Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to risks and uncertainties in the ordinary course of business that are common to all businesses, important factors that are specific to our industry and the Company could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. You should carefully consider the risks described below and in our subsequent periodic filings with the SEC. The following risk factors should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes in this Annual Report.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in additional risks that could materially adversely affect our ability to originate mortgages, our servicing operations, our liquidity and our team members.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on the national economy and the communities in which we operate. There is significant uncertainty regarding the extent to which and how long the COVID-19 pandemic and related government directives, actions and economic relief efforts will affect the core aspects of our business, including the origination of mortgages, our servicing operations, our liquidity and our team members. Such effects, if they continue for a prolonged period, may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operation. These additional risks may be exacerbated by a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be accelerated by mutations of the virus and the availability, acceptance and effectiveness of vaccines and other medical treatments.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and continues to impact our origination of mortgages. In response to the pandemic, many state and local governments issued shelter-in-place orders. While the origination of a mortgage is permitted under most shelter-in-place orders as an essential service, the restrictions have slowed our business operations that depend on third parties such as appraisers, closing agents and others for loan-related services and/or verifications. Additionally, the impact on home sales and future growth is uncertain. If the COVID-19 pandemic leads to a prolonged economic downturn with sustained high unemployment rates, we anticipate that real estate transactions will decrease. Any such slowdown may materially decrease the number and volume of mortgages we originate.
The COVID-19 pandemic is also affecting our servicing operations. As part of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CARES Act allows borrowers to request a mortgage forbearance. Nevertheless, servicers of mortgage loans are contractually bound to advance monthly payments to investors, insurers and taxing authorities regardless of whether the borrower actually makes those payments. We expect that such payments may continue to increase throughout the duration of the pandemic. While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued guidance limiting the number of payments a servicer must advance in the case of a forbearance, we expect that a borrower who has experienced a loss of employment or a reduction of income may not repay the forborne payments at the end of the forbearance period. Additionally, we are prohibited from collecting certain servicing-related fees, such as late fees, and we do not have the ability to initiate foreclosure proceedings on unengaged delinquent clients for the foreseeable future. We have so far successfully utilized prepayments and mortgage payoffs from other clients to fund principal and interest advances relating to forborne loans. However, there is no assurance that we will be successful in doing so in the coming months and we will ultimately have to replace such funds with our cash, including borrowings under our debt agreements, to make the payments required under our servicing operation.
Our liquidity may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We fund substantially all of the mortgage loans we close through borrowings under our loan funding facilities. Given the broad impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial markets, our future ability to borrow money to fund our current and future loan production is unknown. Our mortgage origination liquidity could also be affected as our lenders reassess their exposure to the mortgage origination industry and either curtail access to uncommitted mortgage warehouse financing capacity or impose higher costs to access such capacity. Our liquidity may be further constrained as there may be less demand by investors to acquire our mortgage loans in the secondary market. Even if such demand exists, we face a substantially higher repurchase risk as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic stemming from our clients inability to repay the underlying loans. Additionally, our liquidity may be affected from the changes that investors have made in their guidelines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We also expect that the COVID-19 pandemic may affect the productivity of our team members. As a result of the pandemic, in March, 2020, we transitioned to a remote working environment for over 98% of our team members. While our team members have transitioned well to working from home, over time such remote operations may decrease the cohesiveness of our teams and our ability to maintain our culture, both of which are integral to our success. Additionally, a remote working
environment may impede our ability to undertake new business projects, to foster a creative environment, to hire new team members and to retain existing team members.
The executive, legislative and regulatory reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the passage of the CARES Act, poses new and quickly evolving compliance obligations on our business, and we may experience unfavorable changes in or failure to comply with existing or future regulations and laws adopted in response to COVID-19.
Due to the unprecedented effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on major sectors of the U.S. economy, numerous states and the federal government adopted measures requiring mortgage servicers to work with consumers negatively impacted by the pandemic. The CARES Act imposes several new compliance obligations on our mortgage servicing activities, including, but not limited to mandatory forbearance offerings, altered credit reporting obligations, and moratoriums on foreclosure actions and late fee assessments. Many states have taken and continue to take similar measures to provide mortgage payment and other relief to consumers, which create additional complexity around our mortgage servicing compliance activities.
With the urgency to help consumers, the expedient passage of the CARES Act increases the likelihood of unintended consequences from the legislation. An example of such unintended consequences is the liquidity pressure placed on mortgage servicers given our contractual obligation to continue to advance payments to investors on loans in forbearance where consumers are not making their typical monthly mortgage payments. Moreover, certain provisions of the CARES Act are subject to interpretation given the existing ambiguities in the legislation, which creates class action and other litigation risk.
Although much of the executive, legislative and regulatory actions stemming from COVID-19 are servicing-centric, regulators are adjusting compliance obligations impacting our mortgage origination activities. Many states have adopted temporary measures allowing for otherwise prohibited remote mortgage loan origination activities. While these temporary measures allow us to continue to do business remotely, they impose notice, procedural and other compliance obligations on our origination activity.
Federal, state and local executive legislative and regulatory responses to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to evolve, not consistent in scope or application, and subject to change without advance notice. Such efforts may impose additional compliance obligations, which may negatively impact our mortgage origination and servicing business. Any additional legal or regulatory responses to the COVID-19 pandemic may unfavorably restrict our business operations, alter our established business practices and otherwise raise our compliance costs.
Risks Relating to Technology and Cybersecurity
The success and growth of our business will depend upon our ability to adapt to and implement technological changes.
We rely on our proprietary technology to make our platform available to clients, evaluate loan applicants and service loans. In addition, we may increasingly rely on technological innovation as we introduce new products, expand our current products into new markets and continue to streamline various loan-related and lending processes. If we are unable to successfully innovate and continue to deliver a superior client experience, the demand for our products and services may decrease and our growth and operations may be harmed.
The origination process is increasingly dependent on technology, and our business relies on our continued ability to process loan applications over the internet, accept electronic signatures, provide instant process status updates and other client- and loan applicant-expected conveniences. Maintaining and improving this technology will require significant capital expenditures.
Our dedication to incorporating technological advancements into our loan origination and servicing platforms requires significant financial and personnel resources. To the extent we are dependent on any particular technology or technological solution, we may be harmed if such technology or technological solution becomes non-compliant with existing industry standards, fails to meet or exceed the capabilities of our competitors’ equivalent technologies or technological solutions, becomes increasingly expensive to service, retain and update, becomes subject to third-party claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation, or malfunctions or functions in a way we did not anticipate that results in loan defects potentially requiring repurchase.
To operate our websites and apps, and provide our loan products and services, we use software packages from a variety of third parties, which are customized and integrated with code that we have developed ourselves. If we are unable to integrate this software in a fully functional manner, we may experience increased costs and difficulties that could delay or prevent the successful development, introduction or marketing of new products and services.
There is no assurance that we will be able to successfully adopt new technology as critical systems and applications become obsolete and better ones become available. Additionally, if we fail to develop our websites and other technologies to respond to technological developments and changing client and loan applicant needs in a cost-effective manner, or fail to acquire, integrate or interface with third-party technologies effectively, we may experience disruptions in our operations, lose market share or incur substantial costs.
Technology disruptions or failures, including a failure in our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of third parties with whom we do business, could disrupt our business, cause legal or reputational harm and adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
We are dependent on the secure, efficient, and uninterrupted operation of our technology infrastructure, including computer systems, related software applications and data centers, as well as those of certain third parties and affiliates. Our websites and computer/telecommunication networks must accommodate a high volume of traffic and deliver frequently updated information, the accuracy and timeliness of which are critical to our business. We have experienced or may in the future experience service disruptions and failures caused by system or software failure, fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, team member misconduct, human error, computer hackers, computer viruses and disabling devices, malicious or destructive code, denial of service or information, as well as natural disasters, health pandemics and other similar events, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all situations. This is especially applicable in the current response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift we have experienced in having most of our team members work from their homes for the time being, as our team members access our secure networks through their home networks. The implementation of technology changes and upgrades to maintain current and integrate new technology systems may also cause service interruptions. Any such disruption could interrupt or delay our ability to provide services to our clients and loan applicants, and could also impair the ability of third parties to provide critical services to us.
Additionally, the technology and other controls and processes we have created to help us identify misrepresented information in our loan origination operations were designed to obtain reasonable, not absolute, assurance that such information is identified and addressed appropriately. Accordingly, such controls may not have detected, and may fail in the future to detect, all misrepresented information in our loan origination operations. If our operations are disrupted or otherwise negatively affected by a technology disruption or failure, this could result in material adverse impacts on our business. We do not carry business interruption insurance sufficient to compensate us for all losses that may result from interruptions in our service as a result of systems disruptions, failures and similar events.
We are reliant on internet search engines and app market places to connect with consumers, and limitations on our ability to obtain new clients through those channels could adversely affect our business.
