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United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) grabbed another win this week in a challenge to its “All-In” initiative after a federal appeals court ruled against Florida-based Okavage Group.
Since 2021, UWM and Okavage Group have been engaged in a legal tango. Okavage filed an antitrust lawsuit against UWM over the lender’s ultimatum that prohibits mortgage brokers from working with competitors Rocket Mortgage and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.
Following the ultimatum, Fairway exited the wholesale channel.
According to court filings, the brokerage, led by Dan O’Kavage, refused to sign the agreement, saying that Rocket and Fairway frequently provided better deals for its clients.
In September 2024, a Florida district court dismissed the brokerage’s lawsuit, finding that the plaintiff had not sufficiently alleged a conspiracy between UWM and other industry brokers. Okavage Group appealed the decision later that year, but the effort was unsuccessful, as the appellate court this week upheld the lower court’s ruling.
National Mortgage News first reported the update on Thursday evening.
The three judges of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page ruling without further comment. From here, Okavage Group could appeal to the Supreme Court, but the case is unlikely to be heard.
“This ruling is a clear and resounding rejection of the baseless claims brought against UWM,” a UWM spokesperson said in a statement. “At every level, the courts have upheld the integrity of the legal process and confirmed that these allegations had no foundation in fact or law.”
Okavage Group did not immediately respond to HousingWire‘s request for comment.
In the lower court case, Okavage Group sought to include explosive claims from an April 2024 Hunterbrook Media report, but a judge ruled that the article didn’t resolve flaws in the complaint.
A separate complaint tied to the Hunterbrook findings is still pending.
Last month, the Ohio attorney general, Dave Yost, also sued UWM, claiming that the lender conspired with mortgage brokers to steer loans and rip off consumers in Ohio.
