UWM, Guaranteed Rate, Loandepot roll out new initiatives

With developments in the mortgage industry leading to a wave of partnerships and ventures recently, this week also saw some of the giants in home lending arrive with their own new initiatives and deals.

Here are some of the developments coming from industry leaders over the past seven days:

UWM offers no-cost appraisals on its 1-0 buydown product
In a move to entice brokers and help them attract buyers and Realtors, Pontiac, Michigan based United Wholesale Mortgage launched a deal to would cover appraisal costs for conventional and government loans when taken out through its 1-0 temporary rate buydown program. The offer, which is valid through March, will provide borrowers savings on both the appraisal and first-year mortgage payments. The company began offering the rate buydown in 2022.

Guaranteed Rate tells agents to "lock it, list it"
Aimed at helping Realtors and real estate agents combat high housing payments, Guaranteed Rate's program provides sellers the opportunity to lock in a discounted interest rate and up their property's appeal to prospective buyers. Upon securing a new listing, an agent will work with sellers enrolled in the program to bring down the mortgage rate, which can be used to help the home stand out in marketing and promotion. The program is available for both conforming and higher-balance jumbo mortgages.

"We want to offer real estate agents and their clients the opportunity to lock in a rate that they can market to their potential buyers. In an environment where rates can be volatile, this is a key selling point for a future buyer," said Jeremy Collett, executive vice president, head of capital markets at the Chicago-based lender, in a press release.

Loandepot teams up with Exit Realty Network 
Irvine, California-based digital lender Loandepot announced it was joining the strategic partner network of Exit Realty Corp., the North American enterprise consisting of agent franchises across the U.S. and Canada. Exit's teams of real estate professionals will have full access to Loandepot's local mortgage advisors to drive sales and support buyers. The partnership is the latest agreement between home lenders and realty businesses in the last 12 months, as both industries struggle to attract customers in a sluggish housing market. Exit Realty, which was founded in 1996, is based in Mississauga, Ontario.

Meanwhile, outside the buying and selling process, other familiar names also entered into new partnerships affecting cybersecurity and tax processing.

Finance of America works with Spera Security to fight cyber threats
In its attempt to alleviate identity-driven cyber risk, reverse-mortgage finance company Finance of America said it would adopt tools and services of Spera Security. The Plano,Texas-based mortgage company inddicated it was seeking solutions to quickly identify and remedy potential threats before they developed into costlier problems. 

The home lending industry has been plagued with a series of cyber attacks this year, highlighted most recently by a data breach at Mr. Cooper, which left some of its customers without full access to their accounts for over a week. 

Wells Fargo outsources residential tax solutions to Corelogic
The San Francisco banking giant is turning to Corelogic to oversee and manage real estate tax processing operations for servicing clients of Wells Fargo Home Lending. With the decision, the banking unit's real estate tax team will be offboarded and employees offered the opportunity to move into similar roles at Corelogic. The decision to eliminate an internal team is the latest 2023 mortgage-related reduction at Wells Fargo who also cut back its servicing portfolio this year.

With the new partnership, Wells Fargo will be able to oversee tax customer service through the Corelogic digital tax portal and simplify the bank's mortgage servicing operations.