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Understanding how trigger leads work and knowing your rights under federal law can help you take control of your personal information and reduce unwanted solicitations during what should be an exciting financial milestone.

After you've applied for a mortgage or a loan, you may have seen an increase in mail and telephone solicitations for similar products or services from other providers. You may even wonder how they knew you were currently working through the loan process. Providers such as lenders, credit card companies, insurance or warranty companies purchase your data from a third-party such as the three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - now turning you into what is known as a trigger lead to sell you competitive products or services. These companies do not receive personally identifiable information, just that there has been a recent credit inquiry, which lets them know you may be in the market for their competitive product or service.

Although these offers may seem invasive, trigger leads are legal under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). To avoid receiving these offers, you do have an option to protect yourself going forward but know that when being a customer of First Federal Community Bank, we guard your personal information and NEVER sell your information to third parties. We also do not engage in the business of purchasing these leads to market our lending and credit products.

The FCRA provides you the right to “Opt-Out”, which prevents companies from providing your credit file information. To prevent the trigger leads being sold by the credit bureaus, visit optoutprescreen.com. You can choose to opt-out for 5 years or permanently. The process takes approximately five days to complete, but know it will only be effective for future lead requests. If you’re planning on applying for credit, we recommend opting out one to two weeks before you apply.

To opt-out of unwanted phone solicitations, register your phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry by visiting donotcall.gov or calling 888-382-1222. This should be done one month prior to applying for credit, as it may take a few weeks to process and become effective.

As a customer of First Federal Community Bank, you have placed your trust in us for integrity and accountability. The information you provide to us during the loan process stays only with us.

If you would like more information, please contact us at 330-364-7777.