We rely on our ability to attract online consumers to our websites and web centers and convert them into loan applicants and clients in a cost-effective manner. We depend, in part, on search engines and other online sources for our website traffic. We are included in search results as a result of both paid search listings, where we purchase specific search terms that will result in the inclusion of our listing, and unpaid or algorithmic searches, which depend upon the searchable content on our sites. We devote significant time and resources to digital marketing initiatives, such as search engine optimization, to improve our search result rankings and increase visits to our sites. These marketing efforts may prove unsuccessful due to a variety of factors, including increased costs to use online advertising platforms, ineffective campaigns and increased competition, as well as certain factors not within our control, such as a change to the search engine ranking algorithm.
Our internet marketing efforts depend on data signals from user activity on websites and services that we do not control, and changes to the regulatory environment (including the California Consumer Privacy Act), third-party mobile operating systems and browsers have impacted, and will continue to impact, the availability of such signals, which may adversely affect our digital marketing efforts. In particular, mobile operating system and browser providers, such as Apple and Google, have announced product changes as well as future plans to limit the ability of application developers to use these signals to target and measure advertising on their platforms. These developments have previously limited and are expected to limit our ability to target our marketing efforts, and any additional loss of such signals in the future will adversely affect our targeting capabilities and our marketing efforts.
We also rely on app marketplaces like Apple’s App Store and Google Play to connect users with our apps. These marketplaces may change in a way that negatively affects the prominence of or ease with which users can access our apps. If one or more of the search engines, app marketplaces or other online sources were to change in a way that adversely impacted our ability to connect with consumers, our business could suffer.
Cyberattacks and other data and security breaches could result in serious harm to our reputation and adversely affect our business.
We are dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the internet, to securely collect, process, transmit and store electronic information. In the ordinary course of our business, we receive, process, retain and transmit proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including the public and non-public personal information of our team members, clients and loan applicants. Despite devoting significant time and resources to ensure the integrity of our information technology systems, we have not always been able to, and may not be able to in the future, anticipate or implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches or unauthorized access of our information technology systems or the information technology systems of third-party vendors that receive, process, retain and transmit electronic information on our behalf.
Security breaches, acts of vandalism, natural disasters, fire, power loss, telecommunication failures, team member misconduct, human error and developments in computer intrusion capabilities could result in a compromise or breach of the technology that we or our third-party vendors use to collect, process, retain, transmit and protect the personal information and transaction data of our team members, clients and loan applicants. Similar events outside of our control can also affect the demands we and our vendors may make to respond to any security breaches or similar disruptive events. Our data security management program includes identity, trust, vulnerability and threat management business processes as well as the adoption of standard data protection policies. We measure our data security effectiveness through industry-accepted methods and remediate significant findings. The technology and other controls and processes designed to secure our team member, client and loan applicant information and to prevent, detect and remedy any unauthorized access to that information were designed to obtain reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that such information is secure and that any unauthorized access is identified and addressed appropriately. Such controls have not always detected, and may in the future fail to prevent or detect, unauthorized access to our team member, client and loan applicant information.
The techniques used to obtain unauthorized, improper or illegal access to our systems and those of our third-party vendors, our data, our team members’, clients’ and loan applicants’ data or to disable, degrade or sabotage service are constantly evolving, and have become increasingly complex and sophisticated. Furthermore, such techniques change frequently and are often not recognized or detected until after they have been launched, and, therefore, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques and may not become aware in a timely manner of such a security breach, which could exacerbate any damage we experience. Security attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources, including third parties such as computer hackers, persons involved with organized crime or associated with external service providers, or foreign state or foreign state-supported actors. Those parties may also attempt to fraudulently induce team members, clients and loan applicants or other users of our systems to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our data or that of our team members, clients and loan applicants.
Cybersecurity risks for lenders have significantly increased in recent years. We, our clients and loan applicants, regulators and other third parties have been subject to, and are likely to continue to be the target of, cyberattacks. These cyberattacks could include computer viruses, malicious or destructive code, phishing attacks, denial of service or information, improper access by team members or third-party vendors or other security breaches that have resulted or could in the future result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of confidential, proprietary and other information of ours, our team members, our clients and loan applicants or of third parties, or otherwise materially disrupt our or our clients’ and loan applicants’ or other third parties’ network access or business operations.
Additionally, cyberattacks on local and state government databases and offices, including the rising trend of ransomware attacks, expose us to the risk of losing access to critical data and the ability to provide services to our clients. These attacks can cause havoc and have at times led title insurance underwriters to prohibit us from issuing policies, and to suspend closings, on properties located in the affected counties or states.
Any penetration of our or our third-party vendors’ information technology systems, network security, mobile devices or other misappropriation or misuse of personal information of our team members, clients or loan applicants, including wire fraud, phishing attacks and business e-mail compromise, could cause interruptions in the operations of our businesses, financial loss to our clients or loan applicants, damage to our computers or operating systems and to those of our clients, loan applicants and counterparties, and subject us to increased costs, litigation, disputes, damages, and other liabilities. In addition, the foregoing events could result in violations of applicable privacy and other laws. If this information is inappropriately accessed and used by a third party or a team member for illegal purposes, such as identity theft, we may be responsible to the affected individuals for any losses they may have incurred as a result of misappropriation. In such an instance, we may also be subject to regulatory action, investigation or liable to a governmental authority for fines or penalties associated with a lapse in the integrity and security of our team members’, clients’ and loan applicants’ information. We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against and remedy any potential or existing security breaches and their consequences. In addition, our remediation efforts may not be successful and we may not have adequate insurance to cover these losses.
Security breaches could also significantly damage our reputation with existing and prospective clients and third parties with whom we do business. Any publicized security problems affecting our businesses and/or those of such third parties may negatively impact the market perception of our products and discourage clients from doing business with us.
We may not be able to make technological improvements as quickly as demanded by our clients, which could harm our ability to attract clients and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes, with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services as quickly as competitors or be successful in marketing these products and services to our clients. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could harm our ability to attract clients and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
Our products use software, hardware and services that may be difficult to replace or cause errors or failures of our products that could adversely affect our business.
In addition to our proprietary software, we license third-party software, utilize third-party hardware and depend on services from various third parties for use in our products. Any loss of the right to use any of the software or services could result in decreased functionality of our products until equivalent technology is either developed by us or, if available from another provider, is identified, obtained and integrated, which could adversely affect our business. In addition, any errors or defects in or failures of the software or services we rely on, whether maintained by us or by third parties, could result in errors or defects in our products or cause our products to fail, which could adversely affect our business and be costly to correct. Many of our third-party providers attempt to impose limitations on their liability for such errors, defects or failures, and if enforceable, we may have additional liability to our clients or to other third parties that could harm our reputation and increase our operating costs.
Some aspects of our platform include open source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open source licenses could adversely affect our business.
Aspects of our platform incorporate software covered by open source licenses. The terms of various open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that limits our use of the software, inhibits certain aspects of the platform or otherwise adversely affects our business operations. We may also face claims from others claiming ownership of, or seeking to enforce the terms of, an open source license, including by demanding release of the open source software, derivative works or our proprietary source code that was developed using such software. These claims could also result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our software, any of which could adversely affect our business.
Some open source licenses subject licensees to certain conditions, including requiring licensees to make available source code for modifications or derivative works created based upon the type of open source software used for no or reduced cost, or to license the products that use open source software under terms that allow reverse engineering, reverse assembly or disassembly. If portions of our proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open source license, or if the license terms for the open source software that we incorporate change, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code, re-engineer all or a portion of our platform or otherwise change our business activities, each of which
could reduce or eliminate the value of our platform and products and services. In addition to risks related to license requirements, the use of open source software can lead to greater risks than the use of third-party commercial software because open source licensors generally make their open source software available “as-is” and do not provide indemnities, warranties or controls on the origin of the software.
Risks Related to Our Business and Operations
We are, and intend to continue, developing new products and services, and our failure to accurately predict their demand or growth could have an adverse effect on our business.
We are, and intend in the future to continue, investing significant resources in developing new tools, features, services, products and other offerings. Risks from our innovative initiatives include those associated with potential defects in the design and development of the technologies used to automate processes, misapplication of technologies, the reliance on data that may prove inadequate, and failure to meet client expectations, among others. As a result of these risks, we could experience increased claims, reputational damage or other adverse effects, which could be material. Additionally, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to develop, commercially market and achieve acceptance of our new products and services. In addition, our investment of resources to develop new products and services may either be insufficient or result in expenses that are excessive in light of revenue actually originated from these new products and services.
The profile of potential clients using our new products and services may not be as attractive as the profile of the clients that we currently serve, which may lead to higher levels of delinquencies or defaults than we have historically experienced. Failure to accurately predict demand or growth with respect to our new products and services could have an adverse impact on our business, and there is always risk that these new products and services will be unprofitable, will increase our costs or will decrease our operating margins or take longer than anticipated to achieve target margins. Further, our development efforts with respect to these initiatives could distract management from current operations and could divert capital and other resources from our existing business. If we do not realize the expected benefits of our investments, our business may be harmed.
