HB240: HB240 Mortgage lenders and brokers; prohibit unfair or deceptive practices in consumer transactions related to mortgage trigger leads

When someone applies for a mortgage, the credit inquiry can generate a 'trigger lead': a consumer report that other lenders can buy and use to cold-call that applicant with competing loan offers, often within minutes of the original application. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.20) that spells out specific ways using trigger leads becomes an unfair or deceptive practice, such as not disclosing you're a different company, not making a real firm offer of credit, contacting people who opted out of prescreened offers or the do-not-call registry, or advertising rates the solicitor knows will later change to the consumer's disadvantage. The bill also amends Georgia's mortgage lender and broker licensing law (O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1013) to add violating this new trigger lead rule to the list of prohibited acts for licensed lenders and brokers, alongside existing bans on extortionate debt collection and falsifying records. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law.

• Creates a new Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-393.20) defining 'mortgage trigger lead' and listing specific practices around its use that count as unfair or deceptive.
• Bans soliciting a consumer with a trigger lead without disclosing in the initial contact that the solicitor is not affiliated with the lender the consumer originally applied to.
• Bans using trigger leads to contact consumers who opted out of prescreened credit offers or who are on the federal do-not-call registry.
• Bans offering rates, terms, or costs the solicitor already knows will later change to the consumer's disadvantage.
• Adds violations of this new trigger lead rule to the list of prohibited acts under Georgia's mortgage lender and broker licensing law (O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1013), making violations punishable under the Fair Business Practices Act.
• Sets the law to take effect immediately upon the Governor's signature or otherwise becoming law.

Licensed mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers operating in Georgia, consumers who apply for home loans and may receive unsolicited competing offers based on their credit inquiry, and the state agencies (such as the Department of Banking and Finance) that examine and license mortgage lenders and brokers.

Consumers who apply for a mortgage often get flooded with calls from unrelated lenders using their credit inquiry data, sometimes with misleading or bait-and-switch offers. This bill gives Georgia regulators a specific legal basis to penalize lenders and brokers who misuse trigger leads this way, adding consumer protections without banning trigger leads outright.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 10-1-393.20 to the Fair Business Practices Act, defining 'mortgage trigger lead' by reference to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and excluding reports from a consumer's own current lender or applied-to lender.
• Section 1 lists four specific unfair or deceptive acts tied to trigger lead solicitations: failing to disclose non-affiliation, failing to make a firm offer of credit as required by law, using opt-out or do-not-call list information, and advertising terms known to later worsen.
• Section 1 states that violating these rules is punishable under the Fair Business Practices Act's existing enforcement provisions.
• Section 2 revises Code Section 7-1-1013 and adds a new paragraph (12) making violations of the new trigger lead rule a prohibited act for licensed mortgage lenders and brokers.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval or the date the bill otherwise becomes law.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-13Effective Date 2025-05-13
2. 2025-05-13Act 177
3. 2025-05-13House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-31Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2025-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)Primary sponsor
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)
• Demetrius Douglas (D, HD-078)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Will Wade (R, HD-009)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 28, 2025

   165 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #121

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2025

   51 yea, 1 nay (3 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #378

• mortgage lending
• consumer protection
• trigger leads
• credit reports
• Fair Business Practices Act