The CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage on Wednesday defended a controversial recent move in a battle in the town of Cruos with rival Quicken Loans.
UWM earlier this month said it would no longer work with any mortgage broker who also did business with Quicken and another competitor, Fairway Independent Mortgage in Wisconsin.
“I know how different people want to represent her, but the decision was not to do things exclusively,” CEO Matt Ishbia said in an appearance on CNBC’s “Mad Money.”
Ishbia told program host Jim Cramer that the Pontiac, Michigan-based company gained dominance in the ultimatum: 12,000 runners, not even 500, chose to continue collaborating with Quicken, to say.
Quicken, the Detroit-based lending giant owned by Rocket Companies, is the nation’s leading mortgage lender, followed by UWM.
Ishbia claims that Quicken Loans is slowing the growth of the mortgage sector, although he said he does not accuse the company of illegal practices.
“The reality is that the runners are all there,” Ishbia said. “They understand that Matt and UWM are here to protect the channel from brokers and consumers so that consumers receive lower rates when they go through a broker. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.”
Meanwhile, Rocket explains it to Wall Street Journal that its lending platform has increased its market share since UWM announced the change. Fairway, meanwhile, said so National Mortgage News that UWM’s deal with brokers limits its chance of finding lower interest rates.