ARM Reset: What Loan Officers Should Be Doing 12 Months Before Their Client Refinances (Somewhere Else).

Every 5/1 ARM you originated in 2020 is about to adjust in 2025. Every 7/1 from 2019 hits reset in 2026. Every 10/1 from 2017 does it in 2027. These are fixed dates on a calendar. There’s no uncertainty about when they happen.

And yet, roughly 70% of ARM borrowers refinance with a loan officer who isn’t the one who originally wrote their loan. That’s not a competitive market dynamic — it’s a workflow failure. The original LO either doesn’t know the reset is coming, doesn’t have a systematic reach-out, or starts the conversation too late to be the trusted option when the client starts shopping.

Here’s the workflow that flips that 70% into something closer to 50% retention.

The 12-month rule

The single most important timing rule in ARM outreach: start the conversation 12 months before the reset, not 3.

At 3 months out, the client is already in panic mode. They’ve probably seen ads, gotten cold calls from rate-lock salesmen, maybe opened a Rocket Mortgage tab. By then, you’re one of several options — and if your relationship has been dormant for 5 years, you might not even be the first option.

At 12 months out, nobody else is calling. The client isn’t stressed yet. You’re the voice of reason, reminding them what’s coming and what their options are. That positioning is worth a 3× conversion boost vs. the last-minute pitch.

The 12-month cadence that works

Here’s the exact schedule that consistently produces the best outcomes on a jumbo ARM book:

T-12 months: “Heads up, not pressure”

A single, low-pressure note acknowledging the reset is on your radar. No rate quote, no hard sell. Example:

“[Name] — quick heads up, your 7/1 ARM enters its adjustable period in July 2027. That’s still 12 months out, so nothing to do today, but I wanted you to know it’s on my calendar. When we get closer — probably around T-6 months — we should talk through whether to let it adjust, recast, or refinance. Just wanted you to hear that from me rather than a telemarketer.”

Purpose: establish that YOU are the LO on top of this, not a random.

T-9 months: “Here’s the current math”

A check-in with actual numbers. Their current rate, what the adjustment would look like at today’s indices, a first-cut refinance comparison.

“[Name] — following up on your reset next July. Where things stand as of today: your current rate is [X]%. If the ARM adjusts on today’s SOFR + margin, it’d reset to approximately [Y]%. Today’s jumbo 30-year fixed is running [Z]%, which would mean [higher/lower] monthly than either option. I’d suggest we start with a 15-minute call around T-6 to lock a strategy. Want me to hold a slot for that now?”

Purpose: make the stakes concrete. Start a 2-way conversation.

T-6 months: “Lock the strategy call”

The substantive conversation. Usually 20–30 minutes, ideally in person or on video.

Agenda:

• Review current financial picture (has it changed since origination?)
• Model three paths: let the ARM adjust, recast the current loan, refinance into a new product (fixed or new ARM)
• Identify the decision tree: which rate trigger would move them to option B vs C?
• Agree on the communication cadence from here to reset

Purpose: make the client’s decision not a decision at all — they leave the call with a plan that only needs to be executed.

T-3 months: “Triggered execution”

If rates hit the agreed threshold, execute the refi. If they haven’t, reaffirm the plan.

“[Name] — three months out. Rates have [moved X direction] since we talked. Based on the thresholds we set in June, [we should execute / we should hold and let it adjust]. Can we book the application call for next week?”

Purpose: reduce cognitive load to zero. They decided the plan at T-6; now they’re just approving execution.

T-1 month: “Final confirmation”

Final check, final rate lock, final paperwork. This is tactical, not persuasive.

T-0: Reset day

Send a confirmation that the refinance closed (or confirm the adjustment went through if they chose to let it). Anniversary clock starts over for the next cycle.

Why the calendar approach beats the reactive approach

Most LOs find out an ARM is resetting because the client calls them in a panic at T-2 months. At that point:

• The client has already talked to 2–3 other LOs via aggregators
• The time pressure pushes toward the fastest-close option, not the best one
• The LO who was absent for 7 years is now scrambling to justify why they should be hired
• Rates are what rates are — no time to wait for better

By contrast, an LO who has been on the calendar for 12 months owns the narrative, has the trust, and has the client’s full financial picture already loaded. The close-rate differential is real.

The numbers on a 300-client book

A typical jumbo LO working a 300-client book has, at any given time, about 25–35 ARMs across 5/1, 7/1, and 10/1 products in various years of adjustment. At the current rate-environment tempo:

• Without systematic ARM outreach: 30% of those reset-year ARMs refi with you (industry average)
• With the 12-month cadence: 65–75% refi with you

Each retained refi is typically a $3,000–$12,000 commission depending on loan size. The difference on a 30-ARM book is easily $80,000–$200,000 of retained annual refi income — from a workflow that requires roughly 30 minutes per week.

What kills the calendar in practice

Three common failure modes:

1. Data fragmentation. The LO’s books are spread across Encompass (current), Point (legacy from 2015), Calyx (from 2012), Ellie Mae exports, and a folder of PDFs. The ARM dates are buried. Nobody has a single view.

2. No standardized numbers. The T-9 math (“if it adjusts today, your rate would be…”) takes 10 minutes per client to compute manually. Multiplied by 30 clients, that’s 5 hours. The LO does it twice and stops.

3. No accountability. Nobody is checking whether the T-9 message actually went out. The calendar drifts. By Q3, the 12-month cadence is a 6-month scramble.

All three failures are operational, not strategic. The strategy is obvious. The workflow is where it falls apart.

What this looks like with LO Radar

LO Radar consolidates every ARM across every LOS you’ve ever used, maps them onto a single reset calendar, and automates the T-12/T-9/T-6/T-3/T-1 trigger messages. Each message is drafted in your voice with the specific rate math already computed (current rate, projected adjusted rate, current market rate, monthly delta). You approve, send from your own email.

Attribution tracks which trigger messages turned into a closed refi — so you can prove the cadence is earning its keep in dollars, not just activity.

If you’ve got ARMs in your book that you haven’t touched in 3+ years, book a 15-minute demo and we’ll pull a sample of your ARM book into LO Radar live and show you exactly who’s resetting when — with the T-12 message drafted and ready to review.