Editor's note: This article was updated at 6:25 p.m. Sept. 1 to include additional announcements, including the 60-basis-point credits and the three Big Pitch winners.
Rocket Pro announced at RPX in Detroit today that it is launching a dedicated team to help recruit mortgage brokers away from United Wholesale Mortgage and move them onto its platform.
The wholesale lender’s new “moving squad” will guide brokers through the transition to Rocket, including those leaving UWM under its broker agreement.
Chief Revenue Officer Austin Niemiec said Rocket developed the program after seeing an increase in brokers making the switch.
“Over the last couple months, we're hearing from more and more and more brokers that they want their independence back in a big way,” Niemiec told National Mortgage Professional ahead of the event. "We've seen more brokers leave UWM and come to Rocket over the last 90 days than we have in the prior 12 months before that."
Each broker using the moving squad will be assigned an account executive, director of growth, operations-focused “crew director,” and trainer, with no handoffs between teams. Rocket’s goal is to get newly approved brokers ready to submit their first loan within 10 days or less, with the team remaining through onboarding, activation, and growth.
“The problem is moving lenders can be disruptive if you don't know what you're doing,” Niemiec said. “So we decided, because of this demand... we decided to remove that friction, and built the moving squad.”
Rocket Takes Aim At UWM
Niemiec made clear that UWM brokers are a particular target of the initiative.
The ultimatum restricts participating brokers from sending loans to certain competitors, including Rocket. Niemiec, a longtime critic of the policy, framed Rocket’s latest effort around brokers’ ability to choose among lenders. “There's very few brokers out there that have ever also believed in the ultimatum. Really, a broker's superpower is choice,” he said.
He also acknowledged that some brokers may be concerned about potential legal consequences tied to the agreement. UWM’s “All In” addendum required brokers to stop originating loans with Rocket Mortgage and Fairway or lose UWM access, with signers exposed to contractual liquidated damages, stated as the greater of $5,000 per violating loan or $50,000.
“There's fear and there's threats of lawsuits if a broker leaves UWM and comes to Rocket, but it's actually very simple and very easy, and we have a playbook of how to do it,” Niemiec said, adding that Rocket has helped “hundreds and hundreds” of brokers leave UWM for Rocket and that assisting with that transition is part of the moving squad’s role.
Rocket is also giving its existing partners a financial incentive to help recruit UWM brokers. Through the end of the year, current Rocket partners that help a UWM broker “break free from the ultimatum” can earn up to a $10,000 cash bonus, according to Niemiec.
Rocket also plans to launch a landing page where interested brokers can connect directly with a Moving Squad.
Rocket Makes 60-Basis-Point Credits Part Of Base Pricing
The company also announced a significant change to its wholesale pricing strategy, moving its 60-basis-point purchase and refinance credits out of temporary promotional windows and into its base pricing. The new structure applies across conventional agency, FHA and VA loans, regardless of a broker’s size or volume, Niemiec said.
He framed the change as an effort to eliminate what he called “pricing gamification” such as having to "watch videos from their wholesale lender, or click on trainings, and talk to their AE, and play games, and jump through hoops to get a good price,” Niemiec said. “They want simple, they want aggressive, and they want reliable pricing.”
Rocket Will Build All Three Big Pitch Technologies
When Rocket launched the contest in June, the plan was to award one broker $100,000 and build that broker’s proposed technology for the wholesale community. The company selected three finalists and paired them with its technology and product teams to turn their ideas into prototypes. At RPX, Niemiec announced the first place winner would receive $100,000, second place $60,000 and third $40,000.
In first place, Seth Hasan from West Capital Lending with Rocket Pro Quick Counter, designed to help mortgage brokers to present competitive counteroffers in real time while still on a live call with a client.
In second place, Andrew Haff from Barren Hill Mortgage, who built Rocket Pro Right Track, a solution aimed at helping brokers save lost or stalled deals.
Followed by George Chevalier from Clearview Lending Solutions, who created Rocket Pro Signal, an AI-powered tool giving brokers a real-time view of closing conditions to prevent delays.
Niemiec said the three technologies could ultimately work together across the life of a loan.
“And that's what this is all about,” Niemiec said. “It's not trying to guess or be in a boardroom, try to understand what we think brokers need. It's going and asking brokers what they need, having the broker community vote on what is the most important problem to solve, and then using our resource and our talent internally at Rocket to build it and bring it to life.”
