Shawn Nevin, CEO of California-based America’s MoneyLine (AML), is the target of a $2.8 million lawsuit from lending giant United Wholesale Mortgage, and he has one word to describe it:
“Anti-American.”
At issue is UWM’s controversial “All In” policy, implemented by CEO Mat Ishbia last year. “If you work and send loans and send business to Fairway Independent or Rocket Mortgage … you can’t work with UWM anymore, effective immediately,” Ishbia said in a Facebook Live message last March. His policy sparked a lawsuit from mortgage brokers that is still working its way through the legal system.
UWM claims in its lawsuit that AML has sent 560 loans to Fairway and Rocket, in violation of the “All In” agreement. Nevin responded with a statement to HousingWire condemning Ishbia’s business practices as un-American and anti-consumer.
“We will outline and prove in court how we were misled by ongoing assurances of nonenforcement of this non-American antitrust provision,” Nevin said. “We have lost and will continue to lose millions of dollars because of these unfounded tactics, of which we will pursue. Moreover, the broker community will get a glimpse into UWM’s true goal of seeking to control independent brokers to such an extent that they ultimately become effective arms of UWM; something we simply cannot and will not agree to do. This is why we are brokers — to have the right of choice.
“As independent brokers, we need to be able to shop for the best terms and best programs for our clients, the American people,” Nevin wrote.
Another California-based lender, Jason Vondrak of Prospect Home Finance, announced last week he was forced to lay off 50 employees due to UWM’s attempts to impose the “All In” policy on his firm. When Vondrak chose to stop doing business with UWM in response to the edict late last year, Ishbia’s company cut off revenues to Prospect Homes as a “correspondent lender. They also sent Vondrak a bill for $336,834.78 it claimed was for early payoff penalties.
In an interview with HousingWire, Ishbia noted the scale of AML’s business with forbidden underwriters as a factor in his decision to sue. However, “Ishbia added that any broker firm found to be violating the amended broker agreement could face legal consequences,” they reported. [Emphasis in original.]
In March 2021, Ishbia told CNBC he is the good guy in the “Broker Wars” he launched with his exclusivity policy. “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.”
Brokers who object to the policy say it’s their job to get the best possible loan for their customers, regardless of the source. They believe competition, not exclusivity, is the right approach.
“At Prospect, our mission is to create the best overall home financing experience for homeowners by putting them first, providing the best options to meet their needs, and always challenging industry norms,” Vondrak wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Furthermore, as a California Mortgage Broker, we have a fiduciary duty which includes a requirement that the mortgage broker (Prospect Home Finance) place the economic interest of the borrower ahead of our own economic interest.”
Nevin used even stronger language:
“We have spoken to other customers and brokers throughout the country who intend to stand up with us and fight this tyranny together,” he said.