Rocket, United Wholesale among mortgage players accused of collusion

"Homeowners in Tennessee, Minnesota, Delaware and Rhode Island claimed that mortgage software provider Optimal Blue enabled nearly 30 major lenders, including Rocket Mortgage, CrossCountry Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage, to inflate residential mortgage fees and rates. Plano, Texas-based Optimal Blue provides market intelligence and pricing software to mortgage lenders. In 2019, it launched its pricing software, which gives lenders access to real-time pricing data provided by other lenders."

"The complaint claims that in a competitive market, loan originators would guard this data jealously. Instead, Defendants freely share this intelligence as the price of cartel membership, ensuring uniformly inflated mortgage prices for American families. The lawsuit echoes the suits filed against rent-pricing software RealPage, which have argued that its real-time rent pricing software allows landlords to collude to reduce competition and artificially inflate rents."

"The proposed class includes borrowers who received residential mortgages priced using Optimal Blue starting in October 2021. The complaint claims that Optimal Blue and the named lenders violated antitrust laws, and are seeking unspecified damages. Reuters first reported the lawsuit. The complaint comes during a period in which borrowers have been hemmed in by persistently high mortgage rates. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hasn't fallen below 6 percent since Sept. 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis."

Homeowners in Tennessee, Minnesota, Delaware and Rhode Island filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Optimal Blue enabled nearly 30 major lenders to inflate residential mortgage fees and rates. Optimal Blue provides market intelligence and pricing software and in 2019 launched pricing tools that give lenders access to real-time pricing data from other lenders; it counts about 3,500 clients. Plaintiffs allege that defendants shared competitive pricing intelligence as the price of cartel membership, producing uniformly inflated mortgage prices. The proposed class covers mortgages priced with Optimal Blue from October 2021. Plaintiffs allege antitrust violations and seek unspecified damages.

Read at therealdeal.com