Step 1 to protect your credit

Stop the Credit Bureaus From Selling Your Name to Lenders and Insurers

It’s free, takes about five minutes, and doesn’t affect your credit score. OptOutPrescreen.com is the credit reporting industry’s official opt-out site for Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion.

Opt Out at OptOutPrescreen.com →

Prefer the phone? Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688).

What opting out does

The credit bureaus are allowed to sell lists of people who meet a lender’s or insurer’s criteria. Those lists become the “pre-approved” credit card, loan and insurance offers in your mailbox. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you can tell the bureaus to stop including you.

Once you opt out, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion stop putting your name on those prescreened offer lists. Requests are processed within about five days, but offers already in the pipeline can keep arriving for several weeks.

Why it matters before you apply for a mortgage

When a lender pulls your credit for a mortgage, other companies used to be able to buy that inquiry as a “trigger lead” and flood you with calls and texts. The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, in effect since March 2026, limits trigger leads to lenders you already have a relationship with or have given permission to contact you. Opting out of prescreened offers adds another layer: it tells the bureaus not to sell your information for those offers at all.

Best time to do it: before you shop for a mortgage, so the opt-out has time to take effect.

Your two choices

  • Five years: opt out online at OptOutPrescreen.com or by phone.
  • Permanent: start online or by phone, then sign and mail the Permanent Opt-Out Election form the site gives you.

You can opt back in at any time through the same site or phone number.

Good to know

  • Opting out is free and does not lower your credit score.
  • You’ll still get offers from companies you already do business with, and offers that don’t come from credit bureau lists.
  • Only use the official site, optoutprescreen.com, or the toll-free number. No one should charge you to opt out.

Your next steps

  1. Opt out at OptOutPrescreen.com.
  2. Check your free credit scores and review your reports for errors.
  3. See your FICO Scores and fix report errors before you apply.

Sources: OptOutPrescreen.com; FTC: Prescreened credit and insurance offers. This page has no affiliate links; we earn nothing from it.