Contact past clients who gave marketing consent, whose note rate is above a threshold your loan officers set, who closed long enough ago to make a refinance sensible, and who have no open application, and send in small daily batches. GoHighLevel builds the list from custom fields and releases it with Drip Mode. The bottom line: a rate drop is the one day a year when every past client is a prospect, and the broker who is ready with a clean, consented list reaches them first without sending a message that breaks a rule.
Where the benchmark comes from
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey tracks average mortgage rates weekly, and consumer guides use it to describe how rates move. A broker does not need the survey to decide who to contact, but a published weekly benchmark is a neutral way for a loan officer to say that the market has moved and that it is time to run the list. The rate a borrower could actually get depends on the borrower and the lender, so the text never states one.
The filters, in order
| Filter | Why |
|---|---|
| Marketing consent on file | Texting a promotion needs prior express written consent |
| Note rate at least your threshold above the current benchmark | Selects borrowers a refinance could help, set by the loan officer |
| Closing date at least 12 months ago | Avoids borrowers who recently refinanced; set the period with your compliance officer |
| No open opportunity and no prior refinance in the last 12 months | Avoids contacting someone you are already working with |
| Not on the do not contact list | Respect opt outs across all lists |
Past clients are first party data, so the 2026 trigger lead restrictions do not touch this list. They do mean you should not fill gaps with bought contacts.
Advertising and licensing rules
Mortgage advertising is regulated at the federal and state levels, including what an ad may say about rates and payments, so a compliance officer should approve the wording once and the workflow should use only the approved text. A Wolters Kluwer summary notes that most state licensing laws require the loan originator's NMLS identifier on solicitations, websites, and business cards, so check whether your state requires it in a text or in the link it opens.
Build it in HighLevel
- Add contact fields Note rate, Closing date, Loan type, and Marketing consent, and fill them from your closed loan data.
- Create a Smart List from the filters above, and save the version with the date of the run.
- Add the loan officer's approved text as a workflow with a Send SMS action, the NMLS number if required, and a STOP line.
- Start the workflow with Drip Mode on the action, set to a batch size the team can answer, such as 40 contacts a day.
- When someone replies YES, tag Refinance interest, stop the workflow, and create a call task for the loan officer.
- Add an If/Else so a contact who has an open opportunity is skipped.
- Save the run date on each contact so the next rate drop excludes anyone contacted in the last 90 days.
The text, written out
Sample: Hi Dana, this is Sam at [Brokerage], NMLS [number]. Rates have moved since your loan closed. If you would like me to take a look at whether it makes sense for you, reply YES and I will call. Reply STOP to stop messages. It names no rate, no payment, and no savings figure, because those require disclosures that do not fit in a text.
Worked example
A broker with 600 past clients and consent on file for 55 percent has 330 contactable clients (600 times 0.55). If 25 percent pass the note rate and timing filters, that is 82 clients (330 times 0.25), contacted over two days in batches of 40. If 12 percent reply, that is about 10 conversations (82 times 0.12). Every percentage is an assumption to replace with your own data.
A short history of the rate drop campaign
For years, a refinance wave meant bureau data: lenders bought alerts that a borrower's credit had been pulled and called within minutes. The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, effective March 5, 2026, restricted that sale, so lenders and brokers now rely on their own client lists and consented leads. The old approach was fast and indiscriminate, and the new one is slower and safer. A broker with a clean list of past clients, a saved filter, and a pre approved message is better placed than one with a purchased list.
What to leave out of the text
Leave out the current rate, a payment estimate, the amount a borrower could save, and any claim that the borrower qualifies. Those statements trigger advertising and disclosure requirements that do not fit in a text. The message asks for a reply, and the loan officer has the conversation by phone with the borrower's actual loan in front of them.
How this was handled before
A loan officer sorted a spreadsheet of past clients by rate when the news said rates had fallen, and called until the afternoon was gone. A saved list and a batch limit make the response repeatable, and the consent filter makes it safe.
What to measure
Track clients on the list, messages sent, replies, conversations, applications taken, and opt outs. If opt outs rise above replies, the message or the list is wrong.
Questions people ask
Who should a broker contact when rates drop?
Past clients with marketing consent whose note rate is above the loan officer's threshold, who closed long enough ago, and who have no open application.
Should the text include a rate?
No. Rate and payment language triggers advertising and disclosure rules, so ask for a reply and give the numbers on a call.
Do the trigger lead rules affect past client outreach?
No. Past clients are your own first party data. The 2026 law restricts credit bureaus from selling trigger leads.
To build the list and the batch sender, start a GoHighLevel account here. Smart lists and workflows are shown in our capabilities demo.