We may not be able to continue to grow our loan origination business or effectively manage significant increases in our loan production volume, both of which could negatively affect our reputation and business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our mortgage loan origination business consists of providing purchase money loans to homebuyers and refinancing existing loans. The origination of purchase money mortgage loans is greatly influenced by traditional business clients in the home-buying process such as realtors and builders. As a result, our ability to secure relationships with such traditional business clients will influence our ability to grow our loan origination business. Historically, our originations have skewed more heavily towards refinancing than the overall origination market, and accordingly if interest rates rise and the market shifts to purchase originations, our market share could be adversely affected if we are unable to increase our share of purchase originations. Our loan origination business also operates through third-party mortgage professionals who are not contractually obligated to do business with us. Further, our competitors also have relationships with these brokers and actively compete with us in our efforts to expand our broker networks. We may not be successful in maintaining our existing relationships or expanding our broker networks. Our production and consumer direct lending operations are subject to overall market factors that can impact our ability to grow our loan production volume. For example, increased competition from new and existing market participants, reductions in the overall level of refinancing activity or slow growth in the level of new home purchase activity can impact our ability to continue to grow our loan production volumes, and we may be forced to accept lower margins in our respective businesses in order to continue to compete and keep our volume of activity consistent with past or projected levels. If we are unable to continue to grow our loan origination business, this could adversely affect our business.
On the other hand, we may experience significant growth in our mortgage loan volume and MSRs. But if we do not effectively manage our growth, the quality of our services could suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and operating results.
We are required to make servicing advances that can be subject to delays in recovery or may not be recoverable in certain circumstances.
During any period in which one of our clients is not making payments on a loan we service, including in certain circumstances where a client prepays a loan, we are required under most of our servicing agreements to advance our own funds to meet contractual principal and interest remittance requirements, pay property taxes and insurance premiums, legal expenses and other protective advances. If home values rise we may be required to advance greater amounts of property taxes and insurance premiums. We also advance funds to maintain, repair and market real estate properties. In certain situations our contractual obligations may require us to make certain advances for which we may not be reimbursed. In addition, in the event a loan serviced by us becomes delinquent, or to the extent a mortgagee under such loan is allowed to enter into a forbearance by applicable law, regulation, or investor/insurer guidelines the repayment to us of any advance related to such events may be delayed until the loan is repaid or refinanced or liquidation occurs. A delay in our ability to collect an advance may adversely affect our liquidity, and our inability to be reimbursed for an advance could be detrimental to our business. Defaults might increase as the loans in our servicing portfolio get older, which may increase our costs of servicing and could be detrimental to our business. The COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary period of forbearance offered for clients unable to pay on certain mortgage loans pursuant to the CARES Act may also increase the number of loans on which we must make such advances. With specific regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal regulatory or GSE-specific relief on servicing advance obligations provided to mortgage loan servicers has so far been limited to GSE-eligible mortgage loans, leaving out any non-GSE mortgage loan products such as jumbo mortgage loans. Federal or state statutes, regulations or guidance may broaden the scope of relief to non-GSE loans or mandate automatic forbearances. Approximately 3.9% of our serviced loans are in forbearance as of December 31, 2020.
With delinquent VA guaranteed loans, the VA guarantee may not make us whole on losses or advances we may have made on the loan. If the VA determines the amount of the guarantee payment will be less than the cost of acquiring the property, it may elect to pay the VA guarantee and leave the property securing the loan with us (a “VA no-bid”). If we cannot sell the property for a sufficient amount to cover amounts outstanding on the loan we will suffer a loss which may, on an aggregate basis and if the percentage of VA no-bids increases, have a detrimental impact on our business and financial condition.
In addition, for certain loans sold to Ginnie Mae, we, as the servicer, have the unilateral right to repurchase any individual loan in a Ginnie Mae securitization pool if that loan meets defined criteria, including being delinquent greater than 90 days. Once we have the unilateral right to repurchase the delinquent loan, we have effectively regained control over the loan and we must recognize the loan on our balance sheet and recognize a corresponding financial liability. Any significant increase in required servicing advances or delinquent loan repurchases, could have a significant adverse impact on our cash flows, even if they are reimbursable, and could also have a detrimental effect on our business and financial condition.
Our counterparties may terminate our servicing rights and subservicing contracts under which we conduct servicing activities.
The majority of the mortgage loans we service are serviced on behalf of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. These entities establish the base service fee to compensate us for servicing loans as well as the assessment of fines and penalties that may be imposed upon us for failing to meet servicing standards.
As is standard in the industry, under the terms of our master servicing agreements with the GSEs, the GSEs have the right to terminate us as servicer of the loans we service on their behalf at any time and also have the right to cause us to sell the MSRs to a third party. In addition, failure to comply with servicing standards could result in termination of our agreements with the GSEs with little or no notice and without any compensation. If any of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae were to terminate us as a servicer, or increase our costs related to such servicing by way of additional fees, fines or penalties, such changes could have a material adverse effect on the revenue we derive from servicing activity, as well as the value of the related MSRs. These agreements, and other servicing agreements under which we service mortgage loans for non-GSE loan purchasers, also require that we service in accordance with GSE servicing guidelines and contain financial covenants. Under our subservicing contracts, the primary servicers for which we conduct subservicing activities have the right to terminate our subservicing rights with or without cause, with little notice and little to no compensation. If we were to have our servicing or subservicing rights terminated on a material portion of our servicing portfolio, this could adversely affect our business.
A failure to maintain the ratings assigned to us by a rating agency could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our mortgage origination and servicing platforms, as well as several securitization transactions that are composed of our mortgage loan products, are routinely rated by national rating agencies for various purposes. These ratings are subject to change without notice. Any downgrade of our ratings could be detrimental to our business.
Our origination and servicing businesses and operating results may be adversely impacted due to a decline in market share for our origination business, a decline in repeat clients and an inability to recapture loans from borrowers who refinance.
If our loan origination business loses market share, if loan originations otherwise decrease or if the loans in our servicing portfolio are repaid or refinanced at a faster pace than expected, we may not be able to maintain or grow the size of our servicing portfolio, as our servicing portfolio is subject to “run-off” (i.e., mortgage loans serviced by us may be repaid at maturity, prepaid prior to maturity, refinanced with a mortgage not serviced by us, liquidated through foreclosure, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or other liquidation process, or repaid through standard amortization of principal). As a result, our ability to maintain the size of our servicing portfolio depends on our ability to originate loans with respect to which we retain the servicing rights.
Additionally, in order for us to maintain or improve our operating results, it is important that we continue to extend loans to returning clients who have successfully repaid their previous loans at a pace substantially consistent with the market. Our repeat loan rates may decline or fluctuate as a result of our expansion into new products and markets or because our clients are able to obtain alternative sources of funding based on their credit history with us, and new clients we acquire in the future may not be as loyal as our current client base. Furthermore, clients who refinance have no obligation to refinance their loans with us and may choose to refinance with a different originator. If borrowers refinance with a different originator, this decreases the profitability of our MSRs because the original loan will be repaid, and we will not have an opportunity to earn further servicing fees after the original loan is repaid. If we are not successful in recapturing our existing loans that are refinanced, our MSRs may become increasingly subject to run‑off, and in order to maintain our servicing portfolios at consistent levels we may need to purchase additional MSRs on the open market to add to our servicing portfolio, which would increase our costs and risks and decrease the profitability of our servicing business.
We depend on our ability to sell loans in the secondary market to a limited number of investors and to the GSEs, and to securitize our loans into MBS through the GSEs and Ginnie Mae. If our ability to sell or securitize mortgage loans is impaired, we may not be able to originate mortgage loans.
Substantially all of our loan originations are sold into the secondary market. We securitize loans into MBSs through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. Loans originated outside of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the guidelines of the FHA (as defined below), USDA, or VA (for loans securitized with Ginnie Mae) are sold to private investors and mortgage conduits, including our loan securitization company, Woodward Capital Management LLC, which primarily securitizes such non-GSE loan products. For further discussion, see “Risk Factors - Our business is highly dependent on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and certain U.S. government agencies, and any changes in these entities or their current roles could be detrimental to our business.”
The gain recognized from sales in the secondary market represents a significant portion of our revenues and net earnings. A decrease in the prices paid to us upon sale of our loans could be detrimental to our business, as we are dependent on the cash generated from such sales to fund our future loan closings and repay borrowings under our loan funding facilities. If it is not possible or economical for us to complete the sale or securitization of certain of our loans held for sale, we may lack liquidity to continue to fund such loans and our revenues and margins on new loan originations could be materially and negatively impacted.
