“There’s even stories of customers receiving calls from other lenders impersonating the lender that pulled their credit,” he said. “It’s just a bad practice. Nobody likes it. Nobody wants it.”
Efforts to rid the mortgage industry of trigger leads
However, efforts are currently underway to rid the industry of this bad practice, with proposed bills in both the House and Senate aiming to regulate the use of trigger leads more strictly. And Green is optimistic about these developments.
“It looks like we’re going to see some improvement there too, like we’re going to make some headway,” he said. “The regulatory situation is not going to get easier. Compliance is hard. It’s all the technology that we employ – to be compliant and meet the regulatory requirements. It’s a significant cost for every lender.”
That financial strain isn’t trivial either. According to Green, lender production expenses averaged $12,485 per loan in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“That’s what it costs the lender to do the loan,” he said. “Of course, the lenders are trying to make money so profit is also included in their pricing. However, that’s the average on the national level – and it’s a significant burden.” And Green’s seen this trend since he began in 1993. Brent works for a bank that specializes in construction loans – leading to a lot of builder relationships.
