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A federal judge has moved to toss another antitrust suit against United Wholesale Mortgage and its All-In initiative. America's Moneyline, one of the first mortgage brokers to be targeted by UWM for breaking the All-In ultimatum, filed a countersuit in February 2022, claiming the wholesale lender is "seeking to create a monopoly in the wholesale mortgage lending industry." A Michigan federal judge threw out the complaint March 29, relying on a recommendation made by a Florida judge one month earlier as justification.In February, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Lothman Lambert recommended a suit filed by  Florida-based brokerage The Okavage Group, which also accused UWM of violating federal antitrust laws, be dismissed because it failed to convince her that the wholesale lender's ultimatum is anticompetitive. "Plaintiff includes no factual allegations to plausibly allege the potential for genuine adverse effects on competition and thus, fails to allege a sufficient link between the ultimatum and harm to competition within the overall mortgage market or the wholesale retail mortgage market," Florida's magistrate said. (The Okavage Group filed an objection to Lambert's filings, which will eventually be reviewed by the U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger in the Middle District of Florida, based in Jacksonville.)Michigan-based U.S. District Judge Laurie J. Michelson wrote she agrees with and adopts the Florida ruling and is granting UWM's motion to dismiss. Despite this, Judge Michelson said that if Judge Lambert's recommendations get reversed, the Michigan court would "consider those rulings and whether they merit reconsideration of this one." AML did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for UWM said the company is "not surprised with the decision from the Federal court." "This is exactly what we expected and know it's the right decision based on the law and the contracts that were signed," the company's spokeswoman added. As of Monday, AML's website was no longer functioning and it currently sponsors only two loan officers, per the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. Meanwhile, Mortgage Moneyline, an entity created two years ago by AML's owner Shawn Nevin and Dean Lob, the company's former chief operating officer, has over a dozen AML employees registered and an active website. Mortgage Moneyline was created in May 2022, three months after UWM filed its $2.8 million suit, documents show. UWM is suing three other companies for selling loans to Fairway and Rocket, with two of those cases filed in the past four months. Another lender, Mid Valley Funding, agreed to settle and pay UWM $40,000 last June, the company confirmed. (Since February, Fairway is no longer involved in wholesale lending.)

Kentucky became the latest state to pass legislation prohibiting NTRAPS, or non-title recorded agreements for personal services, where homeowners find themselves tricked into signing contracts that impede their ability to sell their property in the future.In late March, house Bill 88 passed unanimously by a vote of 96-0 in Kentucky's House of Representatives after similarly sailing through the Senate a week earlier. It is expected to be signed by Gov. Andy Beshear in the coming weeks. Rep. Michael Meredith was the bill's lead sponsor."Several real estate companies have been using a predatory business model to target seniors and financially insecure homeowners," said Gary Adkins, volunteer state president of AARP Kentucky, in a press release. "Invariably, older adults are targeted specifically, and therefore, need extra safeguards to be protected from such an unfair, deceptive, and abusive practice," he added. Businesses engaging in the practice frequently approach homeowners with offers of a cash gift in exchange for an agreement that obligates their services be used exclusively for any sale in the future. But the length of agreements and often hefty charges for early termination are hidden within the contracts, with the business' names sometimes appearing in title searches. NTRAPs have been observed in property records since 2018, according to the American Land Title Association. Among the alleged perpetrators of NTRAP activity is MV Realty, who began marketing the "service" in Florida in 2017. To date, 10 states have sued MV Realty, including Missouri, which is the most recent to file a lawsuit in mid March.  Kentucky's bill will prohibit such agreements to appear in property records and penalize violators. The legislation will also provide a means to remove NTRAPs already appearing on records and make them unenforceable by state law.  The passage of the bill adds further momentum to policy trends that began in 2023, when Utah became the first to pass legislation against NTRAPs. Since then, 15 other states have followed suit, while four other bills await governors' signatures. Along with the Bluegrass State, chambers in both Indiana and Virginia both passed new laws in the past several weeks. Both ALTA and AARP have been at the forefront of initiatives pushing for greater enforcement against NTRAPs. "A home often is a consumer's largest investment, and the best way to support the certainty of land ownership is through public policy," said Elizabeth Blosser, ALTA vice president of government affairs, in a press release.  "We have to ensure that there are no unreasonable restraints on a homebuyer's future ability to sell or refinance their property due to unwarranted transactional costs."