Further, there may be delays in our ability to sell future mortgage loans which we originate, or there may be a market shift that causes buyers of our non-GSE products—including jumbo mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit—to reduce their demand for such products. These market shifts can be caused by factors outside of our control, including, but not limited to market shifts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that affect investor appetite for such non-GSE products. Delays in the sale of mortgage loans also increases our exposure to market risks, which could adversely affect our profitability on sales of loans. Any such delays or failure to sell loans could be materially adverse to our business.
We may be required to repurchase or substitute mortgage loans or MSRs that we have sold, or indemnify purchasers of our mortgage loans or MSRs.
We make representations and warranties to purchasers when we sell them a mortgage loan or a MSR, including in connection with our MBS securitizations. If a mortgage loan or MSR does not comply with the representations and warranties that we made with respect to it at the time of its sale, we could be required to repurchase the loan, replace it with a substitute loan and/or indemnify secondary market purchasers for losses. If this occurs, we may have to bear any associated losses directly, as repurchased loans typically can only be resold at a steep discount to their repurchase price, if at all. We also may be subject to claims by purchasers for repayment of a portion of the premium we received from such purchaser on the sale of certain loans or MSRs if such loans or MSRs are repaid in their entirety within a specified time period after the sale of the loan. As of December 31, 2020, we had accrued $87.2 million in connection with our reserve for repurchase and indemnification obligations. Actual repurchase and indemnification obligations could materially exceed the reserves we have recorded in our financial statements. Any significant repurchases, substitutions, indemnifications or premium recapture could be detrimental to our business.
Additionally, we may not be able to recover amounts from some third parties from whom we may seek indemnification or against whom we may assert a loan repurchase demand in connection with a breach of a representation or warranty due to financial difficulties or otherwise. As a result, we are exposed to counterparty risk in the event of non‑performance by counterparties to our various contracts, including, without limitation, as a result of the rejection of an agreement or transaction in bankruptcy proceedings, which could result in substantial losses for which we may not have insurance coverage.
If the credit decisioning and scoring models we use contain errors or are otherwise ineffective, our reputation and relationships with borrowers and investors could be harmed and our market share could decline.
We use credit decisioning and scoring models that assign each loan a grade and a corresponding interest rate. Our credit decisioning and scoring models are based on algorithms that evaluate a number of factors, including behavioral data, transactional data and employment information, which may not effectively predict future loan losses. If we are unable to effectively segment borrowers into relative risk profiles, we may be unable to offer attractive interest rates for borrowers and returns for investors in the loans. We refine these algorithms based on new data and changing macro and economic conditions. If any of these credit decisioning and scoring models contain programming or other errors, are ineffective or the data provided by borrowers or third parties is incorrect or stale, or if we are unable to obtain the data from borrowers or third parties, our loan pricing and approval process could be negatively affected, resulting in mispriced or misclassified loans or incorrect approvals or denials of loans.
Certain of our loans involve a high degree of business and financial risk, which can result in substantial losses that could adversely affect our financial condition.
A client’s ability to repay their loan may be adversely impacted by numerous factors, including a change in the borrower’s employment or other negative local or more general economic conditions. Deterioration in a client’s financial condition and prospects may be accompanied by deterioration in the value of the collateral for the loan.
Additionally, many of our clients are self-employed. Self-employed clients may be more likely to default on their loans than salaried or commissioned clients and generally have less predictable income. In addition, many self-employed clients are small business owners who may be personally liable for their business debt. Consequently, a higher number of self-employed clients may result in increased defaults on the loans we originate or service.
Some of the loans we originate or acquire have been, and in the future could be, made to clients who do not live in the mortgaged property. These loans secured by rental or investment properties tend to default more than loans secured by properties regularly occupied or used by the client. In a default, clients not occupying the mortgaged property may be more likely to abandon the property, increasing our financial exposure.
These higher-risk loans are more expensive to service because they require more frequent interaction with clients and greater monitoring and oversight. Additionally, these higher-risk loans may be subject to increased scrutiny by state and federal regulators and lead to higher compliance and regulatory costs, which could result in a further increase in servicing costs. We may not be able to pass along any of the additional expenses we incur in servicing these higher-risk loans to our servicing
clients. The greater cost of servicing higher-risk loans could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Fraud could result in significant financial losses and harm to our reputation.
We use automated underwriting engines from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to assist us in determining if a loan applicant is creditworthy, as well as other proprietary and third-party tools and safeguards to detect and prevent fraud. We are unable, however, to prevent every instance of fraud that may be engaged in by our clients or team members, and any seller, real estate broker, notary, settlement agent, appraiser, title agent, or third-party originator that misrepresents facts about a loan, including the information contained in the loan application, property valuation, title information and employment and income stated on the loan application. If any of this information was intentionally or negligently misrepresented and such misrepresentation was not detected prior to the acquisition or closing of the loan, the value of the loan could be significantly lower than expected, resulting in a loan being approved in circumstances where it would not have been, had we been provided with accurate data. A loan subject to a material misrepresentation is typically unsalable or subject to repurchase if it is sold before detection of the misrepresentation. In addition, the persons and entities making a misrepresentation are often difficult to locate and it is often difficult to collect from them any monetary losses we have suffered.
Additionally, we continue to develop and expand our use of internet and telecommunications technologies (including mobile devices) to offer our products and services. These new mobile technologies may be more susceptible to the fraudulent activities of computer hackers, organized criminals, perpetrators of fraud, terrorists and others. Our resources, technologies and fraud prevention tools may be insufficient to accurately detect and prevent fraud on this channel.
High profile fraudulent activity also could negatively impact our brand and reputation, which could impact our business. In addition, significant increases in fraudulent activity could lead to regulatory intervention, which could increase our costs and negatively impact our business.
Our subsidiary, Amrock, utilizes third party vendors for issuing a significant amount of title insurance policies which could adversely impact the frequency and severity of title claims.
In its position as a licensed title agent, Amrock performs the search and examination function or may purchase a search product from another third-party vendor. In either case, Amrock is responsible for ensuring that the search and examination are completed. Amrock’s relationship with each title insurance underwriter is governed by an agency agreement defining how it issues a title insurance policy on the underwriter’s behalf. The agency agreement also sets forth Amrock’s liability to the underwriter for policy losses attributable to Amrock’s errors. Periodic audits by Amrock’s underwriters are also conducted. Despite Amrock’s efforts to monitor third-party vendors with which it transacts business, there is no guarantee that they will comply with their contractual obligations. Furthermore, Amrock cannot be certain that, due to changes in the regulatory environment and litigation trends, it will not be held liable for errors and omissions by these vendors. Accordingly, Amrock’s use of third-party vendors could adversely impact the frequency and severity of title claims.
Our subsidiary, Rocket Loans, is a rapidly growing company that faces increased risks, uncertainties, expenses and difficulties due to its relatively limited operating history and its reliance on third party relationships and sources.
Our Rocket Loans business has a limited operating history at its current scale, and has encountered and will continue to encounter risks, uncertainties, expenses and difficulties, including navigating the complex and evolving regulatory and competitive environments, increasing its number of clients and increasing its volume of loans. If we are not able to timely and effectively address these requirements, our business may be harmed. Additionally, Rocket Loans is reliant on a third-party relationship with Cross River Bank, a New Jersey state-chartered bank that handles a variety of consumer and commercial financing programs to originate all of its loans and to comply with various federal, state and other laws and third-party relationships with certain investors that have committed to purchase loans upon origination pursuant to agreements that contain certain conditions and terminate within one to three years. If Rocket Loans is unable to maintain its relationship with Cross River Bank, or if Cross River Bank were to suspend or cease its operations, we would need to implement a substantially similar arrangement with another issuing bank, obtain additional state licenses or curtail Rocket Loans’ operations. Our agreements with Cross River Bank are non-exclusive and do not prohibit Cross River Bank from working with our competitors or from offering competing services. We could in the future have disagreements or disputes with Cross River Bank, which could negatively impact or threaten our relationship. Additionally, Rocket Loans relies on third-party sources, including credit bureaus, for credit, identification, employment and other relevant information in order to review and select qualified borrowers and sufficient investors. If this information becomes unavailable, becomes more expensive to
access or is incorrect, our business may be harmed. Additionally, Rocket Loans has licensed its technology and plans to license its technology in the future. Such licensing arrangements, by their nature, increase risks to the company of a partner claiming Rocket Loans breached its licensing agreement or the technology otherwise did not meet the client’s expectations. If this happened, Rocket Loans could also face negative press.
Our personal loans are not secured, guaranteed or insured and involve a high degree of financial risk.
Personal loans made through our Rocket Loans platform are not secured by any collateral, not guaranteed or insured by any third party and not backed by any governmental authority in any way. We are therefore limited in our ability to collect on these loans if a client is unwilling or unable to repay them. A client’s ability to repay their loans can be negatively impacted by increases in their payment obligations to other lenders under mortgage, credit card and other loans resulting from increases in base lending rates or structured increases in payment obligations. If a client defaults on a loan, we may be unsuccessful in our efforts to collect the amount of the loan. As such, our partner bank Cross River Bank could decide to originate fewer loans on our platform and there could be less demand in the secondary market for loans originated through the RocketLoans.com site.
