Which mortgage lenders across America picked up the most purchase transaction market share in Q1?

Using iEmergent data (ping my guy Bernard Nossuli for a demo, worth the time investment), I pulled the Q1 2026 purchase market share numbers and compared them against full year 2025 to see who actually grew.

Three tiers. The top 50 lenders in America, 51-150, and 151-300. Ranked by basis points of share gained vs. FY 2025.

TIER 1: TOP 50 GAINERS

Mortgage Research Center +31bps (rank 8 to 4)
CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC +26bps
Zillow Home Loans, LLC +23bps, share grew 62%
Rocket Mortgage +20bps
The Loan Store, Inc. +19bps, share grew 30%
Guaranteed(?) Rate +17bps
Navy Federal Credit Union +16bps
Guild Mortgage +11bps
Kind Lending | NMLS #3925#3925 +10bps
PENNYMAC +9bps

MRC is the artist formerly known as Veterans United (lawsuits permitting). We've been chronicling Zillow's growth all last year, but Q1 was a different gear. The Loan Store and Kind Lending are two well-regarded fast risers in the wholesale space that picked up all the share UWM bled Q1 plus some, seem to be positioned beautifully if UWM stumbles further. Navy Fed is a new name on this list. Guild and PennyMac are the boring, unsexy, lethal origination machines that just keep printing.

TIER 2: 51-150 GAINERS

Barrett Financial Group LLC +14bps, share grew 61%
Tomo Mortgage +11bps, share grew 98%
A & D Mortgage LLC +10bps, share grew 54%
Cornerstone First Mortgage, LLC +10bps, share grew 56%
OriginPoint +8bps
American Financial Resources +7bps
Luminate Bank +6bps
First Colony Mortgage +6bps
City National Bank +5bps
Nations Direct Mortgage +4bps

Tomo nearly doubled its share. Barrett Financial is one of the biggest if not the biggest UWM feeder firms. Many of these companies were big '25 gainers vs '24 as well.

Read the rest of this post here …

Housing affordability is the conversation of the moment in mortgage banking. Rightfully so.

Here is the multi-billion dollar affordability hit to American borrowers that nobody is talking about.

Three steering models reshaping how mortgages get sold in America. Each routes borrowers to a specific lender. Each raises the rates and fees those borrowers actually pay.

💸 The Affiliated Real Estate-Lender Bundle

A national mortgage lender acquires a real estate brokerage. The bundle markets a 1% year-one rate reduction OR up to $6,000 credit, but only if the buyer uses both the affiliated agent AND the affiliated lender. Outside agents in the referral program pay 25-40% of their commission back at closing.

The 1% reduction sounds like a discount. It is not. The borrower pays the full note rate for years 2-30. The agent has been incentivized at every stage. Independent shopping is no longer a meaningful option.

💰 The Real Estate Loan Officer (RELO)

Model Real estate agents obtain an MLO license. The agent pairs with a loan officer assistant who handles the file. The agent collects mortgage commission for "originating" the loan.

Two checks per transaction. That second commission comes from the borrower in the form of higher rates and fees.

🎯 The "Loyalist Broker" Model

A dominant wholesale lender builds a consumer-facing search engine listing only brokers who signed agreements with that lender. Brokers earn points by sending volume. Higher points get better placement and better pricing. Brokers found shopping competitors get sued under those agreements.

The borrower thinks they're getting a broker shopping the market. They're getting a routing system priced higher than it would be in a competitive shop.

Are they legal?

RESPA is so gray on this stuff that people have been driving trucks through it for years. Multiple class actions and state AG investigations are actively testing whether these structures violate anti-kickback, anti-steering, and consumer protection laws. The courts will decide.

Are they good for consumers and housing affordability?

Definitely no.

In every model, the borrower is routed to a specific lender by someone they thought was working for them. In every model, the routing economics flow to everyone in the chain except the borrower.

Read the rest of this post here …

Quick housekeeping. Through May 31, I am running a referral contest. Three prizes, three drawings, three winners. Every new subscriber you refer earns you one entry in each drawing.

One referral equals one entry in each drawing. Refer 50, you have 50 entries in each. Refer your entire LinkedIn network, the math gets aggressive.

Three winners drawn the morning of June 1.

Your personal referral link is at the bottom of this email. Or click here: {{ rp_refer_url }}

"Illusory, predatory and unactionable."

Those are not my words. Those are the words the Two Harbors board of directors used this morning, on the record, in a Form 8-K, to describe UWM's latest offer to buy them.

Six days before the shareholder vote.

