Atlantic Trust Mortgage is asking a Michigan federal court to
The independent mortgage broker argues it never signed an amendment to UWM's agreement in 2022, and thus, the legal action should be permanently scrapped, a filing submitted March 15 shows.
"UWM's complaint should be dismissed with prejudice as a matter of law because the 2022 unsigned amendment to the 2018 wholesale broker agreement which UWM claims was breached and which is attached [as an exhibit] to UWM's complaint, was never completed nor executed by the parties and therefore is unenforceable on its face," Atlantic Trust said in its suit.
Per Michigan law, if an amendment is not memorialized in writing it is not valid, the defendant's attorney argues.
UWM declined to comment. Atlantic Trust did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the beginning of the year, UWM accused Atlantic Trust of sending 71 loans to Rocket Mortgage or Fairway Independent Mortgage since December 2022, "intentionally and directly undermining the entire purpose of the All-In Intuitive." As such, UWM said it's seeking $355,000 in damages, according to the suit filed Jan. 26.
The wholesale lender claims the breach of contract has damaged it in various ways "including but not limited to, allowing Atlantic Trust to reap the benefits of UWM's investments in and services provided to it as a broker partner, including UWM's proprietary technology."
Atlantic Trust dubbed the damage demand "onerous" in its recent filing and reiterated UWM's suit has no standing because the broker never renewed the agreement.
"The purported 'amendment' to the 2018 wholesale broker agreement attached by UWM as Exhibit B to its complaint is undisputedly not signed by either party and UWM does not even allege that the purported "amendment" was ever signed," an attorney for Atlantic Trust wrote in the filing.
In January, a spokeswoman for UWM said Atlantic Trust "is one of the companies who signed a contract and then knowingly breached it, therefore we will follow the agreed upon contract and win damages."
Another mortgage broker facing similar allegations of breaching the wholesale lender's
A suit filed by UWM in mid-December claims the independent mortgage broker sent 84 loans to Rocket or Fairway since pledging in March 2021 to abide by UWM's All-In initiative. The lending giant claims District Lending's refusal to abide by the agreement has resulted in damages of at least $420,000. The case is still pending.