Additionally, these short-term loans also pose significant risks. Sometimes, borrowers use the proceeds of a long-term mortgage loan or the sale of a property to repay a short-term loan. We may therefore depend on a client’s ability to obtain permanent financing or sell a property to repay our short-term loans, which could depend on market conditions and other factors. In a period of rising interest rates, it may be more difficult for our clients to obtain long-term financing, which increases the risk of non-payment of our short-term loans. Short-term loans are also subject to risks of defaults, bankruptcies, fraud, losses and special hazard losses that are not covered by standard hazard insurance.
An increase in defaults precipitated by the risks and uncertainties associated with the above operations and activities could have a detrimental effect on our business.
Our Rocket Homes business model subjects us to challenges not faced by traditional brokerages.
One of our subsidiaries, Rocket Homes, competes with traditional brokerages while also facing expanded risks not faced by traditional brokerages. Rocket Homes’ core business is the referral of homebuyers, who have been prequalified for a mortgage by Quicken Loans, to a network of third-party partner real estate agents that assist those homebuyers in the purchase of their new home. In addition, a new component of our Rocket Homes business is listing and selling homes directly for a fee that is typically less than what a traditional brokerage would charge. In both our core referral business and in our efforts to list and sell homes from our centralized location, Rocket Homes and our agents are required to be licensed and comply with the requirements governing the licensing and conduct of real estate brokerage and brokerage-related businesses in the markets where we operate. Rocket Homes also operates a website for searching property listings and connecting with our partner agents. The listing data is provided via license from approximately 200 Multiple Listing Service (“MLS”), and we must also comply with the contractual obligations and restrictions from each MLS in order to access and use its listings data. Because of this multifaceted business model, we face additional challenges that include: improper actions by our partner agents beyond our control that subject us to reputational, business or legal harms; failure to comply with the requirements governing the licensing and conduct of real estate brokerage and brokerage-related businesses, which could result in penalties or the suspension of operations; increases in competition in the residential brokerage industry that reduce profitability; continuing low home inventory levels that reduce demand; or a restriction or termination of our access to and use of listings data.
Our subsidiary, Core Digital Media, may experience a rise in costs related to its digital media operations and may be unable to profitably generate client leads, negatively affecting our business.
Our subsidiary, Core Digital Media, is an online marketing and client lead acquisition platform that conducts its marketing efforts exclusively through the use of digital media. If Core Digital Media experiences an increase in its costs related to digital media marketing or online advertising, it may be unable to maintain its amount and quality of leads for mortgage origination. Furthermore, in the face of higher costs per lead, Core Digital Media may be unable to effectively manage its pricing strategy and revenue opportunities, and could experience a decline in profitability that may adversely affect our business.
Our Rocket Auto business faces an evolving business model, competition, and a complex regulatory landscape that could hinder the growth of our business.
Our Rocket Auto business is developing an online, motor vehicle marketplace that helps both customers and dealers buy and sell vehicles on the internet. It has a limited operating history, and faces challenges, including an evolving business model, competition from the existing consumer automotive websites, and a complex and evolving regulatory environment. These risks could challenge our business model, or otherwise harm our business.
Acquisitions and strategic alliances could distract management and expose us to financial, execution and operational risks that could have a detrimental effect on our business.
We may acquire or make investments in complementary or what we view as strategic businesses, technologies, services or products. The risks associated with acquisitions include, without limitation, difficulty assimilating and integrating the acquired company’s personnel, operations, technology, services, products and software, the inability to retain key team members, the disruption of our ongoing business and increases in our expenses, and the diversion of management’s attention from core business concerns. Through acquisitions, we may enter into business lines in which we have not previously operated, which would require additional integration and be even more distracting for management. The businesses and assets we acquire through acquisitions might not perform at levels we expect and we may not be able to achieve the anticipated synergies. We may find that we overpaid for the acquired business or assets or that the economic conditions underlying our acquisition decision have changed. It may also take time to fully integrate newly acquired businesses and assets into our business, during which time our business could suffer from inefficiency.
Furthermore, we may incur additional indebtedness to pay for acquisitions, thereby increasing our leverage and diminishing our liquidity.
Expansion into Canadian operations, and our limited experience with international markets outside of the United States, could subject us to risks and expenses that could adversely impact our business.
We have evaluated, and continue to evaluate, potential expansion outside of the United States. In 2018, we invested in Lendesk, and in 2020, we invested in Edison Financial, both Canadian mortgage businesses.
As we expand into Canada, our operations are subject to a variety of risks, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates, unexpected changes in legal and regulatory requirements, political, economic and civil instability and uncertainty (including acts of terrorism, civil unrest, drug-cartel-related and other forms of violence and outbreaks of war), investment restrictions or requirements, potentially adverse tax consequences, and difficulty in complying with foreign laws and regulations, as well as U.S. laws and regulations that govern foreign activities, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Economic uncertainty in Canada could negatively impact our operations in those areas. Also, as we pursue expansion efforts in Canada, it may be necessary or desirable to contract with third parties, and we may not be able to enter into such agreements on commercially acceptable terms or at all. Further, such arrangements, including investing in Lendesk and Edison Financial, may not perform to our expectations, and we may be exposed to various risks as a result of the activities of our partners.
In addition, prior to investing in Lendesk and Edison Financial, we had very limited experience undertaking international operations outside of the United States. The structuring, expansion and administration of Lendesk and Edison Financial may require significant management attention and financial and operational resources that may result in increased operational, administrative, legal, compliance and other costs and may divert management’s attention and employee resources from other priorities. Lendesk and Edison Financial may not generate their currently expected profitability, if any, and we may experience adverse effects on our business.
Any occurrences of the risks associated with our Canadian operations and related expansion could adversely affect our business, reputation and ability to further expand internationally.
Challenges to the MERS® System could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
MERSCORP, Inc. is a privately held company that maintains an electronic registry, referred to as the MERS® System, which tracks servicing rights and ownership of home loans in the United States. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), a wholly owned subsidiary of MERSCORP, Inc., can serve as a nominee for the owner of a home loan and in that
role initiate foreclosures or become the mortgagee of record for the loan in local land records. We have used in the past and may continue to use MERS as a nominee. The MERS® System is widely used by participants in the mortgage finance industry.
Several legal challenges in the courts and by governmental authorities have been made disputing MERS’s legal standing to initiate foreclosures or act as nominee for lenders in mortgages and deeds of trust recorded in local land records. These challenges have focused public attention on MERS and on how home loans are recorded in local land records. Although most legal decisions have accepted MERS as mortgagee, these challenges could result in delays and additional costs in commencing, prosecuting and completing foreclosure proceedings, conducting foreclosure sales of mortgaged properties and submitting proofs of claim in client bankruptcy cases.
Negative public opinion could damage our reputation and adversely affect our earnings.
Reputational risk is inherent in our business. Negative public opinion can result from our actual or alleged conduct in any number of activities, including loan origination, loan servicing, debt collection practices, corporate governance and other activities, such as the lawsuits against us. Negative public opinion can also result from actions taken by government regulators and community organizations in response to our activities, from consumer complaints, including in the CFPB complaints database, and from media coverage, whether accurate or not.
In recent years, consumer advocacy groups and some media reports have advocated governmental action to prohibit or place severe restrictions on non‑bank consumer loans. If the negative characterization of independent mortgage loan originators becomes increasingly accepted by consumers, demand for any or all of our consumer loan products could significantly decrease. Additionally, if the negative characterization of independent mortgage loan originators is accepted by legislators and regulators, we could become subject to more restrictive laws and regulations applicable to consumer loan products.
In addition, our ability to attract and retain clients is highly dependent upon the external perceptions of our level of service, trustworthiness, business practices, financial condition and other subjective qualities. Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these matters—even if related to seemingly isolated incidents, or even if related to practices not specific to the origination or servicing of loans, such as debt collection—could erode trust and confidence and damage our reputation among existing and potential clients. In turn, this could decrease the demand for our products, increase regulatory scrutiny and detrimentally affect our business.
Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war may affect the lending industry generally and our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 disrupted the U.S. financial markets, including the real estate capital markets, and negatively impacted the U.S. economy in general. Any future terrorist attacks, the anticipation of any such attacks, the consequences of any military or other response by the United States and its allies, and other armed conflicts could cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility in the United States and worldwide financial markets and economy. The economic impact of these events could also adversely affect the credit quality of some of our loans and investments and the properties underlying our interests.
If such events lead to a prolonged economic slowdown, recession or declining real estate values, they could impair the performance of our investments and harm our financial condition and results of operations, increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us. In addition, the activation of additional U.S. military reservists or members of the National Guard may significantly increase the proportion of mortgage loans whose interest rates are reduced by application of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (the “Relief Act”) or similar state or local laws. As a result, any such attacks may adversely impact our performance. Losses resulting from these types of events may not be fully insurable.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural catastrophic events and to interruption by man‑made issues such as strikes.
Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, fires, floods, power losses, telecommunications failures, strikes, health pandemics and similar events. For example, a significant natural disaster in Detroit, such as an earthquake, fire or flood, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition, and our insurance coverage may be insufficient to compensate us for losses that may occur. Disease
outbreaks have occurred in the past (including severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, avian flu, H1N1/09 flu and COVID‑19) and any prolonged occurrence of infectious disease or other adverse public health developments could have a material adverse effect on the macro economy and/or our business operations. In addition, strikes and other geopolitical unrest could cause disruptions in our business and lead to interruptions, delays or loss of critical data. These types of catastrophic events could also affect our loan servicing costs, increase our recoverable and our non‑recoverable servicing advances, increase servicing defaults and negatively affect the value of our MSRs. We may not have sufficient protection or recovery plans in certain circumstances, such as natural disasters affecting the Detroit, Phoenix, Cleveland or Charlotte areas, and our business interruption insurance may be insufficient to compensate us for losses that may occur.
Our risk management efforts may not be effective.
We could incur substantial losses and our business operations could be disrupted if we are unable to effectively identify, manage, monitor, and mitigate financial risks, such as credit risk, interest rate risk, prepayment risk, liquidity risk, and other market-related risks, as well as operational and legal risks related to our business, assets, and liabilities. We also are subject to various laws, regulations and rules that are not industry specific, including employment laws related to team member hiring and termination practices, health and safety laws, environmental laws and other federal, state and local laws, regulations and rules in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Our risk management policies, procedures, and techniques may not be sufficient to identify all of the risks to which we are exposed, mitigate the risks we have identified, or identify additional risks to which we may become subject in the future. Expansion of our business activities may also result in our being exposed to risks to which we have not previously been exposed or may increase our exposure to certain types of risks, and we may not effectively identify, manage, monitor, and mitigate these risks as our business activities change or increase.
We face intense competition that could adversely affect us.
Competition in the mortgage and other consumer lending space is intense. In addition, the mortgage and other consumer lending business has experienced substantial consolidation. Some of our competitors may have more name recognition and greater financial and other resources than we have (including access to capital). Other of our competitors, such as correspondent lenders who originate mortgage loans using their own funds, may have more operational flexibility in approving loans. Additionally, we operate at a competitive disadvantage to U.S. federal banks and thrifts and their subsidiaries because they enjoy federal preemption and, as a result, conduct their business under relatively uniform U.S. federal rules and standards and are generally not subject to the laws of the states in which they do business (including state “predatory lending” laws). Unlike our federally chartered competitors, we are generally subject to all state and local laws applicable to lenders in each jurisdiction in which we originate and service loans. To compete effectively, we must have a very high level of operational, technological and managerial expertise, as well as access to capital at a competitive cost.
Competition in our industry can take many forms, including the variety of loan programs being made available, interest rates and fees charged for a loan, convenience in obtaining a loan, client service levels, the amount and term of a loan, and marketing and distribution channels. Fluctuations in interest rates and general economic conditions may also affect our competitive position. During periods of rising rates, competitors that have locked in low borrowing costs may have a competitive advantage. Furthermore, a cyclical decline in the industry’s overall level of originations, or decreased demand for loans due to a higher interest rate environment, may lead to increased competition for the remaining loans. Any increase in these competitive pressures could be detrimental to our business.
Risks Relating to the Financial and Macroeconomic Environment
Our Rocket Mortgage business relies on our loan funding facilities to fund mortgage loans and otherwise operate our business. If one or more of such facilities are terminated, we may be unable to find replacement financing at commercially favorable terms, or at all, which could be detrimental to our business.
We fund substantially all of the mortgage loans we close through borrowings under our loan funding facilities and funds generated by our operations. Our borrowings are in turn generally repaid with the proceeds we receive from mortgage loan sales. We are currently, and may in the future continue to be, dependent upon lenders to provide the primary funding facilities for our loans. As of December 31, 2020, we had thirteen loan funding facilities which provide us with an aggregate maximum principal amount of $25.40 billion in loan origination availability, eleven of which allow drawings to fund loans at closing, and are with large global financial institutions. Included in those thirteen loan funding facilities are two loan funding facilities with GSEs. Additionally, we are parties to an uncommitted agency MSR backed master repurchase agreement facility and a committed line of credit collateralized by GSE MSRs, each of which provides us access to up to $200.0 million of liquidity.
As of December 31, 2020, we also had available to us $500 million of financing through a master repurchase agreement facility specialized for the early buy out of certain mortgage loans in agency mortgage pools, up to $1.0 billion available through a syndicated unsecured revolving credit facility, and up to $2.0 billion on an unsecured line of credit with Rock Holdings.
Of the eleven existing global bank loan funding facilities, seven are 364-day facilities, with an aggregate of $8.65 billion scheduled to expire over staggered maturities throughout 2021. The other four of our existing global bank loan funding facilities provide financing for up to two or three years, with maturities staggered in 2021 and 2022. Approximately $18.21 billion of our mortgage loan funding facilities are uncommitted and can be terminated by the applicable lender at any time. Moreover, three of our loan funding facilities require that we have additional borrowing capacity so that each such facility does not represent more than a specified percentage of our total borrowing capacity. If we were unable to maintain the required ratio with availability under other facilities, our funding availability under those facilities could also be terminated.
In the event that any of our loan funding facilities is terminated or is not renewed, or if the principal amount that may be drawn under our funding agreements that provide for immediate funding at closing were to significantly decrease, we may be unable to find replacement financing on commercially favorable terms, or at all, which could be detrimental to our business. Further, if we are unable to refinance or obtain additional funds for borrowing, our ability to maintain or grow our business could be limited.
Our ability to refinance existing debt and borrow additional funds is affected by a variety of factors including:
•limitations imposed on us under the indenture governing our 5.250% Senior Notes due 2028, the indenture governing our 3.625% Senior Notes due 2029 and our 3.875% Senior Notes due 2031, and other existing and future financing facilities that contain restrictive covenants and borrowing conditions that may limit our ability to raise additional debt;
•a decline in liquidity in the credit markets;
•prevailing interest rates;
•the financial strength of the lenders from whom we borrow;
•the decision of lenders from whom we borrow to reduce their exposure to mortgage loans due to a change in such lenders’ strategic plan, future lines of business or otherwise;
•the amount of eligible collateral pledged on advance facilities, which may be less than the borrowing capacity of the facility;
•the larger portion of our loan funding facilities that is uncommitted, versus committed;
•more stringent financial covenants in such refinanced facilities, which we may not be able to achieve; and
•accounting changes that impact calculations of covenants in our debt agreements.
If the refinancing or borrowing guidelines become more stringent and such changes result in increased costs to comply or decreased mortgage origination volume, such changes could be detrimental to our business.
Our loan funding facilities, our early buy-out facilities, MSR facilities and unsecured lines of credit contain covenants, including requirements to maintain a certain minimum tangible net worth, minimum liquidity, maximum total debt or liabilities to net worth ratio, pre‑tax net income requirements, litigation judgment thresholds, and other customary debt covenants. A breach of the covenants can result in an event of default under these facilities and as such allow the lenders to pursue certain remedies. In addition, each of these facilities includes cross default or cross acceleration provisions that could result in most, if not all, facilities terminating if an event of default or acceleration of maturity occurs under any facility. If we are unable to meet or maintain the necessary covenant requirements or satisfy, or obtain waivers for, the continuing covenants, we may lose the ability to borrow under all of our financing facilities, which could be detrimental to our business.
Our business is significantly impacted by interest rates. Changes in prevailing interest rates or U.S. monetary policies that affect interest rates may have a detrimental effect on our business.
Our financial performance is directly affected by changes in prevailing interest rates. Our financial performance may decrease or be subject to substantial volatility because of changes in prevailing interest rates. Due to the unprecedented events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic along with the associated severe market dislocation, there is an increased degree of uncertainty and unpredictability concerning current interest rates, future interest rates and potential negative interest rates.
We generally note that the refinance market experiences more significant fluctuations than the purchase market as a result of interest rate changes. Long-term residential mortgage interest rates have been at or near record lows for an extended period, but they may increase in the future. As interest rates rise, refinancing generally becomes a smaller portion of the market as fewer consumers are interested in refinancing their mortgages. Higher interest rates may also reduce demand for purchase mortgages as home ownership becomes more expensive. This could adversely affect our revenues or require us to increase marketing expenditures to increase or maintain our volume of mortgages. Decreases in interest rates can also adversely affect our financial condition, the value of our MSR portfolio and the results of operations. With sustained low interest rates, as we have been experiencing, refinancing transactions decline over time, as many clients and potential clients have already taken advantage of the low interest rates.
