A ranking of wholesale mortgage lenders has the likes of Freedom Mortgage Corp. and Stearns Lending LLC listed among the worst wholesalers.
The ranking focuses on “whole-tailers,” lenders that
appear to generate both wholesale and retail originations — though their wholesale divisions only exist to feed their retail division.
Such whole-tailers contrast true wholesale lending partners that go out of their way to help mortgage brokers grow their business and maintain past clients.
The ranking was released Monday by
Brokers Rallying Against Whole-tail Lending based on a scorecard that considers the share of volume attributed to wholesale versus retail, the extent to which each wholesaler defends brokers’ business and how proactive each lender is in supporting brokers.
According to BRAWL, “whole-tailers are pros at deceit.”
When a credit report is pulled on an existing borrower who originally went through a broker, the “whole-tailers steal the business before you even know your borrowers are back in the market.”
In addition to Freedom and Steams, Brawl ranked
the wholesale divisions of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., loanDepot LLC and Quicken Loans Inc. among the worst-rated wholesalers.
“Whole-tailers steal our leads for less than a penny on the dollar,” Brawl states on its website. “Don’t sell your customers for just 25 BPS — or $400 less in closing costs.”
Among the “true broker partners” recognized by BRAWL were American Financial Resources Inc., MB Financial Bank, Nations Direct Mortgage LLC, Parkside Lending LLC, Plaza Home Mortgage Inc. and United Shore Financial Services LLC-subsidiary United Wholesale Mortgage.
