[Pages H2876-H2877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HOMEBUYERS PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 2808) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prevent consumer 
reporting agencies from furnishing consumer reports under certain 
circumstances, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2808

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Homebuyers Privacy 
     Protection Act''.

     SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PRESCREENING REPORT REQUESTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 604(c) of the Fair Credit 
     Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(c)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(4) Treatment of prescreening report requests.--
       ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
       ``(i) Credit union.--The term `credit union' means a 
     Federal credit union or a State credit union, as those terms 
     are defined, respectively, in section 101 of the Federal 
     Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
       ``(ii) Insured depository institution.--The term `insured 
     depository institution' has the meaning given the term in 
     section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 
     1813(c)).
       ``(iii) Residential mortgage loan.--The term `residential 
     mortgage loan' has the meaning given the term in section 1503 
     of the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 
     5102).
       ``(iv) Servicer.--The term `servicer' has the meaning given 
     the term in section 6(i) of the Real Estate Settlement 
     Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(i)).
       ``(B) Limitation.--If a person requests a consumer report 
     from a consumer reporting agency in connection with a credit 
     transaction involving a residential mortgage loan, that 
     agency may not, based in whole or in part on that request, 
     furnish a consumer report to another person under this 
     subsection unless--
       ``(i) the transaction consists of a firm offer of credit or 
     insurance; and
       ``(ii) that other person--

       ``(I) has submitted documentation to that agency certifying 
     that such other person has, pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), the 
     authorization of the consumer to whom the consumer report 
     relates; or
       ``(II)(aa) has originated a current residential mortgage 
     loan of the consumer to whom the consumer report relates;
       ``(bb) is the servicer of a current residential mortgage 
     loan of the consumer to whom the consumer report relates; or
       ``(cc)(AA) is an insured depository institution or credit 
     union; and
       ``(BB) holds a current account for the consumer to whom the 
     consumer report relates.''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take 
     effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 4. GAO STUDY.

       (a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall carry out a study on the value of trigger leads 
     received by text message that includes input from State 
     regulatory agencies, mortgage lenders, depository 
     institutions (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit 
     Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)), consumer reporting agencies 
     (as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 1681a)), and consumers.
       (b) Report.--Not later than the end of the 12-month period 
     beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report 
     containing any findings and determinations made in the study 
     required by subsection (a).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Rose) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, before I get to the specifics of this bill, I extend my 
heartfelt gratitude to Congressman Ritchie Torres who has been an 
outstanding co-lead and steadfast advocate for the Homebuyers Privacy 
Protection Act.
  This has been a long journey leading up to today's vote, and I thank 
Representative Torres for his unyielding desire to put a stop to the 
scourge of abusive mortgage trigger leads.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2808, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act will 
literally impact each and every consumer that applies for a mortgage in 
this country.
  Currently, credit bureaus are notified when a consumer applies for 
mortgage financing. That information, which is referred to as a trigger 
lead, is then often sold by the credit bureaus to data brokers and 
other lenders without the consumer's knowledge or approval. Consumers 
are then often bombarded with hundreds of unwanted solicitations.
  The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act would dramatically reduce the 
number of unwanted calls and messages that millions endure during the 
home-buying process.

                              {time}  1745

  The bill prohibits a consumer reporting agency from furnishing a 
trigger lead to a third party unless the consumer has opted in. The 
third party must be a federally insured depository institution, a 
federally insured credit union, or an originator or servicer of a 
consumer's existing mortgage. Agencies can also furnish a trigger lead 
if a consumer has a preexisting relationship with a covered entity.
  Over the years, I have heard from individuals from all walks of life 
about their deep-seated frustrations when it comes to being inundated 
by abusive mortgage credit trigger leads. Being contacted dozens to 
hundreds of times a day after applying for a mortgage is simply 
unacceptable. Many abusive trigger leads occur at nearly all hours of 
the day and night. This is especially true if the trigger lead user 
resides in a different time zone than the individual that they are 
contacting.
  It is also important to note that many of these merciless trigger 
leads come from unscrupulous companies that misrepresent the important 
fact that they are not affiliated with the mortgage company the 
individual initially applied with.
  Another important factor to consider is that when consumers get 
flooded with trigger leads, they often blame their mortgage originator, 
despite that mortgage originator having no role in selling their 
information.
  Just this weekend, my own sister-in-law, who applied for a mortgage 
last week, was inundated with literally hundreds of these contacts, so 
this is very personal to me and my family.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 2808, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection 
Act, and I commend Representatives Rose and Torres for introducing it. 
I thank the sponsors for their good work on this bipartisan bill, and I 
appreciate that the House is taking action to improve data privacy, in 
this case with respect to the mortgage market.
  First, let's discuss, as I think the gentleman has, what a trigger 
lead is. You go to a particular lender or mortgage broker, and you 
apply for a mortgage. You want to deal with that mortgage broker or 
that financial institution. If you wanted to deal with others,

