I want to apologize in advance on behalf of all of us in the mortgage industry who care about your home loan experience.
As a result of the start of the Fed rate reduction cycle, over the next few months, you will be bombarded by calls, texts and emails from mortgage industry professionals and their marketing affiliates, trying to encourage you to act now to refinance into a lower rate or purchase a home.
In addition, this same flood of mass solicitations will continue immediately after applying for a home loan in the form of unwanted communications from various credit and lender sources as well.
Basically, you must brace for a perfect solicitation storm due to the combination of the lower-rate marketing fuel provided by the Fed, and something called "trigger leads" which the government has finally made go away.
Recently, President Donald Trump has signed the bipartisan Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 2808) into law, officially curbing the controversial practice of selling mortgage "trigger leads."
The law, which will go into effect March 5, 2026, is "designed to prohibit the abuse of trigger leads, which are when credit bureaus sell a borrower's information immediately after a mortgage credit inquiry."
This is a huge win for consumers to have this practice stop. But up until March 5, 2026, these obnoxious solicitors will continue to aggressively pummel your voicemails and inboxes.
Unfortunately, the mailers that homeowners receive after purchasing a home or after closing of a refinance won't stop.
I'm referring to actual letters in the mail which mislead you into thinking that they came from your loan servicer or the county you live in saying that you need extra insurance or there's a matter of importance you must reply to or a notice of parcel on hold or that you need to purchase other types of financial products or you are suddenly eligible for another deal. It's out of control.
Sadly, in fine print, these are solicitations from sources that are not affiliated with or sponsored by any bank, lender or lending institution. They are causing tons of problems, stress and confusion for homeowners.
Be aware, as always, look for the fine print at the bottom of the page, and do not engage with these scammers.
Brendan McKay, Broker Action Coalition's chief advocacy officer and proponent to eliminate the trigger leads practice, posted "this legislation proves what can happen when mortgage brokers come together to solve a problem instead of just debating it."
He wrote, "it shows what's possible when organizations set aside differences, collaborate on a common goal and demonstrates, at least sometimes, consumer interests can still win out over corporation profits in D.C. and there just might still be reason for hope after all."
Perhaps Brendan can work to eliminate these mailers next.
In the words of John Lennon, "You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us."
And the mortgage world will be as one.