Would it trouble you to know that when you apply for a home loan your personal information is being sold without your knowledge or consent? Personal information about you including your address, credit score, payment history, account balances, and credit limits.

Take the case of Mary S. from Highlands Ranch, Colorado. She bought her home three years ago using an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). As the rate adjustment point approached she knew she had to refinance in order to avoid a significant payment increase. Mary called her local lender who had done a good job with her original purchase loan. Two days after applying with him a strange thing happened. Her phone started ringing - almost endlessly. One mortgage company after another called to offer her a 'better deal' than her local guy was offering. A few of the companies were in Colorado but several others were from out of state.

They all seemed to know quite a bit about Mary. They knew where she lived, who she owed money too, and even if she paid on time. Most amazingly, they also knew that she was presently refinancing her house - even though she had shared this fact with only one other person.

What was going on here? Where were these complete strangers getting her personal information? Did her loan professional sell her out?

It turns out, incredibly, the information was provided by the three major credit bureaus themselves. Not only did the credit bureaus supply the information to these third parties without her knowledge or consent - but they even profited from it.

Welcome to the world of 'Trigger Leads'. They are the latest profit tool used by the three powerful credit reporting bureaus - Experian, Equifax, and Transunion.

Trigger leads work like this: When Mary applied for her refinance loan she authorized her local lender to pull her credit to determine her qualification status - a standard procedure. Once her credit was pulled her credit profile was 'flagged' by each bureau as a mortgage inquiry. Mary's credit profile was then electronically added to a list of other consumers seeking home loans. This list was then packaged up by the credit bureaus and sold to numerous internet-based 'lead brokers' within 24-48 hours of Mary's inquiry. The lead brokers in turn sold this data to various subscribing mortgage companies as 'hot leads'.

All of this was done without Mary's knowledge or consent. It is likely that Mary's loan officer had no idea this was going on behind his back either. Little did he know his competitors were pestering 'his' client just hours after her application with him.

This marketing practice calls into question numerous privacy and ethical issues. The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is trying to get this type of marketing program banned. Roy DeLoach, executive vice president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, recently stated "It's outrageous that simply applying for a home loan should open up a person's sensitive personal information" to unknown, and perhaps unscrupulous third parties.

Until legislation is passed to deter this practice consumers can prevent their personal information from being sold by calling 1-888-567-8688 (1-888-5-OPTOUT) or going to http://www.optoutprescreen.com. The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) has mandated the availability of this opt-out program to consumers.