The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) is expanding its education and professional development offerings as it looks to help members navigate affordability challenges, grow their businesses and prepare for a changing mortgage market.
In an interview with HousingWire, NAMB President Michael Farrell discussed the association’s new Mortgage Originator Resources and Education (MORE) platform, which launched last week at NAMB National 2026 in Las Vegas.
Farrell also outlined the group’s 2027 priorities, including changes to loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs), support for veterans’ home loan benefits and help for brokers to explore business opportunities beyond traditional residential lending.
Editor’s note: This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Sarah Wolak: Reflecting on this past year and after NAMB’s national conference, what are the priorities that NAMB is focused on heading into 2027?
Michael Farrell: It was very fortunate and gracious for former President Kimber White to give me the lane of what we’ve been building for the last eight months behind the scenes as we moved into this transition. Now we can announce what we’ve been building.
We’ve understood that our membership needed more resources and education. If you look at a word that’s used across all the channels in origination and mortgage lending, the word “more” comes up. We’ve used that acronym to create and launch our Mortgage Originator Resources and Education platform.
We announced it on Oct. 17. It is the first time that, as an organization, we have built an interactive daily dashboard for our membership to access resources toward their educational goals, take pathways to sharpen their skills and knowledge, and stay aware of resources available to them, such as our advocacy programs and member benefits.
That is our big priority in my presidency: retooling the three pillars that NAMB has been laser-focused on for 53 years — education, advocacy and member benefits.
Wolak: If I’m a member who logs on to this dashboard, what can I expect to find?
Farrell: Every morning, if you want the latest and greatest news in the marketplace, such as where the bond markets and Treasuries are, we have our calls to action and announcements, such as the president’s executive order that was signed on Friday. Our release letters and the things we’re doing from an advocacy standpoint are available for our members to access immediately.
You need to come in refreshed and retooled every day with the latest and greatest industry news, and that is what MORE provides to our members.
Wolak: What has the feedback been like?
Farrell: It’s been wonderful. It’s a bit of a breath of fresh air. It has been needed for a long time. We need to retool originators in regard to awareness in today’s modern lending environment and for the modern originator. They’re using AI to get information very quickly, but it’s the mortgage professional who’s delivering the solution to the consumer. We want to be that resource to provide that information quickly and then direct the originator toward the solution so they can get that to the consumer.
Wolak: This is just the start of MORE, but do you have any planned launches or goals for the platform in the new year?
Farrell: Great question, and the answer is yes, yes, yes. We’ve had 35 consistent weekly meetings to develop MORE. We now have a MORE committee comprised of all our committee chairs to deliver updates weekly, monthly and annually into this system. This platform will be retooled and refreshed on a weekly basis.
Wolak: You touched on the executive order that came out last week, and obviously that’s something you’re paying close attention to. Do you have any legislative or regulatory priorities that you’re keeping an eye on going into 2027?
Farrell: Home affordability is our top priority, and we’re focused on anything we can do to help. We greatly appreciate what the president did with the executive order to get that initiative started, especially focusing on our veterans and USDA loans by lowering those rates.
We also appreciate the suggestion for the FHFA director that it’s time to look at these loan-level price adjustments, or LLPAs, that are having a major impact on consumers’ affordability when they’re trying to tap into their equity to do a home consolidation.
Those LLPAs are previous administration adjustments that have not been changed under the current administration. Changing them would be very helpful and immediately impactful for consumers who want to access their home equity for debt consolidation. If you look at where those LLPAs are now, a consumer trying to do an 80% cash-out to consolidate debt is facing a 4.75 adjustment to their rate, or an impact to their closing costs, because of those loan-level price adjustments.
Our two priorities are in line with home affordability, which hopefully will have some positive impact from what Director Pulte has promised to do by the end of the year to help consumers.
Another priority is helping our veterans in regard to legislation that’s out there to make adjustments to the funding fees for VA loans, for VA IRRRLs. We’re laser-focused on those two elements — LLPAs and the impact on our veterans’ home loan benefits — as our two key legislative and regulatory priorities.
Wolak: Affordability is top of mind, and so is home equity. Do you see this continuing to be something that brokers and borrowers will focus on in the new year?
Farrell: It is definitely a challenge. At the end of the year, people are assessing their goals and looking toward next year, while also going through the holidays.
We find ourselves, as brokers and independent originators, acting as the debt manager for our clients. They need the help and they want it. They have the equity they’ve earned, but now it’s a matter of what it costs to tap into that equity to create savings and get them into the new year’s budget plan.
It’s not only about the rate, but also the cost of the rate, that you have to take into consideration. That’s where those LLPAs could provide major help to consumers.
Wolak: As affordability remains constrained and mortgage rates are still relatively high, how are you helping brokers remain competitive and grow their businesses?
Farrell: In regard to our membership, we also found that we’re laser-focused on residential lending, and that’s where we’ve been. But NAMB was originally founded on commercial lending, and there are a lot of small businesses and commercial small-business loans. A DSCR loan, for example, is a commercial loan. It’s not regulated on the residential side.
We’re trying to open up pathways and opportunities for our members to look at resources beyond traditional first-mortgage residential lending, including small-business lending and some small commercial channels. We’re finding that helpful for consumers who may want to buy an investment home and use a DSCR loan product that allows them to qualify based on the rental rates of the subject property.
It’s about education and awareness. How can you identify your clients’ needs? When you’re looking at your client’s application, how many of them also have small businesses, in addition to gainful employment with employers?
