The head of Rocket Cos.' third party business fired back at United Wholesale Mortgage on Tuesday, saying UWM's call for a broker boycott was motivated by a loss of market share to its crosstown rival.
That's what really motivated
"Why would UWM ask mortgage brokers to give up their freedom and their superpower of choice?" he said. "It's not because of any morals or a principled stance, like they so aggressively claim. It's fear."
For 2019, Rocket's partner network originated $46.7 billion.
In comparison UWM originated
What UWM did puts the industry on a "slippery slope," Niemiec said, expressing worries that it could extend into relationships with other lenders and even other providers like mortgage insurers.
"If you can be forced into not working with lenders, then everything else is on the table," he said.
But UWM President and CEO Mat Ishbia declared he did not take "an aggressive stance" against Rocket and Fairway, and wouldn't be taking the boycott any further.
"I'm not adding a third company [to the boycott]," he said. "There is never going to be a third company, there's these two companies that are attacking the broker channel."
Between Rocket's working with real estate agents to "basically cut the brokers out," and Fairway's recruiting practices, "someone has to stand up and say that that's not appropriate, and we decided to do that," Ishbia declared.
“There is no additional motive or reasoning behind this decision,” he added.
He added that 90% of the wholesale channel partners that work with UWM and Rocket and/or Fairway already have signed the addendum to the broker agreement.
"Their top clients are all coming with UWM, because they understand that it's not about today, it's about the long term success of the broker channel," Ishbia said. "That's what I'm focused on. And that's what they're focused on, the winning mortgage companies, That's what we're all focused on together."
