Across the country, mortgage professionals step up to help those in need every holiday season so we at The Mortgage Note decided to celebrate organizations and their employees who recognize the importance of giving back to their communities. On November 30, we started a contest asking members of the mortgage industry to submit photos and a brief description of the charity work they’re doing this year. The winner would earn a $1,000 donation from TMN to their highlighted charity. Valerie Pesonen, a senior manager in public relations at Rock Central, sent in a submission for Rocket Mortgage in Detroit, Michigan that warmed our hearts. Pesonen highlighted three community outreach programs the company participates in, including the Rocket Mortgage Cause Campaign…
Amrock, a title insurance and property valuations provider, announced its CEO Brian Hughes will retire at the end of this month. Nicole Beattie, Executive VP of Mortgage Servicing at Rocket Mortgage will assume the role on November 19. “I would like to congratulate Brian on Amrock’s success. His leadership has solidified the company’s position at the top of the industry and paved a clear path of innovation for years to come,” said Beattie. “I’m excited to build on the company’s momentum, continuing to create technology solutions that improve the mortgage closing experience for our lender partners and the clients they serve.” Beattie spent 18 years with Rocket Companies, the last four as EVP of Rocket Mortgage’s servicing team, managing a…
Rocket Companies released its Q3 2021 earnings report, which showed its earnings bested expectations of analysts, despite a serious dip in refinancing activity. Analysts expected Rocket to close out the quarter at 48 cents per share, but the company came out on top at 57 cents per share, an adjusted net income of $1.14 billion. Its adjusted revenue reached $3.2 billion, well above consensus estimates of $2.96 billion. The company’s total revenue rose 96% from Q3 2019. “We had an excellent third quarter, as we executed on our mission to remove friction from life’s complex moments. Our core mortgage business exceeded the high end of guidance for closed loan volume and gain-on-sale margin while achieving record purchase volume,” Rocket CEO…
Good Morning! Today is Monday, November 1. World leaders are gathering in Glasgow for a climate summit. American Airlines scrubbed more than 1,900 flights over the weekend, the latest in a series of cancellations to disrupt travelers’ plans. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tested positive for Covid-19. And in mortgage and housing news… Rocket Mortgage Partners With Salesforce: Rocket Mortgage announced a new partnership with Salesforce in a bid to expand its market share. 60% Of Households Priced Out Of New Construction: Prices for newly-constructed homes outpaced median income, pricing out most Americans, according to a study from real estate tech firm Knock. Haunting History: Halloween may be over, but it’s never a bad time to find out how many deaths have been reported in your home. New CFPB Leadership: The…
Rocket Mortgage announced a new partnership with Salesforce to make its origination technology available as an end-to-end “mortgage-as-a-service” product. The service will be available to lenders with licensed mortgage loan officers through Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. “We recognize the important and personal role local banks and credit unions play with so many Americans – they have a trusted relationship with their customers,” said Jay Farner, Vice Chairman and CEO of Rocket Companies. “Financial institutions can now combine those relationships they’ve already established while leveraging Rocket Mortgage’s transformational platform powered by Rocket technology.” Rocket Mortgage will handle loan processing, allowing loan officers to use the company’s technology as their point-of-sale and loan origination system. In some cases, officers will be able…
Rocket Mortgage’s Rocket Pro TPO, which works with independent mortgage brokers, announced tech changes to help brokers grow and strengthen their businesses. Rocket Pro TPO Executive Vice President Austin Niemiec outlined the new additions in a presentation. “We believe true leaders help brokers succeed. They view the world with a limitless mindset. The mortgage market is huge, the pie is nearly infinite, and it’s our responsibility to help the brokers who work with us get a bigger piece of it,” he said. “Today’s announcement is about breaking barriers and building bridges – helping brokers leverage the tools, resources, and knowledge Rocket Mortgage has built as the nation’s largest mortgage lender.” Niemiec announced a new tech addition called Client Portal, available…
The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced it is dropping the COVID-era Adverse Market Refinance Fee beginning August 1. But what does that mean for borrowers who were already in the process of refinancing loans? That depends on the lender. Rocket Mortgage notified brokers last week that it is dropping the fee immediately for loans in progress. Others haven’t publicly committed to removing the fee – or did not respond to Mortgage Note requests for comment. “As you know, we already repriced earlier today, instantly passing the savings along to your borrowers on all new registrations and your entire floating pipeline,” Rocket said in an email to brokers. “We’re also in the process of applying the 50 bps credit to your…
A Florida real estate broker filed a federal lawsuit against United Wholesale Mortgage’s parent company and CEO Mat Ishbia over the launching the Broker Wars, in which Ishbia forbade brokers from doing business with two competitors if it wanted to continue to work with UWM. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, alleges UWM issued its ultimatum “in a desperate attempt to stifle competition” and to “mitigate its acknowledged risk of losing market share.” UWM announced in April that it would 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. Ishbia charged the two companies…
Fortune released its Top 100 Places to Work list Monday, with four mortgage/real estate companies making the list – led by Rocket Companies at No. 5. Here are the four companies that made the list (Cisco was No. 1): 5. Rocket Companies 8. Camden Property Trust 22. Bank of America 47. Zillow Group “Everything we do is framed by our culture and by our ISMs. Over the past year, we have been guided by the ISM ‘We’ll Figure it Out’ as we navigated the challenges introduced by the pandemic while still creating the best possible experience for our team members,” said Jay Farner, Rocket Companies’ CEO and Vice Chairman. “When COVID-19 began spreading across the country in the U.S., we rapidly launched…
United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia went on CNBC on Wednesday to assert he is the good guy in the BrokerWars by standing up for brokers and “for what is right.” “I know how different people want to portray it, but the decision was not about doing things exclusively,” Ishbia said on an interview on CNBC. “We basically said ‘Hey mortgage brokers, 12,000 of you guys, if you’re partnering with Rocket, they’re out there doing things – maybe you call it underhandedly, maybe in a gray area, to affect consumers and brokers.’ What we’re saying is, listen I can’t stop them, but if you’re going to work with them, don’t work with us.” UWM announced earlier this month that it will force brokers to…
