Opting Out of Consumer Finance Offers

DaveInAZ · ‎04-12-2017

I'm sick & tired of getting a couple offers by mail per week from consumer loan companies, such as Prosper, Lending Club, Best Egg, and lesser known loan companies. They are relentless, especially Prosper, which often sends them twice a week. Maybe I'm over cautious, but I go to the trouble of tearing off my name & address and the pre-approval code and put them in one wastebasket and the rest of the mailing in another to prevent ID theft.

I know the cause of it:

1- My credit reports show over $8k in CC balances. A couple grand of that is PIF monthly usage, but I am carrying nearly $7k in 0% balances from 12 month 0% intro on a new CC and a 0% BT from Cap One.

2- My CR shows a $5k loan from Prosper paid off in 2015, 100% on time payments.

So I've been researching how to opt out. I found optoutprescreen.com, which will let you opt out of all credit & insurance offers for 5 years through all major CRAs, TU/EQ/EX & Innovis (never heard of them), but I really don't want to do that. I rarely get CC offers, and don't want to shut them off - after denying my online app in the fall of 2014 Discover started mailing me pre-approval offers weekly in the summer oof 2015, convincing me they really did want me as a customer (instant approval for $4k, now over $10k). And in December 2015 a local credit union mailed me an offer for a great CC, 10.5% APR, no fee cash advances & BTs, instant approval when I app'd.

I've been Goggling, but I don't see anyway to opt out of just CF loan offers. The offers always direct me to app online, if they came with a biz reply envelop I'd write "Take me off your mailing list, Not Interested!" and mail it back, that worked for AARP. Does anyone have experience with optoutprescreen.com? I do see that you can also opt back in, so I'm thinking of maybe opting out for a year or so until I pay off those 0% CC balances and then opting back in? But since they already have my name & address I'm thinking those offers from Prosper & others will continue for a couple months until they refresh my credit profile and see I've opted out?

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2017

My own personal II (Irritating Issuer) is Discover. I get about 10 letters from them a month. Once every three days on average, though I reply to none of them. I would estimate that I have received 100 letters from them in the last year. It's like they have discovered the Goodwill Letter Saturation Technique -- in reverse.

You aren't crazy for getting concerned. All those preapprovals flying around in the mail increases the chance of identity theft. Netspend used to boldly send me the card itself, with my name on it and all ready for activation -- though I had expressed zero interest in it. Finally I called Netspend and had a mildly heated conversation with a CSR about it. I explained why these offers were unwanted and indeed put me at risk. She meekly explained there was nothing she could do because it was a different department (the one that handles marketing) -- but perhaps the heated nature of my remarks somehow got through to the right people, because I haven't heard from them since.

I wonder if that might work for you. Just through the offers in a desk drawer and once a month call any of them that you have received multiple offers from. Tell them that the letters put you at risk and make you really hate the lender. Ask if there is any way they can communicate your desire to stop.

The thing I hate the most is when issuers with whom I do have cards send me cash advance checks. I'd hate those letters to get misdelivered.

Anonymous · ‎04-12-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
It's like they have discovered the Goodwill Letter Saturation Technique -- in reverse.

Very true and good reference!

DaveInAZ · ‎04-12-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
My own personal II (Irritating Issuer) is Discover. I get about 10 letters from them a month. Once every three days on average, though I reply to none of them. I would estimate that I have received 100 letters from them in the last year. It's like they have discovered the Goodwill Letter Saturation Technique -- in reverse.

Yeah, Disco can be pretty agressive once they decide they want you as a customer.

I decided to try optoutprescreen.com to stop all CRAs from selling my info to all parties that use them, hope that stops the weekly multiple consumers loan offers. If they don't stop in a few weeks I'll tke the time to call them and tell them to stop, I'm not taking out a 11-12%+ personal loan to payoff a 0% CC balance that I can pay off on my own before the 0% ends.

Half my 0% CC balance needs to be paid off by September, so I'll opt back in then and see if the consumer loan folks figure out I'm not such an easy touch.

RobertEG · ‎04-12-2017

The opt-out provisons of FCRA 604(e) apply to all requests with a CRA for listing of consumers.

It is a general opt-out of inclusion in any listing.

There is no provision for selective exclusion of only certain creditors or certain types of credit transactions.

The CRA software is almost assuredly constructed as a Yes or No block of providing listings.

Selective exclusions would likely be denied, as they are not provided for by statute, and would require implementation of selective automated screening of all requests by type of credit being offered, which would then require each request to also specificy the type of credit that is to be offered. .

andydallas1 · ‎04-13-2017

If it is one particular lender you have a problem with, call them and say "man am I glad you sent me that offer,,I'd lost my job, have no idea how I'm going to live and need as much credit as you will give me",,,,,they won't bother you for a LONG time

RobertEG · ‎04-13-2017

Also, be aware that now that they already have you on their mailing list, opting out will not prevent them from continuing to send unsolicited offers for credit.

Opting out prevents the CRAs from continuing to include your name on listings they send to creditors asking for names and addresses of consumers whose files currently meet specified criteria. If a creditor has your name and address from any other source other than a listing obtained from a CRA, the opt out process does not prevent sending of unsolicited offers for credit.

I would take the suggestion to research the statutes or regs in your individual state for any procedures to formally prevent sending of unsolicited offers for credit or insurance.

They may provide such authority......

DaveInAZ · ‎04-14-2017

@RobertEG wrote:
Also, be aware that now that they already have you on their mailing list, opting out will not prevent them from continuing to send unsolicited offers for credit.
Opting out prevents the CRAs from continuing to include your name on listings they send to creditors asking for names and addresses of consumers whose files currently meet specified criteria. If a creditor has your name and address from any other source other than a listing obtained from a CRA, the opt out process does not prevent sending of unsolicited offers for credit.

I would take the suggestion to research the statutes or regs in your individual state for any procedures to formally prevent sending of unsolicited offers for credit or insurance.
They may provide such authority......

True, I expect to keep receiving offers from consumer finance loans for at least a couple weeks after I opted out the other day, there's sure to be a lag time. But I would think they refresh their list from CRAs at least monthly. I would think the request from CF loan companies to CRAs would be along the line of "send us a list of folks with at least $xxx.xx in CC balances and xxx minimum credit score". If/when someone pays off their CC balance it would be a waste of money to keep sending them loan offers, so I would think they refresh their list on a regular basis. That's why I chose to opt out now, and when I payoff my 0% CC balances I'll opt back in.

And yes, there are sources other than CRAs that direct marketers use. But the presence of $7k in CC balances plus a satisfactorily paid off Prosper loan on my credit report leads me to think CRA pre-screen lists is the source of my deluge of consumer finance loan offers.

tacpoly · ‎04-14-2017

I have opted out using optoutprescreen.com when it first became available years and years ago. It took a couple of months for all mailings to stop. I also opted out of any solicitation mailings from my bank and credit card companies. I also opted out of any solicitation mailings from my bank and cc companies. I think it's great!