United Wholesale Mortgage's CEO Mat Ishbia pointed the finger at Rocket Mortgage and its owner Dan Gilbert when asked to share his take on an
"That's Rocket Mortgage and Dan Gilbert doing Rocket Mortgage and Dan Gilbert things and that's what it's been funded by," said Ishbia, while attending
Ishbia did not expand on the allegation and UWM did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Rocket has denied the accusations that it has ties with
"Rocket Mortgage and Dan Gilbert have no involvement in the deep, detailed 50-page Hunterbrook Media article exposing the business practices of Mat Ishbia and United Wholesale Mortgage," Aaron Emerson, spokesperson for Rocket, wrote in an email Monday. "Dan Gilbert and Rocket Mortgage have no investment, other financial interests or relationship to Hunterbrook Media."
"The professional investigation speaks for itself and appears to be based on factual, public information uncovered by the journalists who conducted the investigation," Emerson added.
Hunterbrook did not immediately address whether Rocket Mortgage was in any way financially invested in the organization. Its investigation alleges over 8,000 independent mortgage brokers sent 99% or more of their loans to UWM in the past year, which could be interpreted as a violation by the brokers of their fiduciary duty to home buyers.
The mega lender is accused of violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the RICO Act in a
"UWM has systematically and intentionally corrupted the wholesale mortgage channel through fraudulent practices to line its own pockets and those of its senior executives, including Mr. Ishbia, at the expense of everyday Americans," said John Zach, an attorney with Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, which filed the complaint. Hunterbrook said it shared its research with the law firm ahead of publication.
While accusations around UWM continue to unfold, stakeholders in the mortgage industry have expressed concern over how this will impact their image in the eyes of the consumer."Anytime you have such a high profile story, there's going to be scrutiny from regulators and that is not always a bad thing, but it also shakes the confidence of the consumer in our channel," said Andrew Dort, owner of Pride Lending in a previous interview. "Well educated loan officers on the broker side are superior in terms of what they can offer to a client than on the other channel, but shaky faith in that could ultimately lead to consumers actually paying higher prices by sticking with say more traditional correspondent lenders."
