UWM Boasts About Consumer Savings As Class Action Lawsuit Heats Up

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By Kimberley Haas for The Mortgage Note

Leaders at United Wholesale Mortgage say consumers save thousands of dollars working with an independent mortgage broker while lawyers in a class action lawsuit continue to present evidence that the company duped borrowers into believing they got the best deal on their home loans.

UWM issued a press release on Aug. 28 which stated that a recent study by Polygon Research concluded that consumers save an average of $10,662 over the life of a loan when working with an independent mortgage broker as opposed to a nonbank retail lender.

The study showed that borrowers also see savings on upfront costs. In 2023, consumers in the wholesale channel paid an average of 115 basis points upfront to obtain a 6.58% average interest rate, compared to 148 basis points upfront and a 6.60% average interest rate in the nonbank retail channel, according to the press release.

The study was supported by Willow Canyon Advisors and UWM.

“There isn’t a consumer in America that shouldn’t work with an independent mortgage broker, and it’s more important than ever for us to make sure consumers understand these unmatched benefits,” Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of UWM, said in a statement on LinkedIn.

Ishbia wrote that anyone looking to find a local mortgage broker should visit MortgageMatchup.com.

Mortgage Matchup is the official mortgage partner of the NBA and WNBA. Ishbia is the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.

As Ishbia boasts about his mortgage business strategy, lawyers involved in a class action lawsuit against UWM continue to mount evidence against the company.

The lawsuit was filed on April 2, the same day Hunterbrook Media released a report that linked UWM to $39 billion in mortgages sent to the lender by brokers who allegedly worked as loyalists, sending more than 99% of their business to the company.

According to an amended class action complaint filed on Aug. 30, brokers who have conspired with UWM instead of acting independently on behalf of consumers can be identified through publicly available data.

Lawyers attached an appendix listing 2,502 loan officers who allegedly funneled over 75% of their loans to UWM from 2021 to 2023. These loan officers sent 270,693 loans to UWM with a total value of over $93 billion, according to the complaint.

The lawyers argue that the data establishes the more a broker funnels loans to UWM, the more borrowers overpay.

“If the brokers who send 75% or more of their loans to UWM had actually shopped around to find their borrowers the best deal possible – i.e. a loan with the lowest origination fees available on the market – those borrowers would have saved, in the aggregate, well over $2.7 billion,” the lawyers wrote.

“As a direct and proximate result of UWM’s scheme, UWM has profited, and borrowers have lost billions of dollars.”

If damages are awarded to the plaintiffs, the amounts will be determined at trial.