Better and Coinbase let borrowers use crypto as a down payment

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1. Zillow Preview keeps growing — 24 more brokerages sign on

Just eight days after launch, Zillow Preview has added 24 new real estate firms including Engel & Völkers, SERHANT., Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, and Samson Properties. They join the original five — KW, RE/MAX, HomeServices, Side, and United Real Estate.

• The product gives listing agents priority placement in search results plus real-time data on views, saves, and tour requests during the pre-market period — tools brokers are framing as a pricing and strategy resource for sellers before going fully live.

Zillow says participating brokerages can also display coming soon listings on their own sites, but agents are responsible for complying with their local MLS rules. Listings are expected to go live on Zillow and Trulia next month.

2. California borrower sues UWM over unauthorized credit pull

A California woman is suing UWM in federal court, claiming the lender pulled her credit from all three bureaus without authorization while she was only making an early-stage refinance inquiry — not submitting a formal application. When she asked whether it was a hard pull, the loan officer confirmed it was, according to the complaint.

UWM apparently told CoreLogic Credco the pull was based on verbal authorization. The borrower says that's false and she never gave any authorization, verbal or written. She's alleging violations of both the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and California's equivalent state law.

UWM called the allegations "factually incorrect" and said it intends to fight the claims. The case is a pointed reminder for LOs: document borrower authorization before pulling credit — every time.

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3. More Nuggets

🚩 Summit Funding to lay off staff amid CCM deal. (HousingWire)

💰 Wall Street bonuses surge 9% to record $49.2 billion in 2025. (Reuters)

⚖️ California borrower sues UWM over credit pull. (NMP)

🧑‍⚖️ Judge strikes down rule targeting money laundering in real estate. (NAR)

📰 US to Make It harder to label non-banks ‘too-big-to-fail’. (MSN)

4. Better and Coinbase let borrowers use crypto as a down payment

Better.com and Coinbase have launched a token-backed mortgage product that lets borrowers pledge Bitcoin or USDC as collateral for a conforming down payment — without selling their crypto and triggering a taxable event.

If crypto values drop, the mortgage terms don't change and no additional collateral is required. The pledged assets are only at risk of liquidation if the borrower goes 60 days delinquent on the mortgage. Coinbase One members who close through Better also get a 1% rebate on the mortgage amount, capped at $10,000.

The companies say 52 million Americans hold digital assets but lack the liquid cash for a traditional down payment — and plan to eventually expand eligible collateral to include tokenized equities and fixed income.

5. Mortgage rates closing in on 7% as Iran conflict escalates

Rates hit 6.62% this week according to Mortgage News Daily — up from below 6% before the war — and every headline out of the Middle East is moving the market.

Trump's latest update on the conflict didn't signal a quick resolution, pushing the 10-year yield higher again alongside oil prices.

Housing demand was having its best start in years before March. Purchase apps were running at multi-year highs with positive year-over-year gains every week — until last week, when apps dropped 5% week-over-week and YoY growth slowed from 12% to 5%.

A MESSAGE FROM CHRIS JOHNSTONE

AI Is Changing How Deals Are Won

This isn’t just about ChatGPT rankings.

It’s about using AI to generate:

• More inbound deals

• More referrals

• More referral partners

AI 101 shows you exactly how to get started.

👉 Join the pre-launch: https://www.loaibook.com

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!

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