FAQs
Do I have to contact all of the records I buy?
If you're purchasing prescreened data, it is required that a firm offer of credit be extended. There are additional guidelines to ensure the offer is compliant with bureau standards. If contact is being made by phone or email, see these additional recommendations.
Can/should records be run through COA if they are prescreened FOC data?
The general rule is that a reasonable attempt must be made to ensure the intended consumer is reached. Change of Address (COA) processing adds an extra layer to ensure the address is correct.
COMPLIANCE
What is the quality of phones?
Phones are DNC-scrubbed but it is the end user's responsibility to make sure. Around 10% of data comes with phones, quality isn't the highest.
Are phones eligible for SMS texting?
Any Text/SMS must still comply with all firm offer requirements as a direct mail piece/telemarketing call or email would, including being addressed only to the consumer to which the offer applies and having the full Opt Out notifications. Additionally, if the text/SMS is not delivered, the lender must follow up with another method of ensuring delivery of the firm offer of credit. The majority of phones received with the data will be landlines, which greatly diminishes the opportunity of SMS texting.
What is the quality of emails?
Around 15-25% of data comes with emails. They run validation on the emails, so the quantity may be lower once emails that failed validation are removed.
What if the email or phone is bad for prescreened data?
Because “reasonable” is vague legally, we always advise consulting with internal legal counsel to ensure clients are abiding by the FCRA regulations and case law. Our view is that reasonable would be at least one email or call. Clients are allowed to call/email/mail the consumer as many times as they want within 60/90 days (whatever is in their Agreement). If the email bounces back or the phone number isn’t valid, the consumer never had the chance to receive/respond to the offer and we would strongly recommend another avenue for delivery.
Can I get the Mortgage Date in date format (mm/dd/yyyy)?
Currently the field for mortgage date is available in a 'months back' output. This can be converted into date format using Excel.
DATA
How long does the mail take to get in-home?
Because Ohio is a centralized location, we see the majority of first-class delivery to be within an average of 3 days, with the west coast ranging from 3-4 days average.
MAILING
BILLING
Why are you charging me tax?
We’re in Ohio, and they require any job that is produced and delivered within the state to be taxed. Since we’re producing the mail pieces and delivering to a post office in Ohio, we’re required to charge tax on them.
