Yes, credit bureaus do sell your information, and they do it legally. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are for-profit companies, and selling data about American consumers is their business model. Federal law permits most of these transactions, but it also gives you the right to shut down the marketing side of it through OptOutPrescreen.com or by calling 1-888-567-8688.
What the bureaus can sell, who can buy it, and what you can do about each channel depends on the type of transaction. Some you can stop with a single phone call. Others you can’t stop at all, because the law considers them legitimate uses of your credit file.
What the Bureaus Actually Sell
Three channels account for most of the data leaving the bureaus.
Prescreened lists. The Fair Credit Reporting Act lets bureaus give lenders and insurers lists of consumers who meet specified criteria — a minimum credit score, a geographic area, a particular product history. The bureau doesn’t hand over your full report; it hands over a list. The lender then mails you what the law calls a “firm offer of credit or insurance,” meaning if you respond and still meet the criteria, they have to honor it. Every prescreened mailing must include a notice explaining how to opt out.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1022.54 – Duties of Users Making Written Firm Offers of Credit or Insurance
Resellers. Bureaus also sell data in bulk to companies that repackage it for specific industries. Tenant screening firms use it to evaluate renters. Background check companies fold it into employment reports. Debt buyers use it to locate and value accounts. Under the FCRA, a reseller has to verify that each end user has a permissible purpose for the report, certify what that purpose is, and confirm the data won’t be used for anything else.2Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Reporting Act Text – Section 607 Permissible purposes include credit decisions, insurance underwriting, employment screening with your written consent, and government benefit eligibility reviews.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
Affiliates. Each bureau sits inside a corporate family that sells identity theft protection, credit monitoring, and similar products. Related companies can use information from your credit file to market those products, but they have to disclose the sharing and give you a way to opt out of the solicitations.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681s-3 – Affiliate Sharing The bureaus are also classified as financial institutions under Gramm-Leach-Bliley, so they must send you annual privacy notices describing what they collect, who they share it with, and how to opt out of certain disclosures to non-affiliated companies.5eCFR. Subpart A – Regulation S-P: Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Read those notices when they arrive; the affiliate opt-out and the prescreened opt-out are separate.
Mortgage Trigger Leads Are Now Banned
If you’ve applied for a mortgage in the past and were buried in calls and texts from competing lenders within hours, you were the target of what the industry called a trigger lead. When a lender pulled your credit, the bureaus flagged the file as an active mortgage shopper and sold that flag to competitors.
The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, signed on September 5, 2025, ended this. Effective March 5, 2026, bureaus may no longer sell mortgage trigger leads unless the receiving creditor already has an existing financial relationship with you — the current mortgage, a deposit account — or you have specifically opted in.6Congress.gov. H.R. 2808 – Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act
How to Opt Out of Prescreened Offers
The FCRA gives every consumer the right to be removed from prescreened marketing lists. You can pick a five-year opt-out or a permanent one.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports – Subsection (e)
Before you start, have the following ready so the bureaus can locate your file:
- Full legal name, including any suffix such as Junior, Senior, or III
- Social Security number
- Date of birth
- Current address, plus previous address if you’ve moved in the last six months
The five-year opt-out can be completed online at OptOutPrescreen.com or by calling 1-888-567-8688. It applies to all major bureaus, including Innovis, and takes effect within five business days of receipt.8TransUnion. Prescreen Opt Out
A permanent opt-out starts the same way but requires you to print a signed Permanent Opt-Out Election form (the website generates it) and mail it in. Once processed, it stays in effect until you actively opt back in.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports – Subsection (e)
Processing begins within five business days, but expect up to 60 days before offers already in the pipeline stop reaching your mailbox.9GovInfo. Prescreened Offers of Credit and Insurance Keep a copy of any mailed form.
What the Opt-Out Doesn’t Stop
OptOutPrescreen only stops prescreened credit and insurance offers. It doesn’t stop a landlord from pulling your file after you apply for an apartment, an employer from doing so with your written consent, or any other pull that qualifies as a permissible purpose.
A security freeze is a different tool. It blocks new creditors from accessing your credit report altogether, so no one — including you — can open new accounts until you lift it. Placing and lifting a freeze is free, and the bureau must process a phone or online lift request within one hour.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts and Active Duty Alerts A freeze does not stop prescreened offers, because prescreened lists come from a different type of inquiry.11Equifax. 8 Facts About Security Freezes To stop both unauthorized accounts and unsolicited marketing, you need both a freeze and an opt-out.
An extended fraud alert, available to identity theft victims, lasts seven years and automatically removes you from prescreened lists for five years.12Consumer Advice – FTC. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
Opting Back In
If you later want to receive prescreened offers again — shopping for a better credit card rate is a common reason — go back to OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688 and follow the prompts to reverse the opt-out.13Federal Trade Commission. What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance Your opt-out ends once the bureau processes that notification.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports – Subsection (e)
If the Bureau Ignores Your Request
If offers keep arriving well past the 60-day window, or a bureau won’t process your request, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Describe the problem, include key dates and any communications, and attach your opt-out confirmation. The CFPB forwards complaints to the company, and most respond within 15 days.14Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
You can also sue. The FCRA lets consumers recover statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per willful violation, plus actual damages and attorney’s fees.15Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Reporting Act Text – Section 616