Federal court rules in favor of lender, citing lack of evidence
A federal court has dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and its CEO, Mat Ishbia, over claims of unfair trade practices.
The complaint, filed by Florida-based mortgage brokerage The O’Kavage Group, accused UWM of breaking antitrust laws by pressuring brokers to stop doing business with competitors.
The class action lawsuit focused on UWM’s “All In” initiative, introduced in March 2021, which gave brokers an ultimatum: UWM would no longer work with brokers who continued to partner with Rocket Companies Inc. or Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.
The O’Kavage Group said this business tactic was unfair and would harm both consumers and the wholesale mortgage market by limiting competition.
However, Judge Wendy Berger of Jacksonville, Fla. District Court, ruled that the plaintiff couldn’t prove that UWM’s agreements with brokers were illegal.
In her ruling, Judge Berger stated, “There are no factual allegations that the brokers were predisposed to concerted action toward a common improper goal.” She also noted that the lawsuit failed to demonstrate significant pressure on brokers to comply with UWM’s terms. As a result, the case was dismissed without prejudice.
“In fact, plaintiff specifically alleges that defendants did not expect such a high rate of acceptance among the brokers,” she wrote. “There are only minimal allegations regarding push back on dissenting brokers and no allegations that there was significant pressure applied between brokers to accept the agreement.”
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UWM spokesperson Nicole Roberts released a statement after the ruling.
“UWM’s victory in this frivolous lawsuit reaffirms that the claims against us were baseless from the start,” Roberts said in the statement sent via email. “As we’ve stated from the beginning, the All In initiative benefits both the broker channel and consumers, which is evident in the increase in broker market share over the last few years. The accusations suggesting that All In was harmful have always been false, and this court ruling further underscores that reality.”
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