A federal judge issued an injunction against a final rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to update the implementing regulations of the Community Reinvestment Act, finding that the rule likely exceeds the statutory authority granted to regulators.Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas issued an injunction against bank regulators' new Community Reinvestment Act rules, blocking the rule's enforcement until legal issues about the updated regulation can be resolved. The move by the Texas judge represents a win for bank trade groups, who sued their prudential regulators —  the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve —  after those regulators finalized their reforms to the CRA in October. The lawsuit claims that the regulators overstepped their statutory authority in doing so. "While we strongly support the goals of CRA, the final rules exceeded the banking agencies' regulatory authority and created disincentives for banks to lend in low- and moderate-income communities that need access to credit the most," the Independent Community Bankers Association said in a statement following the judge's injunction. "We look forward to litigating this matter to a final judgment." The lawsuit is part of a substantial uptick in legal challenges to regulators' rules during the Biden administration. Lobbying groups representing the banking industry have become more litigious, drawing criticism from community organizations who have been arguing for reforms to the CRA for years."The court should reject this transparent attempt to use the legal system to disrupt the rulemaking process and permit banks to  maintain a high CRA rating while failing to meet the banking needs of the community," said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. "It's outrageous, but not surprising, that some big banks are attempting to block oversight of the industry's lackluster record of lending to underserved and minority communities. CRA lending guidelines have not been updated in over a quarter-century, and are needed to create a fairer, future-focused financial system."The judge in this case is U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, the lone active judge in Amarillo and an appointee of former President Donald Trump. His courthouse has become a favored venue for challengers to regulations passed by the Biden administration. He agreed with trade groups that bank regulators in the updated CRA guidelines surpassed what that original 1977 law allows. The regulators, Kacsmaryk wrote, might have surpassed their authorities by creating the ability for banks to be assessed beyond just where they have physical branches into where banks give out retail loans. A different Texas judge last week agreed to move a lawsuit Texas judge moved CFPB's $8 credit card late fee case to DC, a blow to trade groups who the judge accused of "forum shopping" by filing the case in Texas in order to get a judge sympathetic to the industry. The 5th Circuit has stayed that transfer pending a hearing Tuesday on whether the transfer amounts to a denial of plaintiffs' motion for an injunction against the late fee rule.

Doma, which went public in 2021 with hopes of not just taking on the big four title underwriters but expanding into other real estate transaction-related businesses, is ending its run, selling itself to privately held Title Resources Group for $6.29 per share."The company's goal to disrupt the title industry proved elusive and Doma has generated significant losses since it became public," wrote Bose George, who performs analysis on title companies for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. He does not cover Doma regularly."Historically there has been limited [merger and acquisition activity] in the title insurance space, and we expect that to continue to be the case," George added. The deal is valued at almost $85 million, he said.The transaction was announced after the market closed on March 28. Doma closed trading that day at $4.54 per share.The next day the stock market was open, April 1, Doma hit a high of $6.12 per share, close to but still below the sale price.Doma's underwriting operations, and its technology division, which is likely to be renamed Doma Technology LLC, or Doma TechCo for short, are expected to operate as subsidiaries of TRG.Doma TechCo will be operating on a separately capitalized basis as Hudson Structured Capital Management (also known as HSCM Bermuda) will invest in Doma TechCo.The most recent data on title insurer market share, from the American Land Title Association, which is covering the third quarter of 2023, showed TRG ranked eighth at 2.9% and Doma tenth with a 1.8% share. On a pro forma basis, the combination would be close in size to the largest independent title underwriter, Westcor Land Title Insurance, which had a 4.8% share for the period. Note that this is a ranking by underwriter, not parent company, and not just the big four firms, but several independents as well operate multiple units.First American Title Insurance had the largest share in the period at 21.6%. But a trio of Fidelity National units had a combined total of 29.9%.Doma was rebranded from its former name, States Title, in 2021. Homebuilder Lennar was a major shareholder in the company due to States' purchase of North American Title.Lennar through its affiliates has 25% voting power of Doma's common stock and it has agreed to vote in favor of the deal. After the transaction, Lennar will hold 8.36% of the merged companies.Meanwhile, TRG has ties to the real estate industry as a former subsidiary of Anywhere Real Estate (which was formerly known as Realogy. At the time that Centerbridge Partners acquired 70% of TRG, Anywhere held on to 30%. An Anywhere competitor, Berkshire Hathaway-owned HomeServices of America, has since purchased an undisclosed interest in TRG.At the time when its special purpose acquisition company merger with Capitol Investment Corp. V was announced in March 2021, Doma CEO Max Simkoff predicted the company would grow to 330,500 closed orders per year in 2023 from 92,400 in 2020. But Doma was never able to gain traction in a title insurance market that consolidated due to the vast