Earlier this year my husband and I applied for a home mortgage. As part of the application process, the lender we worked with pulled our credit reports, a standard practice for financing requests. Within hours of the credit pull, I was getting calls, texts, and emails from other mortgage lenders with competing offers. How did they get my information so quickly? And how did they know I was applying for a mortgage?  

We learned that while our lender did not share our information, the mortgage inquiry on our credit reports can trigger solicitations. Credit bureaus can legally sell information to third parties who might be interested in advertising to you, especially if you have made a similar credit inquiry. According to the Federal Communications Commission, unwanted calls, and other solicitations like what I experienced are their top consumer complaint.  

The good news is there are options to help reduce these unwanted inquiries. 

1. You can reduce the number of spam calls you receive through the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry. The Do Not Call program gives consumers choices about whether to receive telemarketing calls and report unwanted calls. You can register your phone number at www.DoNotCall.gov.   

2. The Fair Credit Reporting Act provides the option to opt out of offers from creditors or insurers that were not explicitly requested by you, according to their website. To cut down on unwanted texts and emails from creditors or insurers who have accessed your information on a credit report you can visit www.OptOutPrescreen.com. 

3. One additional service is DMAchoice which provides additional opt-out services including email opt-outs, opt-outs for the deceased, and options to opt-out as a caretaker. Visit their website www.DMAChoice.org to request the opt-out.  

It is important to remember that using these tools may not eliminate all unwanted requests but should greatly reduce them and allow you to manage what types of information you would like to receive.  

AgWest Farm Credit will never sell your personal information and take many precautions to protect your privacy.