You shop around, you find a great mortgage broker, and you take the leap and apply. What happens next…
Ring-a-ling!!! You start receiving unwanted spam phone calls and text messages from other mortgage companies with hyper-aggressive sales agents.
Well, that’s annoying.
It’s not SELFi or the Mortgage Lender that’s selling your data, it’s the Credit Bureaus.
Here’s how to put a the kibosh to unwanted spam phone calls after having your credit pulled.
How Credit Bureaus Make Money
Credit bureaus make money by selling the credit reports and credit scores they generate to individuals, businesses, and organizations that use them to evaluate the creditworthiness of consumers.
They also charge businesses and organizations to access the credit reports and credit scores of their customers or employees. This means that the more credit reports and scores they sell, the more money they make.
However, with the sale of credit reports comes the potential for spam calls and unsolicited offers. When a mortgage company runs your credit, for example, they may share or sell your personal information to other companies, including companies that may use that information to make unsolicited telemarketing calls or send spam emails.
Opt-Out with the Bureaus
So, what can you do to stop the flow of unwanted calls and offers? One solution is to opt-out of having your credit reports sold by credit bureaus. Consumers can opt-out by visiting the websites of the credit bureaus and following the opt-out process. Once you opt-out, credit bureaus will no longer sell your credit report to third-party marketers, but they can still share it with other businesses that have permissible purpose.
The web addresses for the three main credit bureaus in the United States to opt-out of having your credit reports sold are:
- Equifax:https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-report-opt-out/
- Experian: https://www.experian.com/opt-out/
- TransUnion:https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze/place-credit-freeze
Please note that opting out of having your credit reports sold will prevent credit bureaus from selling your credit report to third-party marketers, but they can still share it with other businesses that have permissible purpose.
Also, you can place a credit freeze on your credit report by visiting the same links, a credit freeze will prevent credit bureaus from releasing your credit report to any third parties without your consent.
OptOutPrescreen.com
Another solution is to opt-out of receiving pre-approved credit card offers. You can do this by calling or online:
- 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688)
- https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
In conclusion, credit bureaus are essential players in the world of credit, but they also have the potential to be a nuisance with unwanted calls and offers.
However, by opting out of having your credit reports sold and receiving pre-approved credit card offers, and placing a credit freeze, you can reduce or stop the flow of unwanted calls and offers.
Written with the help of ChatGPT.
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