Housing groups are praising the inclusion of the trigger lead bill in the defense spending package
The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2024, a US Senate The bill introduced last December, which focuses on triggering mortgages, is included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025. This is a bill that Congress must pass every year because it refers to laws which specify the annual budget for the US US Department of Defense (DOD).
Organizations including the Association of Mortgage Bankers (MBA) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) are outspoken supporters of such a step. The MBA argued that integrating the bill into broader DOD-affiliated legislation would go a long way toward curtailing the practice of trigger leads that it and other housing groups have called “abuse.”
Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Jack Reed (DI) recently moved to include the bill in the upcoming version of the NDAA.
In a statement released Thursday, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit praised the move by both sponsors and a bipartisan coalition of 40 others in the Senate. He called the NDAA amendment a “carefully calibrated consumer protection amendment” that should be included “as part of the NDAA debate.”
“MBA will continue to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle – including trigger lead reform champions Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) and Ritchie Torres (DN.Y.) – to emphasize the importance of preserving this important proposal during the upcoming Senate debate and eventual NDAA negotiations between House and Senate leaders Senate later this year,” said Broeksmit.
The move was similarly praised by the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA). Its director of external affairs, Rob Zimmer, said the move is the result of years of lobbying.
“The death of SA 2358 would protect veterans, active duty members and other consumers from trigger lead misuse,” Zimmer said. “Reigning on trigger lead abuse is an initiative that CHLA has been leading for almost two years. We urge the House and Senate to forward the conference report to the NDAA and for the President to quickly sign it into law.”
The reactions from the side were also positive Coalition for Broker Action. The BAC was co-founded by former Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) CEO Katie Sweeney and also lobbied for attention to the issue.
“One of the reasons we lobbied for this effectively is because we bring out the unique perspective of the initiator,” said Brendan McKay, BAC Chief Advocacy Officer and owner of McKay Mortgage. “There are a lot of other groups that are great and do a lot, but I’m a loan officer, and I sit in those meetings and take client calls in between. Katie [Sweeney] is a consumer and we bring that perspective, and I think that’s helpful as well.”
A bipartisan group of senators was introduced in December 2023 S.3502which was intended to “amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to prevent consumer reporting agencies from providing consumer reports under certain circumstances,” according to the bill’s language. Reed was the sponsor and Haggerty was the co-sponsor. A US House of Representatives The version serves as a counterpart to the Senate bill and was introduced in the House by Representatives Rose and Torres in February.
The trial is taking place against a tumultuous legislative backdrop. With less than 50 days until the 2024 general election – where the White House and majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are at stake in highly competitive races across the country – Congress faces an October 1 funding deadline.
If no longer-term spending deal or a short-term continuing resolution is signed into law by then, the government will shut down within weeks before Americans go to the polls. The latest spending bill, championed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) failed this week on the House floor and faced a two-pronged reprimand.
