Privacy Law Library

Consumer Privacy in Mortgage Applications (mortgage trigger leads)

RI Mortgage Trigger Lead Law

Credit reporting · Financial · Marketing

Regulates mortgage solicitations based on 'trigger leads' sold by credit bureaus after a consumer applies for a mortgage. Solicitors must disclose up front that they are not affiliated with the consumer's lender and that they bought the consumer's information from a credit bureau, must comply with FCRA prescreening rules, and may not use trigger leads to reach consumers who opted out of prescreened offers or are on do-not-call lists.

Where
Rhode Island
Citation
R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-9-35
Status
In force
Enforced by
Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (director); aggrieved lenders or brokers via civil action
People can sue
Limited
Penalties
Violations are prohibited acts under §§ 19-4-12, 19-14-26 and 19-14.10-17 (banking regulatory enforcement). The lender or broker the consumer originally applied with may sue for an injunction and the greater of actual damages or ,000 per violation, plus attorney's fees and costs.
Applies to
  • Anyone soliciting a Rhode Island consumer for a residential mortgage loan using a 'mortgage trigger lead' (a prescreened consumer report triggered by the consumer's credit application elsewhere), other than the consumer's existing lender or servicer

What a privacy notice must say

  • In the initial phase of a trigger-lead mortgage solicitation, clearly state that the solicitor is not affiliated with the lender or broker the consumer applied to.R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-9-35(b)(1)
  • Clearly state that the solicitation is based on personal information purchased from a consumer reporting agency without the original lender's knowledge or permission.R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-9-35(b)(2)

Practices it requires

  • Comply with FCRA prescreening rules, including making a firm offer of credit.R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-9-35(b)(3)
  • Do not use trigger-lead information to solicit consumers who opted out of prescreened offers or to call numbers on federal or state do-not-call lists.R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-9-35(b)(4)

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Unverified: Effective date of P.L. 2015, chs. 200 and 202 not confirmed. | The 2025 federal Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, which amended FCRA's trigger-lead rules, may overlap with or preempt parts of this section; not researched.

Research reference, not legal advice.