UWM CEO Mat Ishbia bashes Rocket Mortgage over buyouts Breana Noble

The Detroit News

Mat Ishbia, the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage Holdings Corp., has reignited the Pontiac-based mortgage giant's feud with crosstown rival Rocket Mortgage, slamming the country's No. 1 mortgage lender for taking workforce reduction actions that he called "disgusting."

Detroit-based Rocket Companies Inc. this week said it was offering voluntary buyouts to 8% of its employees at Rocket Mortgage and title insurer Amrock. In doing so, it joined a chorus of lenders across the country in announcing efforts to reduce their workforces as interest rates increase and inventory remains tight, reducing demand for refinances and other mortgages. It wasn't clear as to how many people Rocket Companies, which also includes businesses like Rocket Homes and Rocket Auto, made its offer, but it employs in total 26,000 people, mostly in Detroit.

"Disappointed is the nicest way to describe my thoughts around Rocket Mortgage/Quicken Loans laying off over 2,000 of their people, as this should not be necessary for a company that made over $5 Billion last year in profits," Ishbia wrote in a post on LinkedIn. "Even though United Wholesale Mortgage directly competes with Rocket, I hate seeing this type of negative impact on families in Metro Detroit. These 2,000+ people will struggle to find new jobs, and I think it’s disgusting that they’re thinking short term and are solely focused on cutting a few million per month in costs… this is the wrong thing to do to people."