Opendoor to refund homesellers $62 million

☀️ Welcome back. Today we're digging into some lawsuits and settlements, and we'll tell you all about the Opendoor refunds ... It's 549 words, a 2.5-minute read.

1. Opendoor to pay $62 million for misleading home sellers

Nearly 55,000 home sellers who sold their houses to Opendoor will receive checks after the real-estate company settled a lawsuit alleging that it misled people into selling their homes for less than what they could have gotten on the open market.

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced that it was sending nearly $62 million in refunds to some 55,000 sellers who were "deceived by advertising and marketing claims" made by Opendoor.

The median refund is expected to be $1,024, according to the FTC's refund tracker.

2. UWM and Mat Ishbia hit with class action lawsuit

United Wholesale Mortgage was hit with a proposed consumer class action on Tuesday in U.S. court accusing it of scheming with brokers to push home-buyers into expensive mortgages, costing them billions of dollars in excess fees.

Four residents of North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee filed the lawsuit, in federal court in Detroit

United Wholesale, which bills itself as the country’s largest home mortgage lender, on Wednesday in a statement called the lawsuit a "sham" and said it will "defend these allegations to the fullest extent permitted by law."

🚨 COACH’S CORNER

To me, this is the game changer between closing 2 deals a month and 40! Tune in. (Video)

— Dave Krichmar CEO

3. Catch up quick

🏡 90% of homebuyers have historically opted to work with a real estate agent or broker. Here’s why that’s unlikely to change, according to the NAR. (Fortune)

🔌 Another cyber attack has hit a mortgage lender. On Q Financial reveals cyber incident affecting more than 200K. (NMN)

📈 Homebuyers in most housing markets finally gain access to more inventory. (FastCompany)

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4. Mortgage rates hold near 2-week high

According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), the 30-year FRM averaged 6.82 percent as of April 4, 2024, up from last week when it averaged 6.79 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.28 percent.

The 15-year FRM averaged 6.06 percent, down from last week when it averaged 6.11 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.64 percent.

The PMMS® is focused on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20 percent down and have excellent credit.

5. MBA: Mortgage applications decreased by 0.6%

Mortgage applications decreased 0.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 29, 2024.

“Elevated mortgage rates continued to weigh down on home buying,” Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.

The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week and was 5 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.1 percent from one week earlier.

You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!

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