UWM goes directly to Two Harbors shareholders with a $12 per share bid

😎 Happy Monday and May the 4th be with you. It's National Small Business Week.

1. UWM goes directly to Two Harbors shareholders with a $12 per share bid

UWM has bypassed Two Harbors' board entirely, issuing an open letter to shareholders with a new $12 per share offer — cash, UWMC stock, or a combination — topping CrossCountry's current $11.30 bid by more than 6%.

The letter also accuses Two Harbors' board of failing to engage with UWM's proposals and implementing deal protections that benefit management over shareholders, shifting the argument from price to fiduciary duty.

Here's how the saga has unfolded: Two Harbors originally agreed to merge with UWM, then delayed a shareholder vote twice, then terminated the deal in favor of CrossCountry's $10.80 offer, triggering a $25.4 million breakup fee. CrossCountry then raised its bid to $11.30. Now UWM is going over the board's head.

At its core, this is a battle over MSRs and secondary market infrastructure, assets both companies want badly enough to keep raising their hands.

2. HUD says agents can discuss crime and school data — reversing years of industry practice

HUD's Office of Fair Housing issued guidance stating that real estate agents do not violate the Fair Housing Act by discussing neighborhood crime rates or school quality with clients, as long as they do so consistently and without intent to steer based on race.

The letter directly calls out Realtor’com, Redfin, and Trulia for removing crime data from their platforms, and accuses NAR of imposing a "professional gag order" on its members — citing 2023 NAR guidance that warned agents answering school questions could trigger fair housing violations through "implicit bias."

HUD called those statements "misguided" and is now urging real estate organizations to revisit their ethics training. The guidance was prompted by Trump's executive order on meritocracy, which HUD says supersedes Biden-era policies. NAR has not responded.

A MESSAGE FROM CHRIS JOHNSTONE

The Loan Officers Winning More Deals All Have One Thing in Common

They're using AI — and most of their competition hasn't figured it out yet.

This isn't a AI hype book. AI 101 for Loan Officers is a step-by-step guide built specifically for your business — showing you exactly how to use AI to show up where buyers are searching, stay top-of-mind with referral partners, and convert more leads.

3. More Nuggets

🏡 A $400 Million Home Listed In Los Angeles. (Zillow)

📃 Game: Unfold the paper. (Play)

🤔 Why you’re more likely to buy something for $4.99 than $5.00. (theHustle)

🚔 Trigger leads are still happening?! (LinkedIn)

📰 A NY man gets prison time for forging a deed on a $755k home. (Inman)

4. No-SSN borrowers can now check their credit across all three bureaus

A new credit access tool is targeting a persistent gap in mortgage lending: borrowers without Social Security numbers.

MyFreeScoreNow is offering tri-bureau credit access for ITIN borrowers, foreign nationals, and other thin-file applicants without SSNs — claiming to be the first to do so in a digital, self-service format.

It doesn't change underwriting guidelines, but it addresses an earlier problem: these borrowers have been hard to assess before a formal credit pull. Better upfront visibility could mean fewer late-stage surprises on files that looked workable but stalled once full credit was pulled.

5. Housing pipeline splits as starts rise, permits fall

Single-family starts jumped 9.7% month-over-month to 1.03 million, pushing total starts up 10.8% to a 1.5 million annual pace.

But permits fell 10.8% to 1.37 million, with single-family permits down 3.8% — signaling builders are pulling back on future commitments even as current construction accelerates.

Completions are also running 12.8% below last year's pace, meaning finished homes aren't reaching the market fast enough to meaningfully loosen supply. More homes are entering the pipeline now, but there's less behind them.

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

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