Changes in interest rates are also a key driver of the performance of our servicing business, particularly because our portfolio is composed primarily of MSRs related to high-quality loans, the values of which are highly sensitive to changes in interest rates. Historically, the value of MSRs has increased when interest rates rise as higher interest rates lead to decreased prepayment rates, and has decreased when interest rates decline as lower interest rates lead to increased prepayment rates. As a result, decreases in interest rates could have a detrimental effect on our business.
Borrowings under our financing facilities are at variable rates of interest, which also expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on certain of our variable-rate indebtedness will also increase. In the future, we may enter into interest rate swaps which involve the exchange of floating for fixed-rate interest payments to reduce interest rate volatility. However, we may not maintain interest rate swaps with respect to all of our variable-rate indebtedness, and any such swaps may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk, may prove disadvantageous, or may create additional risks.
In addition, our business is materially affected by the monetary policies of the U.S. government and its agencies. We are particularly affected by the policies of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which influence interest rates and impact the size of the loan origination market. In 2017, the U.S. Federal Reserve ended its quantitative easing program and started its balance sheet reduction plan. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s balance sheet consists of U.S. Treasuries and MBS issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. To shrink its balance sheet prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Federal Reserve had slowed the pace of MBS purchases to a point at which natural run-off exceeded new purchases, resulting in a net reduction. Recently, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, state and federal authorities have taken several actions to provide relief to those negatively affected by COVID-19, such as the CARES Act and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s support of the financial markets. In particular, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced programs to increase its purchase of certain MBS products in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the U.S. economy, and the market for MBS in particular. The results of this policy change and future policy changes by the U.S. Federal Reserve are unknown at this time, as is its duration, but could affect the liquidity of MBS in the future.
Our loan origination and servicing revenues are highly dependent on macroeconomic and U.S. residential real estate market conditions.
Our success depends largely on the health of the U.S. residential real estate industry, which is seasonal, cyclical and affected by changes in general economic conditions beyond our control. Economic factors such as increased interest rates, slow economic growth or recessionary conditions, the pace of home price appreciation or the lack of it, changes in household debt levels, and increased unemployment or stagnant or declining wages affect our clients’ income and thus their ability and willingness to make loan payments. National or global events including, but not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, affect all such macroeconomic conditions. Weak or a significant deterioration in economic conditions reduce the amount of disposable income consumers have, which in turn reduces consumer spending and the willingness of qualified potential clients to take out loans. As a result, such economic factors affect loan origination volume.
Additional macroeconomic factors including, but not limited to, rising government debt levels, the withdrawal or augmentation of government interventions into the financial markets, changing U.S. consumer spending patterns, changing expectations for inflation and deflation, and weak credit markets may create low consumer confidence in the U.S. economy or the U.S. residential real estate industry. Excessive home building or high foreclosure rates resulting in an oversupply of housing in a particular area may also increase the amount of losses incurred on defaulted mortgage loans. In addition, the United States has imposed tariffs on certain imports from certain foreign countries and it is possible that the United States may impose additional or increase such tariffs in the future, having the effect of, among other things, raising prices to consumers, potentially eliciting reciprocal tariffs, and slowing the global economy.
Financial markets have experienced significant volatility as a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many state and local jurisdictions have enacted measures requiring closure of businesses and other economically restrictive efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment levels may remain at elevated levels or continue to rise. There may be a significant increase in the rate and number of mortgage payment delinquencies, and house sales, home prices and multifamily fundamentals may be adversely affected, leading to an overall material adverse decrease on our mortgage origination activities.
Furthermore, several state and local governments in the United States are experiencing, and may continue to experience, budgetary strain, which will be exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19. One or more states or significant local governments could default on their debt or seek relief from their debt under the U.S. bankruptcy code or by agreement with their creditors. Any or all of the circumstances described above may lead to further volatility in or disruption of the credit markets at any time and adversely affect our financial condition.
Any uncertainty or deterioration in market conditions, including changes caused by COVID-19, that leads to a decrease in loan originations will result in lower revenue on loans sold into the secondary market. Lower loan origination volumes generally place downward pressure on margins, thus compounding the effect of the deteriorating market conditions. Such events could be detrimental to our business. Moreover, any deterioration in market conditions that leads to an increase in loan delinquencies will result in lower revenue for loans we service for the GSEs and Ginnie Mae because we collect servicing fees from them only for performing loans. While increased delinquencies generate higher ancillary revenues, including late fees, these fees are likely unrecoverable when the related loan is liquidated. Additionally, it is not clear if we will be able to collect such ancillary fees for delinquencies relating to the COVID-19 pandemic as the federal and state legislation and regulations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to evolve.
Increased delinquencies may also increase the cost of servicing the loans for all market participants. The decreased cash flow from lower servicing fees could decrease the estimated value of our MSRs, resulting in recognition of losses when we write down those values. In addition, an increase in delinquencies lowers the interest income we receive on cash held in collection and other accounts and increases our obligation to advance certain principal, interest, tax and insurance obligations owed by the delinquent mortgage loan borrower. An increase in delinquencies could therefore be detrimental to our business. We anticipate that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will have such effects on our servicing business. Additionally, origination of loans can be seasonal. Historically, our loan origination has increased activity in the second and third quarters and reduced activity in the first and fourth quarters as home buyers tend to purchase their homes during the spring and summer in order to move to a new home before the start of the school year. As a result, our loan origination revenues vary from quarter to quarter. However, this historical pattern may be disrupted for the foreseeable future as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impacts of COVID-19 detailed above may be exacerbated by a resurgence of COVID-19 or a future outbreak of another highly infectious or contagious disease. Any of the circumstances described above, alone or in combination, may lead to volatility in or disruption of the credit markets at any time and have a detrimental effect on our business.
If the value of the collateral underlying certain of our loan funding facilities decreases, we could be required to satisfy a margin call, and an unanticipated margin call could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity.
Certain of our loan funding, early buy-out facilities, and MSR-backed facilities are subject to margin calls based on the lender’s opinion of the value of the loan collateral securing such financing, and certain of our hedges related to newly originated mortgages are also subject to margin calls. A margin call would require us to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings. A large, unanticipated margin call could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity.
A disruption in the secondary home loan market, including the MBS market, could have a detrimental effect on our business.
Demand in the secondary market and our ability to complete the sale or securitization of our home loans depends on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including general economic conditions, general conditions in the banking system, the willingness of lenders to provide funding for home loans, the willingness of investors to purchase home loans and MBS, and changes in regulatory requirements. Disruptions in the general MBS market may occur, including, but not limited to in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Any significant disruption or period of illiquidity in the general MBS market could directly affect our liquidity because no existing alternative secondary market would likely be able to accommodate on a timely basis the volume of loans that we typically sell in any given period. Accordingly, if the MBS market experiences a period of illiquidity, we might be prevented from selling the loans that we produce into the secondary market in a timely manner or at favorable prices, which could be detrimental to our business.
Changes in the GSEs, FHA, VA, and USDA guidelines or GSE and Ginnie Mae guarantees could adversely affect our business.
We are required to follow specific guidelines and eligibility standards that impact the way we service and originate GSE and U.S. government agency loans, including guidelines and standards with respect to:
•credit standards for mortgage loans;
•our staffing levels and other servicing practices;
•the servicing and ancillary fees that we may charge;
•our modification standards and procedures;
•the amount of reimbursable and non‑reimbursable advances that we may make; and
•the types of loan products that are eligible for sale or securitization.
These guidelines provide the GSEs and other government agencies with the ability to provide monetary incentives for loan servicers that perform well and to assess penalties for those that do not. At the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have aligned their guidelines for servicing delinquent mortgages, which could result in monetary incentives for servicers that perform well and to assess compensatory penalties against servicers in connection with the failure to meet specified timelines relating to delinquent loans and foreclosure proceedings, and other breaches of servicing obligations. The GSEs also have the ability to impose other fees on the loans they acquire, such as the adverse market refinance fee that took effect on December 1, 2020. We generally cannot negotiate these terms with the agencies and they are subject to change at any time without our specific consent. A significant change in these guidelines, if one that decreases the fees we charge or requires us to expend additional resources to provide mortgage services, could decrease our revenues or increase our costs.
In addition, changes in the nature or extent of the guarantees provided by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, the USDA or the VA, or the insurance provided by the FHA, or coverage provided by private mortgage insurers, could also have broad adverse market implications. Any future increases in guarantee fees or changes to their structure or increases in the premiums we are required to pay to the FHA or private mortgage insurers for insurance or to the VA or the USDA for guarantees could increase mortgage origination costs and insurance premiums for our clients. These industry changes could negatively affect demand for our mortgage services and consequently our origination volume, which could be detrimental to our business. We cannot predict whether the impact of any proposals to move Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship would require them to increase their fees. For further discussion, see “Risk Factors - Our business is highly dependent on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and certain U.S. government agencies, and any changes in these entities or their current roles could be detrimental to our business.”
