identify potential customers for the products they offer, and then market to them. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know why your application for a mortgage may trigger competing offers, how you can use them to your benefit, and how to stop getting them if that’s your choice.

The unsolicited calls, emails, and letters about competing offers often are called “pre-screened” or “pre-approved” offers of credit. They are based on information in your credit report that suggests you meet criteria set by the creditor making the offer – for example, you live in a certain zip code, you have a certain number of credit cards, or you have a certain credit score. Credit bureaus and other consumer reporting companies sell lists of consumers who meet the criteria to insurance companies, lenders, and other creditors.

When you apply for a mortgage, the lender usually gets a copy of your credit report. At that point, an “inquiry” appears on your report showing that the lender has looked at it. The inquiry indicates you’re in the market for a loan. That’s why mortgage companies buy lists of consumers who have a recent inquiry from a mortgage company on their credit report. Federal law allows this practice if the offer of credit meets certain legal requirements.

Opting Out of Pre-screened Offers

If you don’t want to get pre-screened offers in the mail, you have two choices:

• Opt out for five years: Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT
  (1-888-567-8688). The major credit bureaus operate the phone number and website.
• Opt out permanently: Go to optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) to start the process. To complete your request, sign and return the Permanent Opt-Out Election form (which you get online).

When you call or visit optoutprescreen.com, they’ll ask for your personal information, including your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you give is confidential and may be used only to process your request to opt out.

Requests to opt out are processed within five days, but it may take several weeks before you stop getting pre-screened offers. That’s because some companies may have gotten your information before the site processed your opt-out request.

Opting out will not stop all unsolicited offers of credit and insurance

Calling the opt-out line or visiting the site will stop only pre-screened offers that are based on lists from the major credit bureaus. You may keep getting offers for credit and insurance based on lists from other sources. Opting out also won't end mail from local merchants, religious groups, charities, professional and alumni associations, and companies that you already do business with. To stop mail from groups like these — as well as mail addressed to "occupant" or "resident" — contact each source directly.

Other Opt-Out Programs

DoNotCall.gov – The National Do Not Call Registry was created to stop unwanted sales calls. It’s free to register your home or cell phone number. Go to DoNotCall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236) from the phone you want to register. It can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop.

If you’ve already added your phone number to the Do Not Call Registry and are still getting unwanted calls, odds are the calls are from scammers.

DMAchoice.org – To decide what types of mail you do and don’t want from marketers, register at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) website DMAchoice.org and choose what catalogs, magazine offers, and other mail you want to get. DMAchoice.org will stop most, but not all, promotional mail. You’ll have to pay a $6 processing fee, and your registration will last for 10 years.

DMAchoice.org also has an Email Preference Service that lets you get less unsolicited commercial email. Registration is free and will last for 10 years. To learn more about what options you have for dealing with unwanted email, read How To Get Less Spam in Your Email.

The site also offers options to stop mail from being addressed to someone who’s deceased (Deceased Do Not Contact List) or to a dependent in your care (Do Not Contact for Caretakers List). When you register someone, the person’s name, address, and email will stay on the ANA’s mail and email opt-out lists permanently.

 

This article is from the Federal Trade Commission Website.

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/prescreened-credit-insurance-offers