How one executive is using those reviews to help first responders manage their financial health
While much has been made about homeowners sitting on mortgages with very low rates from the immediate aftermath of COVID, another segment of homeowners should also be the focus of originators.
Mortgage rates surged as the pandemic ended, and a subset of homeowners now have rates close to, or higher than, current rates. Those homeowners, along with the ones with low-rate mortgages, are sitting on substantial home equity.
One mortgage executive is working to educate homeowners about their financial situation and determine whether it's time to consider a refinance. He’s also working with first responders to educate them on their financial health.
Michael Brennan (pictured top) is the president of Nationwide Mortgage Bankers (NMB). He said that while he usually encourages homeowners to do annual mortgage reviews, some may need check-ins more frequently.
“It's about awareness and checking in,” Brennan told Mortgage Professional America. “So, we're really big proponents of conducting annual mortgage reviews. And at this point, I would even say we're even doing it more because of the volatility in the market. Hopefully, we continue to see rates, long-term, go down. Then there's a need to go in and do a check-in.”
Setting a strike rate
As they conduct these check-ins, Brennan sometimes finds that now isn’t the right time for a homeowner to look at a refinance. He urges originators to set up a future point with that customer when a refi might make more sense.
“Everybody that we sit down with, if there's not something for them today that makes sense, we'll figure out at what point it makes sense?” he said. “What we do is we put something called a strike rate alert. If somebody is at a current rate of 5.75% today, and if rates went down to 5.25%, would that make sense at that time?”
In addition to setting a strike rate, he also sends the homeowner information about their house, including the current value and potential future appreciation.
“We'll put them on a monthly home report,” Brennan said. “The home report, what it does is it shows, ‘This is your current value of your house. Here's the anticipated appreciation over the next five years. Here's how your home has appreciated over the last 20 years. Here's the median household income. I'm just providing them with information at no cost, so it's top of mind for them.”
Working with first responders
Brennan spent time earlier this month in New York, on Long Island, alongside some of the city's first responders. It was part of a program called "Lending to Heroes." Not only does it help first responders understand their financial situation regarding their mortgage, but the program also eliminates all lending fees upfront for first responders. He feels like many of these people don’t get the financial advice they need.
“When I talk about first responders, it's police, it's fire, it's DEA, it's FBI, but it's also EMT, it's also nurses, it's all those that serve,” Brennan said. “Sometimes, some of these groups get looked over. But the key is, where are you pointing them towards to get the right information? I can't tell you the number of times we talked to people who just haven't gotten a mortgage check-up.
“They haven't done a sit-down and said, ‘Let me look at where my current mortgage is. What's my interest rate? What's my payment? How many years do I have left on the mortgage? What do I look like in consumer debt?’”
The consumer debt issue is not only plaguing first responders but also homeowners nationwide. For homeowners sitting on low-rate mortgages but buried in consumer debt, the mortgage check-up can give them an idea of how a refinance might help.
“We’re seeing a lot of people who ended up getting low rates during COVID, and they've not touched the mortgage,” Brennan said. “They're just paying their principal and interest payments. But the challenge is, when you need funds, they go towards credit cards. So we look at their consumer debt. Look at their cars, credit cards, student loans, all these, the average blended household rate is in the low 7s.”
Mark Gelbman of Union Home Mortgage says portable and assumable mortgages could aid affordability, but lender resistance is likely. He stresses that stagnant incomes and zoning limits for manufactured homes remain the core hurdles.https://t.co/BEYnhmnIl4
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) November 15, 2025
Discussing the blended rate with homeowners can show them that now might be the right time for a refinance. Brennan believes the role of the mortgage originator is to be a trusted advisor, providing these answers to homeowners.
“The most important thing we can do is educate them on exploring their options,” he said. “There are so many options, and our goal as a trusted advisor is to lay all those options in front of them and let them pick and choose what's best for them.”
Stay updated with the freshest mortgage news. Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox, and always be the first to know by subscribing to our FREE daily newsletter.
