Farner: Rocket Broker Biz Up Since UWM Edict

Rocket Mortgages CEO Jay Farner said Thursday that United Wholesale Mortgage’s ultimatum to brokers doesn’t appear to be working. Farner, appearing on Fox Business News, said that its broker business is up since UWM CEO Mat Ishbia announced last week that it would no longer work with brokers who do business with Rocket and Fairway Independent Mortgages. “We had a situation a week ago or so where one of our competitors went out and said if mortgage brokers – some of the most important people in the country helping people buy homes – if they did business with us and they did business with our competitor, they would be fined more than $50,000 per transaction,” Farner said. The result? “We are…

Rocket: UWM’s Broker Gambit Driven By ‘Fear’

Declaring “a true partner doesn’t tell you how to run your business,” Rocket Mortgage is firing back at United Wholesale Mortgage in the Great Broker War of 2021. Days after UWM announced it would not do business with brokers who work with Rocket and another company, Rocket accused UWM of restricting brokers’ freedom of choice simply because Rocket is cutting into its market share. “Being a broker embodies the very concept of freedom,” Austin Niemiec, executive vice president at Rocket ProTPO, wrote in a letter to brokers. “Freedom to be a business owner. Freedom to choose lenders. Freedom to choose programs and pricing. Freedom to do what you think is best for your clients. Giving up that freedom means giving…

UWM Broker Ban ‘Bizarre,’ ‘Unethical,’ ‘Anticompetitive’

United Wholesale Management CEO Mat Ishbia is facing significant blowback from industry leaders over his edict that his company will not do business with brokers who work with his competitors. Ishbia announced Thursday that UWM will force brokers to sign an agreement that they will not work with Rocket Mortgage or Fairway Independent Mortgage – or else be banned from work with UWM, the largest wholesale mortgage lender. Critics are calling the edict “bizarre,” “unethical,” “anticompetitive” and antithetical to the whole broker model. One broker said UWM is “butthurt” over Rocket’s deeper foray into the broker market. “We’re not sure this is even legal. It certainly isn’t ethical,” National Association of Mortgage Brokers President Kimber White said. “And it doesn’t…

UWM Declares Broker War On Rocket, Fairway

Mat Ishbia just provided rocket fuel to his war with Rocket Mortgage. The United Wholesale Mortgage CEO announced Thursday that his company will no longer work with brokers who do business with Rocket Mortgage or Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. “Starting today, we are not helping those that help them. If you work and send loans and send business to Fairway Independent or Rocket Mortgage, which by the way is about 25 percent of the brokerage channel works with either of them. … If you work with them, can’t work with UWM any more, effective immediately,” Ishbia said on a Facebook Live. “I can’t stop you, but I’m not going to help you, help the people that are hurting the broker channel.…

Rocket Mortgage Unveils Broker Directory

Rocket Mortgage on Wednesday announced a new national broker directory on its website – allowing homebuyers and homeowners seeking to refinance to find local independent mortgage brokers to guide them through the process. Part of Rocket Pro TPO, the directory is designed to deepen Rocket Mortgage’s partnership with the broker community. “At our core, we are obsessed with providing Americans an incredible process through our powerful Rocket technology platform and infrastructure. There are many ways to receive this experience, no matter how they apply for a mortgage – including our Rocket Pro TPO national network of broker partners,” said Jay Farner, CEO of Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage. “Our clients deserve the opportunity to easily choose the method that makes them most…

It’s Good To Be Mat Ishbia

By Elise Daniel United Wholesale Mortgage is slated to go public Friday. The Wall Street debut will turn Mat Ishbia into a billionaire overnight.  Ishbia is the 40-year-old President and CEO of UWM, the second-largest mortgage lender in the country. After playing college basketball at Michigan State University, Ishbia joined his dad’s mortgage company, United Shore, in 2003 and worked his way up. Ten years later, his father, Jeff Ishbia, made him president of United Shore’s primary business unit, UWM.   Ishbia is considered the biggest player in the wholesale sector. He was named one of the “Most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40” by National Mortgage Professional magazine in 2019. Merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Gores Holdings IV and going public will likely make him even…

Rocket Doubles Down On Broker Market

Quicken Loans Mortgage Services is taking a bigger step into the broker pool – with new offerings and a new name. Quicken Loans Mortgage Services – which serves brokers, community banks and credit unions – will be rebranded as Rocket Pro TPO by late November. As part of the rebrand, the lender is creating a broker-branded origination hub to streamline the loan process. “Through the thousands of conversations we have had with our partners, we know brokers want cutting edge technology, marketing support and more referrals. QLMS is now aligning with the Rocket brand – the most recognizable mortgage brand in the country – and giving partners the ability to use it in their marketing to assist more Americans,” said Austin…

Is AIME Scrubbing Channels Of Critical Comments?

After Anthony Casa announced he was taking a leave of absence from the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts, the organization removed his bio from its website while also apparently scrubbing comments on its social media channels. Casa was the chairman and founder of AIME. He took a leave of absence last week after days of stories about lewd video text messages he sent to a Quicken Loans Vice President about the executive’s wife. In the days after the news broke, AIME started losing major sponsors – including two of three platinum level sponsors for 2020. Still, Casa did not resign and instead took a leave of absence, suggesting that he may return at some point in the future. Casa apparently…

AIME Boss Anthony Casa Takes Leave Of Absence

Anthony Casa announced Thursday he will take a leave of absence from his role as the head of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts – but stopped short of resigning after it was disclosed he sent lewd and misogynistic video texts about the wife of a rival. Casa has been under fire since Sunday, when The Mortgage Note and others shared videos he sent to Quicken executive Austin Niemiec falsely alleging his wife Theresa had sexual relations with United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia. Casa later followed up those videos with more inappropriate texts to Niemiec before Mrs. Niemiec filed a defamation lawsuit against him. Since then, AIME has lost two of its three platinum sponsors for 2020, as well a…

Anthony Casa: AIME Loses 2 of 3 Platinum Sponsors

In February, the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts announced its roster of sponsors for the year, saying their involvement “highlights a renewed commitment in the industry to empowering independent mortgage brokers.” “Sponsorship is a key component to AIME’s mission of supplying innovative and advanced resources that provide our members with the tools they need to build and nurture strong relationships with consumers,” AIME Chairman Anthony Casa said at the time. “We are grateful for the trust and support of the nineteen organizations that are our 2020 sponsors and we are looking forward to putting their investments in our organization to work to support our members.”  Five months later, however, AIME is hemorrhaging key sponsors after the disclosure that Casa sent…