By JARED WHITLEY
Despite Mat Ishbia’s repeated claims that his company, United Wholesale Mortgage, has never laid anyone off; the facts – and common sense – belie his statement, as UWM’s employee count is down 30 percent over the past two years.
“While my competitors are cutting investments and laying off thousands and thousands of people, we continue to invest in technology, take care of our people, and have never laid off a single team member in our 37-year history,” Ishbia said at a recent webcast townhall.
But, according to the company’s annual report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, UWM slashed its workforce by nearly a third – from a height of 8,600 in January 2021 down to…
By TOBIAS PETER
Last month, at the behest of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises, announced new risk-based pricing guidelines that loosen mortgage credit for higher-risk loans. Since the Federal Housing Administration traditionally serves higher-risk borrowers, this move represented the latest salvo in a renewed battle for such borrowers.
As a response, FHA is rumored to announce today (2/22/2023) a 30 bps mortgage insurance premium cut that will expose taxpayers and not help prospective homebuyers.
The last time FHFA imposed credit loosening on the GSEs in 2014, FHA responded shortly thereafter in kind with a large 50 bps MIP cut. At the time, FHA predicted that this cut would lead to 250,000 new…
By SCOTT OLSON
Recently, Wells Fargo announced it was exiting the correspondent mortgage loan business, eliminating an important execution source for smaller independent mortgage banks that originate FHA, VA, and Fannie/Freddie loans but are not Ginnie Mae-approved issuers or Fannie/Freddie seller-servicers.
This development is only the latest in a persistent 10-year trend, documented in our latest IMB Report issued last October by the Community Home Lenders of America.
As large banks have exited the mortgage business, independent mortgage banks picked up the slack. IMBs now originate 90% of FHA and VA loans and issue 90% of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities. When an IMB acts as a Ginnie Mae issuer, it not only services the loans, but it is also legally…
Rocket Pro TPO’s executive vice president recently turned heads with an opinion piece claiming United Wholesale Mortgage represents a massive threat to America’s mortgage brokers and their future independence. In the piece called “America’s Mortgage Brokers Face an Unprecedented Threat to their Independence,” Austin Niemiec said leaders at UWM have reduced broker optionality by contractually forcing their brokers to choose between Rocket Mortgage and UWM, enforcing that same “ultimatum” contract to eliminate a UWM broker from brokering to Fairway Independent Mortgage, and engaging in a price war to eliminate the competition. “If Mat Ishbia and UWM were truly committed to the real kind of competition that benefits brokers and their clients, he wouldn’t use his lawyers to take away brokers’ options, and he wouldn’t celebrate the demise of other…
Editor’s Note: This article was written by a contributor and contains the individual’s views, opinions, or personal experiences. Last week, we announced the merger of the Community Mortgage Lenders of America and theCommunity Home Lenders Association under a renamed Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA). To date, both organizations have represented a similar profile of members and have historically taken similar policy positions. After extended discussion, we both concluded that combining CMLA and CHLA would mean more members, more financial resources, and more combined staff. This would enhance our ability to influence mortgage policies in Washington and explain the key role community lenders and in particular smaller independent mortgage banks (IMBs)—play in mortgage lending. Policy fights in Washington are not…
By TYRONE TOWNSEND Rising mortgage rates may not have brought the housing market to a halt just yet, but experts are predicting a cooldown that will come in waves and hit different areas of the country at different times. As home prices begin to level off, the 30-year mortgage rate is moving between 5% and 6%. At the same time, consumer confidence is dwindling, and economic statistics indicate the housing industry is cooling after its frenzied surge during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, several Wall Street analysts are revising their outlooks for the homebuilding sector and downgrading some equities. “The housing market faces both demand-side and supply-side challenges,” Robert Dietz, chief economist at the NAHB, said in a statement.…
Mat Ishbia’s bid to become part-owner of the Denver Broncos got sacked by the deep pockets of Rob Walton, an heir to the legendary Walmart fortune. But that doesn’t mean the hard-charging – and sometimes controversial – Chief Executive at United Wholesale Mortgage is out of the game. “I do love sports and … one day in the future would I want to own a sports team? I would say yes,” Ishbia told Crain’s Detroit Business last year. Not a surprising stance for a CEO who’s built his brand around his status as a walk-on member of Michigan State University’s 2000 championship basketball team. But his big-dollar backing of men’s MSU athletics may actually hinder Ishbia’s hopes of entering the exclusive…
By KEVIN B. KIMBLE Editor’s Note: This article was written by a contributor and contains the individual’s views, opinions, or personal experiences. The Biden administration recently unveiled an action plan to address racial bias in home appraisals and other areas of the American housing system. As new research from Zillow shows, this couldn’t come at a better time. Zillow found that there is a widening mortgage approval gap along racial lines. Specifically, Black applicants are denied a mortgage at a rate 84 percent higher than white applicants. This figure has been worsening, representing an increase of 10 percentage points since 2019. The approval disparity has contributed to declining Black homeownership, a crucial aspect of wealth building. The negative trend in Black mortgage denials is…
