Why am I getting inundated by calls, texts, emails?
Question of the week: Why am I getting inundated by calls, texts, emails?
Answer: This is a question that has popped recently from people apply for mortgages, and auto loans, after a credit report has been run.
We’ll start with some background to this issue and provide a solution as well.
The background. Most lenders subscribe to a credit company that is approved by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and all major mortgage companies. These credit companies provide credit reporting and scores from the three major credit report providers, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax (the Big 3). These companies have policies, procedures, and other requirements to ensure lenders that the reports being provided are accurate and as provided from each of the bureaus; i.e. no hanky-panky to falsely inflate scores or diminish outstanding credit.
The Big 3 sell data collected from credit reports. The revenue from selling lists for marketing is greater than the revenue they receive from selling credit reports.
When an inquiry is made for Dennis Smith for the purposes of obtaining a primary mortgage to purchase a single family residence with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, that information, plus the contact information required for the report, is automatically transferred to mortgage providers who have paid for this information. The analytics quickly determines the quality of lead Dennis is for a mortgage company and the automatic marketing begins. From as many lenders who have received Dennis’ information that matches their solicitation guidelines.
For many years we, the mortgage originators, have been able to eliminate, or at least greatly mitigate, the follow up solicitation calls going to clients after having pulled a credit report by altering the analytics going into the bureaus with our inquiry.
If Dennis were applying for a very high loan-to-value fourth mortgage on an investment property using alternative financing, there are very few lenders who are paying the credit bureaus for leads matching this type of mortgage client.
As the number of mortgage originations nationwide has declined precipitously, so has the number of credit inquiries for mortgage applicants, so has the number of marketing leads credit companies can forward to those purchasing those leads, so do the number of leads received by companies buying leads that are their primary source of revenue.
The result is the algorithms have been tweaked so that any mortgage inquiry is part of the marketing leads being bought and sold.
Hence, every mortgage inquiry can, and does, generate a significant number of texts, calls, and emails to applicants from companies trying to get their business knowing they are looking for a mortgage.
Since our prior methods for preventing the deluge of unwanted solicitations to our clients have been by-passed, we have a solution—opting out.
This website: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
In less than a minute you can opt-out so your information is not sold whenever there is an inquiry due to your applying for a mortgage, auto loan, student loan, credit card, or other credit that requires a credit report.
There are two options for opting out, a 5-year period, and a permanent period. The permanent opt-opt option states that you must print the form and mail it in. After you click “confirm” another page opens and it appears you are finished, however in the second paragraph, in bold, is a hyperlink to print the form you just completed.
I recommend completing the 5-year opt-out period to get your request in process right away, and then complete the permanent opt-out and mail in the form. Why? Keep reading.
There is about a 5-day period between the time you complete the form on-line and when it will take effect; i.e. if you complete it today and we run a credit report tomorrow there is a very good chance your phone will bing and ring as if your favorite team just won the Super Bowl, for several days.
Whether you are in the market now, or in the near future, for some type of credit, I strongly advise you click the link and opt-out to prevent your personal information being sold without your knowledge.
To schedule an initial meeting by phone or Zoom, click here for my calendar, please feel free to forward to a friend or family member!
Have a question? Ask me!
Colossus. Not the statue in ancient Rhodes, but the roller coaster at Magic Mountain. That was the basic format of the Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) chart this week. The week started with MBS, and therefore rates, just plodding along, gradual climb (downward pressure on rates). Yesterday the Federal Reserve announced a 0.25% rate increase to their benchmark interest rate, and boom—steep, steep climb in the chart (rates drop). This morning we wake up on the West Coast to news from the Labor Department that employers added almost twice as many jobs in January than December and almost three times more jobs than the consensus estimate on Wall Street. Zoom—the cart drops down the huge plunging track on the roller coast that is the MBS market. Rates bounce off yesterday’s low and back to where we were last Friday.
The positive response yesterday was not from the anticipated rate increase by the Fed, but the comments made by Fed Chair Jerome Powell following the announcement. His tone and language was a bit softer than prior announcements, leading investors to think the Fed may stop the systematic rate hikes we have experienced since last March sooner than later.
The negative response today was directly attributed to the job data that was significantly, colossally, outside of expectations. Per the Labor Department, 517,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy last month, almost twice the 260,000 added in January and well above the 187,000 expected additional jobs. The expectations were for the unemployment rate to rise from 3.5% to 3.6%, instead it fell to 3.4%, the lowest since 1966. Layoffs, especially in the tech sector, have been making headlines, however not only did the number of workers spike in January, but the average number of hours increased as well. The Fed has been consistent in saying that they are keying on employment in their fight to lower inflation. Today’s job data puts Chair Powell’s somewhat benign remarks yesterday in the dustbin as it appears the fight is long from over if employers are adding this many jobs and hours when the opposite should be occurring this far into the Fed’s tightening of the money supply and credit markets. Investors reacted accordingly by pushing rates off their lows yesterday, which were close the lowest since September.
Rates for Friday February 3, 2023: The roller coaster for the week is over, please disembark your car knowing mortgage rates are the same as they were last Friday. (I know, poor metaphor…).
FIXED RATE MORTGAGES AT COST OF 1.25 POINTS LOCKED FOR 45 DAYS FOR PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS:
30-year conforming 5.875% Flat
30-year high-balance conforming 6.50% Flat
Please note that these are base rates and adjustments may be added for condominiums, refinances, credit scores, loan to value, no impound account and period rate is locked. Rates are based on 20% down with 740 FICO score for purchase mortgages.
There are many arguments amongst sports fans as to who is the greatest ever. It is challenging for the two major sports because of the length of the histories of major league baseball and professional football. How do we know how Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Bob Gibson would do in today’s major leagues, or Sid Luckman, Jim Brown or Dick Butkus in today’s NFL.
Presenting little argument would be the Tom Brady, who announced his retirement this week, is the greatest playoff quarterback of all time, which leads to someone having to make a very strong argument that he is not the greatest quarterback period of all time.
In Brady’s twenty-three seasons, realistically as in 2010 he was knocked out of the game and season in the first quarter of the first game, he set numerous regular season, playoff and career records. Consider only twenty-two years for his career given 2010.
In those twenty-two years his teams played in fourteen conference championships (64% of the seasons he played). Of those fourteen he won ten (71%), which means he was in ten Super Bowls in twenty-two seasons (45%). Of the ten Super Bowls in which he led his teams, they won seven trophies (70%). Since 2000, (excepting 2010) one-third of the Super Bowls were won by Tom Brady. Of those seven wins he was the MVP in five of them.
Making the Eagles victory over Brady and the Patriots in 2017 all the more wonderful for myself and other fans of the Birds! Which brings up that the only three Super Bowl losses Brady experienced were to NFC East teams. Twice to the Giants and Eli Manning, and the 2017 loss to Nick Foles, and the Eagles.
What an amazing career we have been able to experience. Loved him or hated him, you had to greatly admire him.
Have a great week,
Dennis
Past Weekly Rate & Market Updates can be found on my blog page at my website www.DennisCSmith.com/my-blog
