Mortgage — Rate & Terms Anchoring (Defense + Framing)

Activate when: a borrower anchors on a headline/teaser rate they saw; presenting rate+points+APR trade-offs; competitor 'lowball' quote; 'why is your rate higher than the ad?'. Do NOT activate when: simply disclosing final locked terms.

Industry front door for anchoring. Adds domain triggers, example, packs only. Parent Process unchanged. Not legal advice. Follow fair-lending and LO-comp rules; do not use framing to steer for your own benefit.

Activate when: a borrower anchors on a headline/teaser rate they saw; presenting rate+points+APR trade-offs; competitor "lowball" quote; "why is your rate higher than the ad?" Do NOT activate when: simply disclosing final locked terms.

Why this variant

The parent anchoring shows a first number silently biases all judgment. Borrowers anchor on advertised rates that hide points/credit assumptions. The LO's job is to re-anchor on total cost/APR honestly and defend against a misleading competitor anchor.

Domain inputs → parent's Process

• Detect the anchor: is the borrower's reference rate net of discount points / specific scenario?
• Re-anchor on the apples-to-apples basis: same points, same lock, APR + total cost over expected tenure.
• Defend: quantify what the teaser omits (points cost, credit assumptions, PMI).
• Never counter-anchor with a number you can't deliver (bait-and-switch = compliance + trust failure).

Worked example

Borrower: "Bank X advertised 0.5% lower." → Re-anchor: that quote assumes 2 discount points and a 45-day lock. On equal points and lock, compare APR and 5-year total cost. Honest re-framing wins without a misleading counter-anchor.

Compliance anchors

• Truthful advertising (Reg N/MAP Rule); fair-lending consistency; LO compensation rule (don't vary comp by terms).

Packs

• Solo LO: apples-to-apples comparison sheet (points/lock normalized).
• Brokerage: competitor-quote decode guide.

Red flags

• Countering with a rate you can't lock (bait-and-switch).
• Comparing rate without normalizing points/lock.
• Framing that steers to higher-comp terms.

Verification

• Borrower's anchor decomposed (points/lock/assumptions)
• Re-anchored on APR + total cost, equal terms
• No undeliverable counter-anchor used
• Fair-lending / LO-comp consistency held

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Part of deciqAI Knowledge Skills. Core method: anchoring.

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Part of deciqAI Knowledge Skills — 189 open-source thinking skills that make rigor executable for AI agents. The same skills power every deciqAI agent, which runs them autonomously to operate your company. See it run → https://www.deciqai.com/c/mortgage-rate-negotiation-anchoring · ⭐ Star the repo → https://github.com/deciqAI/knowledge-skills · Contributions welcome.