decline in mortgage originations.Doma had divested its own internal title production business in multiple transactions last year to Williston Financial Group, Near North Title and Capital Title of Texas. As a result, it no longer reported open or closed order counts. It still sourced business through relationships with independent title agents.Its closed orders in 2023 totalled 71,953, down from 136,248 in 2022; Doma had projected 212,200 for that year when the SPAC deal was announced.Simkoff's ambitions also included Doma moving into adjacent businesses such as appraisal and home warranty.But Doma was never able to achieve profitability as a public company and it retrenched operations several times, not just with the sales of the production offices.In its most recent quarter, Doma lost $18 million for the period ended Dec. 31, 2023, an improvement from the third quarter, when it lost $22 million.During the earnings call, Simkoff made waves by saying Doma supported Pres. Biden's title waiver pilot initiative. The company has an upcoming technology pilot with Fannie Mae."Since Doma's technology unit will now be a subsidiary of TRG, we anticipate no change in its expected role in the Fannie Mae pilot," KBW's George wrote.Doma's sale will leave just the big four family title insurers operations — Fidelity National, First American Financial, Stewart and Old Republic International (which also underwrites general insurance) — and Investors Title as publicly traded companies.In addition, private mortgage insurers Radian Group and Essent Group own title insurance underwriting companies.National Mortgage News made requests for comment from Doma, TRG and Lennar, which were not returned.However in the press release, Simkoff said "Today's announcement is a win for Doma's stockholders and for both companies' employees and customers."From TRG's perspective, "We look forward to partnering with the Doma team and providing excellent underwriting services to Doma's many strong agents," Scott McCall, its president and CEO, said.The transaction has a 50-day go-shop provision in which Doma can solicit for better offers. The contemplated end date for the deal is Sept. 28.The contract calls for a termination fee of nearly $3.2 million, unless a superior proposal is received during the go-shop period; in that case the fee would be approximately $1.8 million.Advisors for the deal included Houlihan Lokey Capital as financial advisor to the special committee of Doma's board, with Latham & Watkins as its legal counsel. Davis Polk & Wardwell was the company's legal counsel and Mayer Brown as insurance regulatory counsel. Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal counsel to TRG and Morrison Foerster had the same role for the Lennar stockholders.

The Department of Labor has ordered former Primelending employees to pay $35,000 as recompense to two fired whistleblowers who reported pressure to commit an alleged mortgage fraud involving improper fees.The money will compensate the whistleblowers for back-wages, related interest and emotional distress that followed their reports about a branch manager, according to the department. The manager allegedly wanted them to charge consumers fees for the lender's processing holdups."Employees who report potential consumer fraud are protected by federal law against retaliation of any kind," said James Wulff, regional administrator at the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration."Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act's whistleblower provisions, managers can be fined personally for retaliation," he continued. "In this case, OSHA fined three Primelending managers for trying to prevent workers' concerns from coming to light."The department said it ordered a former senior vice president and two managers to make the payments, but did not otherwise specifically identify the former employees involved due to its policy of not naming individuals involved in whistleblower complaints.In addition to ordering certain ex-employees to make payments, the Department of Labor calls upon the company to display information at various offices stating that whistleblowers won't face repercussions. It also requires the lender to provide training around worker rights that the aforementioned legislation protects.Primelending had not responded to a request for comment at deadline.The order echoes some broader current themes in enforcement, including  the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's focus on charges in financing it considers to be improper or "junk" fees, and a recent Supreme Court decision finding in favor of whistleblowers.The Supreme Court's decision in Murray v. UBS Securities LLC in February expanded protections for whistleblowers at covered companies under the Sarbanes Oxley Act.The case involves a commercial-mortgage backed securities strategist who contended in court documents that "two leaders of the CMBS trading desk improperly pressured him to skew his reports to be more supportive of their business strategies," according to the decision.The justices overturned an earlier decision in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and found that the plaintiff did not have to prove that the company acted "with retaliatory intent."A Department of Justice official also announced last month that it will be experimenting with a program aimed at expanding the availability of incentive payments to whistleblowers.While noting that previous payments have been limited to agencies' jurisdiction or qui tam cases involving  "fraud against the government," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the pilot program aims to also encompass "significant corporate or financial misconduct."Under the program the DOJ is engaging in a "90-day sprint" to launch later this year, whistleblowers reporting issues the department is not otherwise aware of "could qualify to receive a portion of the resulting forfeiture" that doesn't overlap with qui tam or other payments.Within the housing finance industry, other whistleblower developments in the past year include a $23.75 million Movement Mortgage settlement over alleged False Claims Act violations in underwriting government-backed loans.

