Opting Out of Firm Offers

12.17.24

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CFCU

What’s a firm offer?

When you apply for a loan or mortgage with a company, the results of your credit check are shared with other lenders through a credit bureau, resulting in those emails and letters you receive advertising loans that you’ve been ‘pre-approved’ or ‘pre-selected’ for. These firm offers can be helpful to consumers, giving them an easy way to comparison shop, as well as presenting them with offers or opportunities not advertised to the general public.

If your inbox is getting a little too cluttered or you want to be more privacy-conscious, you do have the option to opt-out from these firm offers! Referenced by Experian, Equifax, and the FTC, optoutprescreen.com is a free online service that allows you to opt-out of these firm offers by preventing credit bureaus from sending your information to creditors.

How to opt-out

Opting out is easy! Simply go to optoutprescreen.com and click the blue button at the bottom of the page.

From there you have a few options:

Opt-in: If you want to start receiving firm offers again, you can opt-back in. Keep in mind that if you’ve never opted out, you won’t need to use this option.
Electronic Opt-Out for 5 years: This online option allows you to opt-out for 5 years. Just remember to opt-out again in 5 years if you want to remain off creditors’ lists!
Permanent opt-out by mail: To be permanently opted-out from receiving firm offers, you do have to mail in a printed and completed form available on the website.

Still receiving mail?

While credit bureaus like Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and Transunion will honor the request within 5 days, it may take some time for other companies to remove you from their lists. Often times they have received your information but your offers just haven’t been mailed out yet. Some companies also do not use Credit Bureaus so you may still receive mail from other lists you’re on.