What one industry executive believes will be an additional benefit of the bill's passage
While the mortgage industry awaits the final step in the journey of the trigger leads ban bill, industry leaders are speculating on the secondary effects the bill will have on mortgage lending.
After the Senate passed the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, H.R. 2808, this past weekend, the only thing left for the bill to become law is for President Donald Trump to sign it.
And while Trump is expected to sign it into law soon, a few other procedural hurdles remain in the timeline before it is completely enacted in approximately six months.
Jim Nabors (pictured top), president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), said not only will this law be good for consumers, but it will help the overall perception of the mortgage industry.
“The professionalism of our industry is totally misunderstood by consumers, and they're misled by so many different people,” Nabors told Mortgage Professional America. “But taking this huge chess piece off the board will be great.”
Trigger lead scams
Nabors said that while legitimate companies bought some leads, others were purchased by people who had no idea what they were doing.
“Not only did you have the leads being bought by legitimate companies, but then, in many cases, they were giving them to just people that called on the phone and didn't know anything about the mortgage business,” Nabors said. “We're talking about generational wealth here. This is the most important investment that the average American makes, and they need to know that the people who are giving them advice know what they're talking about.”
He noted that many mortgage brokers aren’t just doing one loan for a family, but in many cases will end up closing loans for several family members. Brokers work to build those relationships to keep families coming back for years.
“I don't know anyone in this industry, any mortgage broker or mortgage originator, who's in it just for one loan,” he said. “I'm on the fourth generation of people that I'm making loans to, and you don't get to the fourth generation if you screw around with the first, second or third generation. When great grandpa chooses to do business with you and is now talking to their kid, that's looking to just buy a starter home.”
It comes down to the relationships brokers can build with customers. By building those strong relationships, not only will they gain repeat customers, but they will earn referrals as well. For those simply buying trigger leads, they’re strictly looking at the transactional side of it.
In a tough mortgage market, one Idaho broker sees her clients as "extended family," not transactions, and believes brokers' value is clearer than ever.https://t.co/FFdXmEi5u1
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) August 6, 2025
Nabors said he was even the victim of a trigger lead, which led to a very interesting exchange.
“I think that's what every real, legitimate mortgage broker is looking for is to develop relationships with their borrowers,” he said. “To have someone that just calls out of the blue, in many cases, actually pretends to represent you because they don't know where you work. When I was looking to get a home from my own company, I got a trigger lead by someone who said they represented me.
“They said after reviewing the file, they had a better deal. I was like, ‘Really, does Jim Nabors know about that?’ They're like, ‘You are Jim Nabors.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I'm the originator on the loan,’ but they didn't have that information.”
Cleaning up the industry
Trigger leads have been damaging the entire lending industry, according to Nabors. He mentioned that many people entered the industry during the pandemic, buying trigger leads and closing numerous loans with ease. Without those leads, those shortcuts to new business disappear.
“NAMB’s official position is, if you want to be in the mortgage originator business, join NAMB,” he said. “We have all kinds of education and training classes. Let us help you be better at what you do. The MBA has very similar programs as well.”
Nabors said those brokers will either have to get educated on the right ways to do business, or they will leave the industry. Either way, the industry benefits in the end.
“I think what you're going to see is more people who were buying them, looking to learn how to develop their own referral sources,” Nabors said. “You’re only buying trigger leads because you really don't know exactly what you're doing. You probably got into the business during COVID, when interest rates were at 3.25%, and all you needed to do was know how to answer the phone. Now you actually have to know how to make a loan.
“I know someone who was a Doctor of Physical Therapy, and he got into the mortgage business because a friend talked him into it during COVID. When I talked to him about a year ago, he said, ‘I don't know what to do.’ I said, ‘Go back to being a Doctor of Physical Therapy. That's what you know how to do.’”
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