KBRA assigned a rating to a new series of servicing-related term notes from a master trust issuer at Freedom Mortgage this week in line in a Ginnie Mae market that's drawing more focus.The series 2024-SAT1 notes from FMC GMSR issuer trust are backed by certificates that represent participation interests in Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rights. Interests include servicing income and the right to advance reimbursement.The rating agency assigned a low-end investment grade designation of BBB- to the transaction, which has features that include the ability to transfer servicing if Freedom Mortgage were to default.The rating is slightly lower than that received by a somewhat similar Pennymac transaction last month. KBRA assigned a BBB rating to Series 2024-GT1 notes from Pennymac's GMSR issuer trust.Both Pennymac and Freedom are key players in the Ginnie Mae market. Ginnie Mae guarantees securitizations of home loans that other public entities like the Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs back.Conditions have shifted recently in Ginnie servicing and it's been getting more market attention, Seth Sprague, director of consulting at Richey May, said in a recent webinar.That's in part because when rates fell in the fourth quarter of last year, there was a notable pickup in prepayments for 6.5% coupons, generally reflecting activity in 7% mortgages."That is an opportunity or a threat. It depends on what side of the house you're on," he said. "If you own servicing and don't have the ability to recapture, this is a threat to you. If you have the ability to recapture it, this is an opportunity."

Homeownership affordability problems do not end once the consumer closes on the property, as nearly nine out of every 10 said the true cost is higher than expected, a Clever Real Estate study said.Nearly three in five respondents, 58%, said they had buyers' remorse, and among those that bought their property in 2020 (when the pandemic-fueled boom started) or later, the regret rate was over two-thirds at 68%. Purchasers before that time, 54% said they had buyers' remorse.The average homeowner spends $17,958 annually on expenses; if the borrower stays in the property for the entire 30-year term of a typical mortgage, that adds up to $538,740, Clever RE and its Real Estate Witch online publication found.About 36% of homeowners believe owning their home has negatively affected their finances, with 23% stating it's negatively impacted their mental health.Had they known the total cost ahead of time, 60% of respondents claimed they would have made a different homebuying decision.The top two choices about what they would have done differently is that they would have purchased a property that requires less maintenance, or negotiated a better price or contingencies, both at 21%. Waiting until mortgage rates fall was cited by 14%; respondents could choose more than one response.Those who bought a home in 2023 or 2024 were more likely to say they overpaid than those who bought before 2010, 46% to 16%. From the entire sample, about 26% of homeowners say they overpaid.Just under half stated they are spending more money owning a home than they would have on renting, supporting some recent studies on the costs of both. Meanwhile 28% stated if they had their druthers, they would prefer to return to renting.Nearly two-thirds of respondents had regrets about their purchase, with 15% stating their mortgage payments are too high and 13% saying their interest rate is too high; more than one answer was possible for this question.Clever/Real Estate Witch did an online survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners on Feb.1 and 2. Each respondent answered 25 questions.A separate study from Redfin released on Thursday found a buyer must earn $75,849 annually to afford the typical starter home as of February, up 8.2%, or $5,767 over a year earlier.Different data Redfin put out that same day found for all homes, the average monthly payment on a purchase for the four weeks ended March 24 was at an all-time high."The most affordable homes are much smaller and often require a lot of work to make them habitable — which makes them cost even more," Elijah de la Campa, senior economist at Redfin, said in a press release. "Today's most affordable homes are still hard for the average American to afford, let alone the average first-time buyer who tends to put less money down in exchange for higher monthly payments."

