When a prospective borrower fills out a 1003, their credit gets pulled. When this happens it creates a mortgage credit inquiry event to be flagged on the borrower’s credit record.

The credit bureaus are now making this information available within 24-48hours of the prospect applying for a mortgage.

Where this lead gets its name - trigger data - comes from how you qualify the person you want as a lead. You define the credit, debt, and equity attributes of your ideal borrower, the bureau then builds a model for only those homeowners that fit your EXACT criteria. Only when a prospect that meets your exact criteria submits an app does it trigger the lead being sent to you.

Let's say you’re a  loan officer that specializes in sub prime lending. An example of your target demographic profile might be something like:



There might be 1.2 million people that the credit bureau has records on that fit those criteria. What they do is then build a "watch list" on those 1.2 million individuals that EXACTLY fit your criteria.

When a borrower on this watch list applies for a new mortgage it TRIGGERS the lead. Keep in mind, YOU can set the criteria for anything you want.

If you knew that every person you would talk to about a mortgage this month had applied somewhere else yesterday, do you think you could close more loans?

Sure, you are now in competition with someone else but those are great odds. Remember borrowers welcome competition as it creates better pricing for them. 

You should use that same methodology and mindset to your advantage when using trigger leads.