Rocket offering voluntary buyouts as integration continues

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1. Rocket offering voluntary buyouts as integration continues

Following its acquisitions of Mr. Cooper and Redfin, Rocket Companies is offering voluntary separation packages to employees in overlapping roles.

The company isn't disclosing which teams are affected or how many people received offers — but packages include tenure-based severance, up to 12 months of health benefits, and job search support.

This follows a July 2025 layoff that cut roughly 2% of staff weeks after the Redfin deal closed. The acquisitions ballooned Rocket's headcount from 14,263 to 23,500 by end of 2025.

2. Mortgage demand drops more than 10% as rates hit the highest level since October

The 30-year fixed rate climbed to 6.43% last week — the highest since October 2025 and now more than 30 basis points above where it was at the end of February.

The Iran conflict keeps oil prices elevated and Treasury yields stubbornly high, and that's hammering demand across the board.

• Refi applications dropped 15% for the week, with the refi share of total applications sliding to 49.6% — down from 60% in mid-January.

• Purchase apps fell 5% and are now just 5% above last year's levels, erasing much of the year-over-year cushion.

Even if a ceasefire comes, economists warn rates won't snap back to February levels overnight — the energy price spike has already set off second-round inflation effects that will take time to unwind.

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3. More Nuggets

🔬 TransUnion launches new fraud and personal safety check app. (TransUnion)

🤝 How mentorship, not recruiting alone, builds strong loan officers. (HousingWire)

⚖️ Swalwell drops mortgage privacy lawsuit against FHFA’s Pulte. (The Hill)

💸 CrossCountry, UWM vie for Two Harbors in bidding war. (Scotsman Guide)

💻 US Mortgage sued over ransomware attack. (National Mortgage News)

4. HUD investigates Washington state's race-conscious down payment program

HUD is probing Washington's Covenant Homeownership Program, launched in 2024, which offers zero-interest down payment and closing cost assistance to borrowers whose parents or grandparents are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, or of Indian descent.

HUD's letter noted that individuals of European, Japanese, Arab, or Jewish ancestry do not appear to qualify. HUD Secretary Turner called the program an illegal use of racial preferences and said the agency won't tolerate what it views as a violation of equal protection rights.

The timing is notable — the investigation comes just days after 16 state attorneys general sued HUD, accusing the agency of trying to force states to weaken their own housing discrimination protections.

5. Hawley puts FICO's mortgage pricing under the microscope

Sen. Josh Hawley is investigating FICO's credit score pricing practices and is pushing the FTC to do the same.

His case: FICO's wholesale per-score price jumped from $0.60 to $10 over five years — a 100% compound annual growth rate — with an 88% operating margin. That, Hawley argues, looks a lot more like monopoly pricing than a competitive market.

FICO's planned 2026 price increase could add roughly $500 million in costs across the industry, which ultimately get passed to borrowers — especially first-time buyers who often pay for multiple credit checks before closing on a home.

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

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