Opting Out
When talking with a client about doing a mortgage preapproval one of the first things we do in today's world is help the client "opt out" of spam to avoid getting their phones and inboxes blown up when their credit is run.
For those that don't know, a "trigger lead" occurs when a hard credit inquiry (needed for a mortgage preapproval in many cases and always for mortgage underwriting) is made. Credit bureaus sell a customer's data to any and everyone buying it, and in today's ultra competitive market, there are a lot of buyers. You can learn more about trigger leads by clicking here.
For most customers, we have internal preventative steps to avoid the bombardment of spam that comes from trigger leads, but sometimes, customers come to us late in the game needing an approval immediately, and we have to run credit quickly. But, that rush could be avoided if agents add this step as part of their initial customer consultation:
Simply let the customer know how trigger leads work and that no one, short of congress, is going to put an end to them, BUT, they have the option to opt out in advance, drastically cutting down the amount of spam they'll receive. Opting out is a simple 2 minute process that can be done online with a few clicks after visiting optoutprescreen.com.
Visiting optoutprescreen.com, consumers can opt out of receiving "prescreened offers" (aka SPAM) for 5 years with just a few simple clicks. This will stop spam calls and some spam mail from hitting the customer when their credit is run, and doesn't just protect them when shopping for a mortgage - when opening consumer credit, shopping auto loans, and any other instance when a hard credit inquiry is completed, spam will be minimized by taking this step.
If agents offer this tip up front, odds are, by the time a lender pulls credit, the customer will have already spared themselves from tons of spam, and while the customer may not know any better, the agent will have taken action to increase their service level above that of their peers. This should be a step all agents take in informing customers on day 1 of ways to make the process of getting a new home stress free.
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