[[Page H2877]]

you would go elsewhere. If you wanted to deal with several, you would 
call several.
  When you seek a mortgage loan, of course the mortgage lender has to 
look at your credit report, so they call Equifax or whoever or email 
Equifax and get your credit report. Then the credit bureau sells that 
information--which you don't want divulged and which the lender doesn't 
want divulged--to other financial institutions without your permission, 
creating a so-called trigger lead. Then, as was pointed out, you become 
bombarded with phone calls, text messages, and other communications 
from rival mortgage loan officers. They may even give you misleading or 
deceptive information.
  H.R. 2808 would curtail this abusive practice, limiting trigger lead 
notifications to a financial firm that a consumer already has a 
relationship with, like their current mortgage lender. If the consumer 
opts in, and you can opt in, then you can have everybody call you.
  Now, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the good work of our 
former colleague Representative Lacy Clay who helped pave the path by 
first introducing a bill to curb abusive trigger leads clear back in 
2020. Representative Clay's original bill didn't have any exceptions at 
all and simply required that a consumer opt in, and if the consumer 
chose not to opt in, their information could not be shared with other 
companies when they applied for a mortgage loan.
  Consumer opt-in is an approach that data privacy advocates prefer and 
one that committee Democrats argued for last Congress when the 
committee considered former Chair McHenry's version of this bill.
  We should put consumers first, put them in the driver's seat to 
control the use, sharing, and selling of their data. This bill gets us 
almost all the way there. It does provide exceptions for those 
financial institutions that you already have a relationship with.
  We are not debating consumer privacy in a vacuum. It is unfortunate 
that Elon Musk and his DOGE minions have had access to data on hundreds 
of millions of Americans. I wish we were here on the floor preventing 
Mr. Musk from getting our personal health records, our consumer data, 
our business records, our Social Security numbers, and our tax data.
  After we pass this bill, I hope that the Financial Services Committee 
would investigate what has happened to consumer protection and what has 
happened to data privacy, particularly with regard to data obtained 
from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Treasury 
Department.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is an important step toward protecting 
consumers from abuse, making sure that the fact that they applied for a 
mortgage with one mortgage company isn't sold against their will to 
every other mortgage company in the country.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close and reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am 
prepared to close after hearing that the other side has no further 
speakers. I yield myself the balance of my time.
  As I have discussed, H.R. 2808 is an important positive step to 
strengthen data privacy for consumers and curb the harmful practice of 
trigger leads, protecting consumers from entities that they didn't want 
to do business with, never sought to do business with, finding out that 
they are applying for a mortgage and then harassing them with a host of 
texts and calls, et cetera.
  H.R. 2808 is supported by a wide range of groups, including the 
National Consumer Law Center, the National Association of Home 
Builders, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and America's 
Credit Unions. The Senate recently passed a nearly identical bill by 
unanimous consent.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
close.
  I emphasize just how much support there is for this legislation. My 
colleague has just enumerated some of that. This month, 43 attorneys 
general and members of the National Association of Attorneys General 
signed a letter supporting this bill.
  Additionally, many organizations, some already mentioned, have come 
out in support of this bill, including the American Bankers 
Association, the Tennessee Bankers Association, America's Credit 
Unions, the Broker Action Coalition, the Independent Community Bankers 
of America, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the National 
Association of Mortgage Brokers.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge each of my colleagues to stand up for every 
future home buyer in their district by voting ``yes'' on H.R. 2808, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2808, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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