A few highlights from one of the most direct repudiations of a competing bid I have seen in modern mortgage banking M&A:

The $12.50 vs $7.58 problem

UWM's offer headline is $12.50 per share. The default consideration if a stockholder fails to make a timely cash election is UWM stock currently worth $7.58 per TWO share as of May 12. The TWO board estimates as many as 30% of stockholders would default to the stock consideration. UWM's own CEO said on the earnings call he would rather pay cash. The TWO board has asked why UWM has not restructured to make cash the default. UWM has not answered.

The financial condition concerns

The TWO board cites UWM's deteriorating financial position publicly: cash and cash equivalents fell from $503M to $425M in Q1, leverage at an all-time high of 3.2x, Fitch outlook downgraded twice in six months, Bloomberg's calculated 1-year probability of default has doubled in three weeks.

The Whalen quote

The TWO board cites Richard Christopher Whalen of The Institutional Risk Analyst by name in their official 8-K. Specifically: that UWM could face a writedown of over $1 billion, representing more than two-thirds of its equity, if forced to sell its MSR at market levels.

When an analyst's name shows up in the target company's official public filing rejecting a bid, something has shifted.

The regulatory question

UWM claims it can close in 60 days. The TWO board notes UWM has refused to explain how state regulatory change-of-control approvals on TWO's mortgage servicing licenses get accomplished on that timeline.

Read the rest of this post here …

Yet another lawsuit levied against Ishbia/UWM. My unofficial count is 11 active currently.

The newest one was filed yesterday in New York Supreme Court. Rocket Mortgage is seeking $100 million from UWM for allegedly violating non-solicitation covenants across 182,000 loans in Mr. Cooper's servicing portfolio.

The lawsuit quotes Ishbia telling brokers he would "lose money just for fun" to harm Mr. Cooper.

UWMC closed at its 52-week low yesterday, with the stock approaching $3. So now feels like the right moment to power-rank the active litigation against UWM and Ishbia.

THE ISHBIA / UWM POWER RANKINGS

#1. Rocket v. UWM ($100M, NY Supreme Court, NEW) Rocket alleges UWM ran a "Refi Shield 100" program offering 100 basis points off the rate to refinance loans Mr. Cooper had purchased from UWM under a contractual prohibition against solicitation.

#2. Kohlberg + Seldin v. Ishbia (Phoenix Suns, Delaware Chancery) Two minority owners called the Suns Ishbia's "personal piggy bank" in court filings. The case is now in confidential binding mediation.

#3. Tracy v. Ishbia and UWM (Oakland County, Michigan) Ishbia contributed $14 million in 2021 to fund Mel Tucker's $95 million head coach contract at Michigan State. When Tucker was later investigated for sexual harassment, the lawsuit alleges MSU staff routed confidential investigation emails to a UWM corporate email address for fourteen straight months. UWM's defense: it was personal friendship between two guys, one of whom is deceased. The lead defense witness is unavailable for comment.

#4. The All-In Broker Trilogy Three cases UWM is currently prosecuting against brokers for breaking the All-In exclusivity agreement: Atlantic Trust ($355K), District Lending ($420K), America's MoneyLine (damages phase). In April, a federal judge floated holding UWM in contempt for refusing to produce Ishbia for a deposition in the Atlantic Trust case. UWM has filed multiple emergency motions to keep their CEO out of the witness chair. The chair remains empty.

#5. State of Ohio v. UWM Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued UWM over $605 million in Ohio mortgages allegedly steered through 99 percent loyalty brokers. UWM called it a "PR stunt."

Read the rest of this post here …

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May 14-17 - PGA Championship (Aronimink Golf Club)

May 16 - Preakness Stakes (Laurel Park, Md.)

May 17-20 - MBA Secondary and Capital Markets Conference (Marriott Marquis, NYC)

May 25 - Memorial Day (markets closed)

May 31 - Indy 500 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)

JUNE 2026

Jun 3 - Jobs Report (May)

Jun 5 - Belmont Stakes (Saratoga Race Course) -- Triple Crown on the line

Jun 11 - FIFA World Cup kicks off (USA, Canada, Mexico -- 48 teams)

Jun 14-16 - Ohio MBA Annual Conference (Columbus OH)

Jun 21 - Father's Day

Jun 16-17 - FOMC Meeting (rate decision, press conference)

Jun 18-21 - US Open Golf (Shinnecock Hills)

Jun 19 - Juneteenth (federal holiday, markets closed)

Jun 21 - Father's Day

Jun 22 - NBA Draft

Jun 29 - Wimbledon begins

“I intend to live forever. So far, so good.” - Steven Wright

Until the next one,
Swerb
[email protected]