United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is taking its mortgage servicing operations in-house, following the decision to end its relationship with Mr. Cooper Group in the wake of the latter’s $9.4 billion deal to sell to rival Rocket Mortgage.
The Pontiac, Michigan-based wholesale lender also announced it has selected ICE Mortgage Technology’s MSP loan servicing system as its servicing platform, with a strategic focus on boosting recapture and referral business through its broker network.
“While we are excited about the cost savings for UWM, we’re even more excited about the opportunity to help brokers deepen their relationships with borrowers by leveraging MSP,” said Mat Ishbia, chairman and president of UWM.
The move signals the broader impact of the Rocket-Mr. Cooper deal on the mortgage servicing landscape.
As first reported by HousingWire, UWM will now send the majority of its servicing business to Cenlar FSB, stepping away from Mr. Cooper entirely. Other firms, such as Rithm Capital, the parent of multichannel mortgage lender Newrez, are also looking to capitalize on subservicing opportunities that may emerge as a result of the deal.
In a sales call that took place just days after the Rocket-Mr. Cooper deal was announced, Ishbia said that, “All new loans will be partnered with our other partner Cenlar, and then eventually we’ll just do it ourselves when we need to.”
Ishbia did not discuss the plan to service loans in-house or its deal with ICE on its sales call with brokers on Wednesday, April 30, sources said.
For many wholesale lenders, servicing has become a key competitive advantage. Pennymac, the third-largest U.S. wholesale lender after UWM and Rocket, has emphasized the importance of its servicing portfolio in efforts to grow its broker market share.
UWM’s servicing portfolio stood at $242.4 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB) as of December 31, 2024, with a weighted average interest rate of 4.76%. The portfolio has declined from $299.5 billion the previous year, reflecting UWM’s strategy of selling mortgage servicing rights (MSRs)—primarily those with higher coupon rates—to deleverage its balance sheet and reinvest in originations.
Tim Bowler, president of ICE Mortgage Technology, said the company is a “neutral provider of third-party software,” so that “lenders and servicers can rest assured that we will always be in their corner.”
The ICE-UWM collaboration also includes a homeowner portal, offering borrowers a streamlined experience throughout the loan lifecycle. Features include access to hardship assistance, support tools, lien release processing, and API integrations to enhance operational efficiency.
Rocket announced that it was dropping ICE’s MSP in favor of Sagent, the loan servicing platform that Mr. Cooper used (and has a reported 20% stake in).
James Kleimann contributed reporting.