Leading real estate trade groups are calling on federal agencies to address looming commissions changes which could upend mortgage originations for select home buyers.New guidelines set to go into effect this July from the National Association of Realtors settlement could mitigate the use of buyer agents, as sellers won't have to offer them compensation on Multiple Listing Services. While parties can still negotiate fees, and the traditional comp model may remain in place, industry leaders are wary of new rules clashing with federal underwriting standards.The Federal Housing Administration answered some of those concerns Thursday, as it addressed questions from an open letter Wednesday by NAR and the Mortgage Bankers Association. Under FHA guidelines, buy-side commissions are excluded from caps on interested party contributions, in which concessions such as loan closing costs and rate buydowns fall under. "If sellers continue to pay buyer-side real estate agent commissions and fees…and if the commissions and fees are reasonable in amount, existing policy would not treat those payments as interested party contributions provided all other requirements are met," the FHA said. Another question remains regarding Department of Veterans Affairs-backed originations, in which buyers cannot pay their "professional representative" directly. In separate letters this week, NAR and the Community Home Lenders of America asked the regulator to expedite a policy change to address situations in which a seller won't pay a VA buyer's agent commission."VA buyers are immediately at a disadvantage, potentially forcing them to forego professional representation, lose a property in an already limited inventory, choose a different loan product, or exit the market entirely," wrote NAR President Kevin Sears in a letter to John Bell, executive director, Loan Guaranty Service, at the VA. The VA is working with the Department of Justice to review the implications of the NAR settlement, a spokesperson said Thursday. The Federal Housing Finance Agency and other federal housing stakeholders meanwhile have been largely mum on the topic since NAR made its announcement March 15. Industry veterans and analysts have suggested federal lawmakers could address protections for VA and other impacted buyers ahead of the rule changes. NAR's massive $418 million settlement with home buyers, which also covers the organization's member-owned brokerages with transactional volume of $2 billion or less in 2022, is pending a federal judge's approval. Federal law enforcement intervention also remains a possibility, as the DOJ could weigh in on NAR's proposed settlement.

Young aspiring homeowners are increasingly reliant on the bank of mom and dad to help make their purchase, new research finds.Over a third of Generation Z and millennials who plan to buy a home in the near term are expecting to use, in part, gifts from family to help with a down payment, according to a report by Redfin. The 36% share is twice as large as it was just five years ago, the online real-estate brokerage said. In a 2019 millennial-only poll, 18% said they were turning to family for assistance, The portion increased by only 5 percentage points to 23% last year. Despite the surge in family support, Gen Z and millennial buyers are also trying to do their part as well in most cases. Approximately 60% of consumers in the same age demographics are regularly saving income to fund a down payment, with 39% also taking on second jobs to help them reach their homeownership goals, Redfin found.Further down the list of likely funding options was the sale of stock investments, mentioned by 29%, while 22% said they would consider drawing early from retirement funds.   The rising share of consumers using family gifts for a leg up points to a larger affordability issue that makes even a starter-home purchase beyond reach for many, according to Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. "Because housing costs have soared so much, many young adults with family money get help from mom and dad even when they have jobs and earn a perfectly respectable income," she said in a press release. "The bigger problem is that young Americans who don't have family money are often shut out of homeownership. Many of them earn a perfectly good income, too, but they aren't able to afford a home because they're at a generational disadvantage; they don't have a pot of family money to dip into."Heightened attention on housing challenges, particularly related to the difficulty in coming up with down payment and closing-cost funding, has turned much of the mortgage industry's attention toward buyer assistance resources in the past several months. Last year, housing agencies across the country added 135 new programs, a 6% increase from 2022, according to data from Down Payment Resource. But consumers are sometimes not fully aware of the benefits offered. To address some of the information gap, Freddie Mac also unveiled a portal last fall to help aspiring homeowners and their mortgage lenders find down payment assistance they might qualify for.As of January this year, just under 2,300 of such programs were available across the country, provided by a combination of groups, including state housing agencies, municipalities and nonprofits, Down Payment Resource said.In March, two financial institutions announced their plans to up homebuyer assistance efforts. Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank launched a new down payment grant program, offering a maximum of $2,000 to eligible borrowers that can help reduce initial costs of the home purchase. Meanwhile, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago said it would increase the amount made available to each of its Midwestern member institutions to $1 million for funding of their own homebuyer grant programs. The new total represents a 43% increase from the 2023 limit of $700,000, while the overall budget for the Chicago bank's down payment assistance projects is now over $39 million. Eligible first-time mortgage borrowers will have access to up to $10,000 of financial aid when financing through a member bank or their partners.Despite recent slowing in home price growth, the current level of housing costs is the No. 1 reason young consumers are opting not to buy in today's market, Redfin said. In its survey, 43% of the segment not in the market cited it as a factor, followed by 34% who said the inability to save for a down payment deterred them. The challenge of keeping up with mortgage payments and perceived high interest-rate levels was each noted by 29%.Housing affordability looks likely to rise in the public eye this year, with President Biden seemingly ready to make it a talking point during campaign season. In his recent State of the Union address, Biden called for mortgage tax credits, title insurance alternatives and up to $25,000 in down payment assistance in order to help address affordability challenges the country faces.Housing issues could play a role in the final presidential election result. In a previous Redfin analysis, its researchers found a majority of U.S. households indicating home affordability might influence who they vote for this year. 

Digital lender Better Home & Finance has ditched its compensation model from the refinance boom, a move it made as the lender trimmed quarterly losses.The company posted a $59 million net loss in the fourth quarter in its second earnings report since going public last summer, it announced Thursday. That was an 83% improvement from the $340 million net loss over the third quarter, which was exacerbated by a financial repercussion from its merger to go public.Better executives are bullish on future performance after shifting loan officer pay last year to commission-based compensation plans, moving on from no-commission, fixed-compensation for LOs stemming from the low-rate environment of years past. "We are pleased to see early conversion improvements from this new operating model and the seasoned sales talent we are hiring, as well as better alignment between our production output and cost," said Vishal Garg, founder and CEO, in a conference call Thursday morning. The business reported $527 million in funded loan volume in the fourth quarter, and $3 billion across 8,569 loans for the year. The recent three-month stretch of production was a slide from $731 million in funded loan volume in the third quarter.For the year, Better disclosed a $534 million net loss, a sizable decline from the $879 million loss over 2022. The lender also posted a $303.8 million net loss in 2021. It recorded major deficits in its massive, lengthy downsizing from over 10,000 employees to a little over 1,000. The company also cut its expenses by nearly $1 billion, or 71% last year to $366 million in 2023.Better also recorded $9 million in total revenue ending December, and $77 million for the year. After receiving a $565 million capital infusion at the time of its merger, it reported $554 million in cash, restricted cash and short-term investments as of Dec. 31. Among other product rollouts during the quarter, the Manhattan-based firm promoted Better Duo, which allows third-party real estate agents to become licensed loan originators. The program counts 48 producing agents this quarter, compared to 12 at the end of last year, and follows Better's restructuring of its agent program last summer. Garg said the initiative is poised to appeal to homebuyers who may now have to weigh how to pay Realtor commissions. In recent months, Better has rolled out digital Department of Veterans Affairs loans and a one- day home equity line of credit product, which it reported jumped nearly 500% in volume in the prior 12 months. It also revealed it extended its white-label mortgage service to Beyond Inc., the e-commerce giant that owns Overstock.com and Bed Bath & Beyond. Garg also addressed the company's stock price, which was $0.52 per share as of midday, suggesting Better would undertake a reverse stock split or similar measure to be authorized at the firm's yet-to-be announced annual meeting. Executives repeatedly touted Better's new LO comp model as cause for optimism. During a period with 20,000 application starts, Better funded less than 10%, Garg said. More experienced LOs can help the company reach competitors which fund applications at rates between 20% to 40%."[It's] a real business model pivot and we hope can help narrow the gap and dramatically improve unit economics between us and the rest of the industry," said Garg.