Your Mortgage Application Is For Sale

Your mortgage application is for sale according to the recent article by Kenneth R. Harney of the Mercury News. Mr. Harney says, "When you get a mortgage rate quote or a preapproval, you probably assume that your inquiry with the lender is confidential, right?" Wrong! Your loan officer may be unaware, but behind his or her back key financial details about you and your mortgage needs are being hawked to competing lenders within 24 hours of your credit bureau inquiry. Firms such as Mortgage Inquiry Data of Coral Springs, Fla., offer interested lenders nationwide ``access to everyone in your city who applied for a mortgage loan within the past 24 hours. You can contact these people the next day and offer them a preapproval for a better loan with your company.'' Spokesmen for both Equifax and Experian confirmed that their firms do offer 24-hour ``trigger'' lists of applicants for mortgage credit. TransUnion did not comment on whether it provides overnight contact data. Equifax and Experian insisted that their marketing of overnight mortgage inquiry leads violated no federal or state rules, and is merely a sped-up version of their routine sales of lists for other preapproved offers of credit. He advises that before signing up with a lender who bought your name from an overnight ``lead'' mill, make sure you:

• Check that lender out thoroughly
• Ask for multiple consumer references in your area
• Check with financial regulators to make sure the company has a clean record
• Never deal with people who claim that your local lender suggested they get in touch.

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