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Protecting Privacy
Recent reports highlight an increase in spam calls and mail over the past several years. By protecting your privacy we can limit spam calls and emails. A new law I helped lead is about to be enacted after passing the House and Senate.
When a homebuyer submits their information to a financial institution for a mortgage or home refinancing quote, their financial institution will perform a credit check. Although these credit checks are essential for evaluating financing options, they can generate a lead that is then sold by other companies, specifically a consumer's contact information and their request for home financing quotes, that vendors use to target potential customers. This transaction occurs without the individual's consent or knowledge that their personal information was given away.
Reporting has highlighted that after these sales, consumers are often bombarded with calls, texts, or mail from vendors claiming to work for the lender or offering products and services that the consumer had no intention of purchasing.
Current law does not require that consumers opt-in to these solicitations, nor do the existing opt-out regulations cover phone calls, meaning that consumers are left with few options to protect themselves from unwanted solicitations.
Families should be able to prevent their private information from being sold to unaffiliated vendors. That is why I helped introduce and pass the Homebuyers Privacy Prevention Act in the House.
Our bill would require that consumers opt-in to allowing third-party entities to sell their information through the credit reporting process. This ensures that the existing loopholes enabling bad actors to spam homebuyers' phones and mailboxes with unwanted solicitations are removed.
The President is expected to sign this new law in the coming days.
Answering Your Questions
One of my top priorities is being available and accessible.
My priority continues to be engaging directly with you. Over the last week, I held an in-person listening session and a telephone town hall to hear directly from you and answer your questions about the issues that matter most. You can watch the full town hall on CSPAN here.
This includes how Congress is:
Yesterday, I joined Tim Bremel from WCLO in Janesville to discuss the ways we can engage in productive dialogue and how changes in recently passed legislation will impact Wisconsin families. You can listen to our interview and how I am working for our community here.
On Sunday, I will join UpFront on WISN 12 to discuss my work in Congress and the importance of remaining open and accessible. Our conversation will air live Sunday at 9am. You can watch our interview live or later that day at the link here.
As always, if you have any questions or need assistance with a federal agency, do not hesitate to contact my office.
On Wisconsin,
Bryan Steil
Member of Congress
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