{"id":421099,"date":"2023-12-18T18:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T23:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/?p=421099"},"modified":"2023-12-19T17:45:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T22:45:43","slug":"how-new-fcc-rules-closing-the-lead-gen-loophole-could-impact-mortgage-professionals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/how-new-fcc-rules-closing-the-lead-gen-loophole-could-impact-mortgage-professionals\/","title":{"rendered":"How new FCC rules closing the \u2018lead gen loophole\u2019 could impact mortgage professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Federal Communications Commission<\/strong> (FCC) last week released a new order<\/a> amending its \u201cexpress consent\u201d rules for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which closes the \u201clead generator loophole\u201d used by mortgage professionals to connect with potential business leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loophole allowed those gathering leads to sell to many entities at once, who would then often reach out to that consumer to get their business. The closing of that loophole could have a big impact on the lead generation practices of mortgage professionals, and to get a better idea of the potential impact HousingWire spoke with two subject matter experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Marx is the CEO and co-founder of marketing automation software company Evocalize<\/strong>, and has written on the topic of the new rules on social media as well as speaking about the changes on podcasts including HousingWire Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colgate Selden is an attorney, a partner at SeldenLindeke<\/strong> and has over 20 years of regulatory legal experience in government and as in-house and outside counsel, and also served as a founding member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/strong> (CFPB) as senior counsel in its Office of Regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The potential marketing impacts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The new rule is not likely to dismantle lead aggregators or their businesses, Marx said. However, the lead generation side of the business could likely see major changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think [mortgage professionals] need to keep in mind that the lifeblood of a lot of folks businesses is buying leads from lead portals and aggregators,\u201d Marx said. \u201cWe now have a time clock of about six months. Those portals and lead aggregators are smart and they have a lot of money, so they’re unlikely to go out of business or go away, nor are the leads that they buy. But it’s going to change pretty dramatically, we think, given consumers will now need to consent explicitly to who gets the lead that they opt into.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a loan officer or a real estate agent buying packages of leads, for instance, some packages will change while others will go away, Marx said. Some are also likely to become more expensive, Marx explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who own lead generation portals will certainly react to the adoption of the new rules, but the rules themselves use specific terms that could challenge the ability of lead aggregators to adapt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for what professionals in the mortgage business can do in response to this development, Marx says it comes down to being creative. Individuals who buy leads today may need to develop their own direct lead-generation techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of leads that Zillow<\/strong><\/a> generates in real estate, or that Bankrate<\/strong><\/a> or LendingTree<\/strong><\/a> and all the other mortgage lead aggregators generate in credit-related industries, a lot of them are paid leads coming in through paid channels,\u201d Marx said. \u201cThe people that they reach initially are actually on Meta<\/strong>, Google<\/strong>, TikTok<\/strong> or other online channels and they reach the consumer with a compelling message or some content that resonates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is possible \u2014 and Marx argues, could be required for either individual LOs or their companies \u2014 to perform lead generation in-house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey [may] have to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI think they’re going to have to put these lead funnels in place, otherwise they’re not going to have the leads they need to fuel their business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n