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Nar Threatening To Pull The Trigger On Information Sharing

(Personal privacy has become a primary concern for the United States public in recent years.)

Once the threat of “Big Brother” was established, people everywhere began demanding for privacy to protect their rights.

Credit companies and banks target their customers by offering privacy and security as illustrated by the Capital One commercials.

But what if the American public did not know their privacy was being invaded and worse than that, what if they gave business to the companies that were eliciting their personal information.

Realty Times columnist, Lew Sichelman explains how the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is attempting to put an end to this legal, yet underhanded way of credit companies sharing consumer’s personal information in his November 14, 2006 article, “NAR Fears ‘Trigger Lists.’”

“Real estate brokers and agents are beginning to worry about ‘trigger lists’ being sold by the three major credit repositories to lead generation companies which repackage them for sale to lenders and brokers.”

The NAR has already discussed the issue with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has said the practice does not break any laws and therefore can continue to remain in existence.

But the 120,000 members of the NAR disagree with the ruling and plan to meet with the industry watchdogs (FTC) by year’s end.

The NAR’s primary concern with “trigger lists” is that an agent’s deal can be put on hold or cancelled due to a prospective borrower entertaining offers from a rival company that promises lower rates.

“‘Trigger lists’ are registers of mortgage applicants who have paid lenders to pull their credit reports. Once the repository receives an order, it places the applicant's name on the list with hundreds or thousands of other applicants, and sells the list to other lenders or brokers, who immediately contact people with what are claimed to be better offers.”

“‘It could be a good deal for the consumer because it may be a better loan, but maybe not,” said John Veneris, an agent and the new chairman of the NAR panel.

The lender who contacts the potential borrower after he or she is waiting for a loan to process, has the unfair advantage of knowing what terms the client is about to sign on and then undercut the NAR lender by a point or a lower interest rate. But there may be hidden fees the borrower would not pay attention to if he or she gets caught up in the excitement of saving money right before the loan becomes official.

“The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has raised concerns about the practice. But the Mortgage Bankers Association has yet to formulate a response, which has left some of its own members rankled.”

Other than losing deals, the NAR is concerned about their name and stature being tarnished. Many clients that deal with NAR lenders accuse them of selling their personal information to other lenders. This couldn’t be further from the truth as the information is passed along by the three major credit bureaus when a NAR lender accesses the client’s credit score.

“‘People are always looking for a better deal,’ Mr. Veneris said during a meeting of his committee, noting his fear that borrowers could be preyed upon by ‘the blood suckers of the lending industry.’”

These triggers are causing a lot of pain for all members associated with the NAR. But they plan to aim right back and fight for their clients’ privacy.

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