Rocket Mortgage sues HUD

Plus: Trigger leads stripped out of defense bill

December 06, 2024

🙌 Finally Friday. Today's newsletter is 733 words, a 2.5-minute read. Let’s dive in…

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of Dec 05, 2024. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Rocket Mortgage sues HUD

Rocket Mortgage has filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking dismissal of a claim that the lender allegedly discriminated against a Black woman by undervaluing her home based on race.

The lawsuit, filed against the HUD, is asking a federal court to "correct conflicts" between government-created regulations that require appraiser independence and enforcement actions that hold lenders responsible for those appraisers' conduct.

In July, the HUD alleged that multiple appraisal companies — including Rocket Mortgage — had issued a biased appraisal against a Denver-area homeowner because she was Black, according to a statement at the time.

2. Trigger leads stripped out of defense bill

A bill aimed at limiting the use of credit trigger leads was excluded from the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Broker Action Coalition informed its members on Wednesday. However, the group assured members that a backup strategy is already in place.

“This bill, along with a slew of other provisions, were stripped out of the current version of the NDAA package,” which means that the “Trigger Lead Bill is unlikely to pass this year,” executives at the trade group wrote in a letter directed to partners and advocates.

Trigger leads occur when a potential borrower’s credit score is pulled for a mortgage application and credit bureaus sell this data to companies seeking to contact the borrower. While legal, this practice often results in borrowers receiving a flood of unsolicited calls, texts and emails.

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3. More Nuggets

📝 UWM to issue $500M in unsecured debt, aims to pay down MSR facilities. (Titan)

🔐 FHA to implement modern borrower default engagement practices. (HUD)

⛓️ "Short-sale queen" indicted on mortgage fraud charges. (WFAA)

💸 Real estate fintech Splitero lands $350M Blue Owl investment. (PRNewswire)

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4. Homebuyer demand hits 14-month high

Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index is sitting at its highest level since Sept. 2023, as prospective buyers come off the sidelines to embrace lower mortgage rates and a growing number of listings.

A seasonally adjusted measure of tours and other buying services from Redfin agents, the index was up 7% on an annual basis the week ending Dec. 1. Additionally, mortgage purchase applications are up 17% month over month, hitting their highest level since late January.

Pending home sales, meanwhile, rose 6.5% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending December 1, on par with the annual increases Redfin has seen over the last two months.

5. CFPB disburses $1.8 billion to victims of credit-repair scheme

Customers charged illegal fees by two of the largest credit repair firms will soon see a refund check, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced yesterday.

The CFPB says it will distribute $1.8 billion to 4.3 million consumers who were charged illegal advance fees by Lexington Law and CreditRepair’com, which used telemarketing to offer credit repair services to customers.

“Lexington Law and CreditRepair’com exploited vulnerable consumers who were trying to rebuild their credit, charging them illegal junk fees for results they hadn’t delivered,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a news release.

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

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