Our business is highly dependent on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and certain U.S. government agencies, and any changes in these entities or their current roles could be detrimental to our business.
We originate loans eligible for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and government-insured or guaranteed loans, such as FHA, VA and USDA loans eligible for Ginnie Mae securities issuance.
In 2008, FHFA placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and, as their conservator, controls and directs their operations.
There is significant uncertainty regarding the future of the GSEs, including with respect to how long they will continue to be in existence, the extent of their roles in the market and what forms they will have, and whether they will be government agencies, government-sponsored agencies or private for-profit entities.
In September 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a proposal for reform, and, in October 2019, FHFA released a strategic plan regarding the conservatorships, which included a Scorecard that has preparing for exiting conservatorship as one of its key objectives. Among other things, the Treasury recommendations include recapitalizing the GSEs, increasing private sector competition with the GSEs, replacing GSE statutory affordable housing goals, changing mortgage underwriting requirements for GSE guarantees, revising the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (“CFPB”) qualified mortgage regulations, and continuing to support the market for 30‑year fixed‑rate mortgages. It is uncertain whether these recommendations will be enacted. If these recommendations are enacted, the future roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could be reduced (perhaps significantly) and the nature of their guarantee obligations could be considerably limited relative to historical measurements. In addition, various other proposals to generally reform the U.S. housing finance market have been offered by members of the U.S. Congress, and certain of these proposals seek to significantly reduce or eliminate over time the role of the GSEs in purchasing and guaranteeing mortgage loans. Any such proposals, if enacted, may have broad adverse implications for the MBS market and our business. It is possible that the adoption of any such proposals might lead to higher fees being charged by the GSEs or lower prices on our sales of mortgage loans to them.
The extent and timing of any regulatory reform regarding the GSEs and the U.S. housing finance market, as well as any effect on our business operations and financial results, are uncertain. It is not yet possible to determine whether such proposals will be enacted and, if so, when, what form any final legislation or policies might take or how proposals, legislation or policies may impact the MBS market and our business. Our inability to make the necessary adjustments to respond to these changing market conditions or loss of our approved seller/servicer status with the GSEs could have a material adverse effect on our mortgage origination operations and our mortgage servicing operations. If those agencies cease to exist, wind down, or otherwise significantly change their business operations or if we lost approvals with those agencies or our relationships with those agencies is otherwise adversely affected, we would seek alternative secondary market participants to acquire our mortgage loans at a volume sufficient to sustain our business. If such participants are not available on reasonably comparable economic terms, the above changes could have a material adverse effect on our ability to profitably sell loans we originate that are securitized through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae.
Our MSRs are highly volatile assets with continually changing values, and these changes in value, or inaccuracies in our estimates of their value, could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
The value of our MSRs is based on the cash flows projected to result from the servicing of the related mortgage loans and continually fluctuates due to a number of factors. These factors include changes in interest rates; historically, the value of MSRs has increased when interest rates rise as higher interest rates lead to decreased prepayment rates, and has decreased when interest rates decline as lower interest rates lead to increased prepayment rates and refinancings. Other market conditions also affect the number of loans that are refinanced, and thus no longer result in cash flows, and the number of loans that become delinquent.
We use internal financial models that utilize market participant data to value our MSRs for purposes of financial reporting and for purposes of determining the price that we pay to acquire loans for which we will retain MSRs. These models are complex and use asset-specific collateral data and market inputs for interest and discount rates. In addition, the modeling requirements of MSRs are complex because of the high number of variables that drive cash flows associated with MSRs, and because of the complexity involved with anticipating such variables over the life of the MSR. Even if the general accuracy of our valuation models is validated, valuations are highly dependent upon the reasonableness of our assumptions and the results of the models.
If loan delinquencies or prepayment speeds are higher than anticipated or other factors perform worse than modeled, the recorded value of certain of our MSRs may decrease, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We are exposed to volatility in transitioning from LIBOR as an interest rate index, which can result in higher than market interest rates and may have a detrimental effect on our business.
The interest rate of our variable-rate indebtedness and the interest rate on the conventional, adjustable rate loans we originate and service is based on LIBOR. In July 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) announced that it intends to stop collecting LIBOR rates from banks after 2021. The announcement indicates that LIBOR will not continue to exist on the current basis. More recently, on March 5, 2021 the FCA announced that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided by any administrator or no longer be representative. Specifically, this will occur immediately after December 31, 2021, in the case of all sterling, euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen settings, and the 1-week, and 2-month US dollar settings; and immediately after June 30, 2023, in the case of the remaining US dollar settings. However, U.S. banking regulators have made clear that U.S.-dollar LIBOR originations should end by no later than December 31, 2021, and that new LIBOR originations prior to that date must provide for an alternative reference rate or a hardwired fallback. In accordance with recommendations from the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (“ARRC”), U.S. -dollar LIBOR is expected to be replaced with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), a new index calculated by reference to short-term repurchase agreements for U.S. Treasury securities. Further, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. recently announced fallback language for LIBOR-referencing derivatives contracts that also provides for SOFR as the primary replacement rate in the event of a LIBOR cessation.
SOFR is calculated based on overnight transactions under repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities. SOFR is observed on a daily basis and backward looking, which stands in contrast with LIBOR under the current methodology, which is an estimated forward-looking rate for specified tenors and relies, to some degree, on the expert judgment of submitting panel members. Given that SOFR is a secured rate backed by government securities, it will be a rate that does not take into account bank credit risk (as is the case with LIBOR). SOFR is therefore likely to be lower than LIBOR and is less likely to correlate with the funding costs of financial institutions. As a result, parties may seek to adjust the spreads relative to such reference rate in underlying contractual arrangements.
Although there have been issuances utilizing SOFR or the Sterling Over Night Index Average, an alternative reference rate that is based on transactions, it is unknown whether SOFR or any of the other alternative reference rates will attain market acceptance as replacements for LIBOR. There is currently no definitive successor reference rate to LIBOR and various industry organizations are still working to develop workable transition mechanisms. As part of this industry transition, we will be required to migrate any current LIBOR-based adjustable rate loans we service to SOFR (or any such successor reference rate). Until a successor rate is more firmly determined, we cannot implement the transition away from LIBOR for the adjustable rate loans we service. As such, we are unable to predict the effect of any changes to LIBOR, the establishment and success of any alternative reference rates, or any other reforms to LIBOR or any replacement of LIBOR that may be enacted in the United States or elsewhere. Such changes, reforms or replacements relating to LIBOR could have an adverse impact on the market for or value of any LIBOR-linked securities, loans, derivatives or other financial instruments or extensions of credit held by us. LIBOR-related changes could therefore affect our overall results of operations and financial condition.
Our hedging strategies may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with changes in interest rates.
Our profitability is directly affected by changes in interest rates. The market value of closed loans held for sale and interest rate locks generally change along with interest rates. The value of such assets moves opposite of interest rate changes. For example, as interest rates rise, the value of existing mortgage assets falls.
We employ various economic hedging strategies to mitigate the interest rate and the anticipated loan financing probability or “pull-through risk” inherent in such mortgage assets. Our use of these hedge instruments may expose us to counterparty risk as they are not traded on regulated exchanges or guaranteed by an exchange or its clearinghouse and, consequently, there may not be the same level of protections with respect to margin requirements and positions and other requirements designed to protect both us and our counterparties. Furthermore, the enforceability of agreements underlying hedging transactions may depend on compliance with applicable statutory, commodity and other regulatory requirements and, depending on the domicile of the counterparty, applicable international requirements. Consequently, if a counterparty fails to perform under a derivative agreement, we could incur a significant loss.
Our hedge instruments are accounted for as free‑standing derivatives and are included on our consolidated balance sheet at fair market value. Our operating results could be negatively affected because the losses on the hedge instruments we enter into may not be offset by a change in the fair value of the related hedged transaction.
Our hedging strategies also require us to provide cash margin to our hedging counterparties from time to time. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) requires us to provide daily cash margin to (or receive daily cash margin from, depending on the daily value of related MBS) our hedging counterparties from time to time. The collection of daily margin between us and our hedging counterparties could, under certain MBS market conditions, adversely affect our short-term liquidity and cash on hand. Additionally, our hedge instruments may expose us to counterparty risk—the possibility that a loss may occur from the failure of another party to perform in accordance with the terms of the contract, which loss exceeds the value of existing collateral, if any.
A portion of our assets consists of MSRs, which may fluctuate in value. We recently began hedging a portion of the risks associated with such fluctuations. There can be no assurance such hedges adequately protect us from a decline in the value of the MSRs we own, or that the hedging strategy utilized by us with respect to our MSRs is well designed or properly executed to adequately address such fluctuations. A decline in the value of MSRs may have a detrimental effect on our business.
Our hedging activities in the future may include entering into interest rate swaps, caps and floors, options to purchase these items, purchasing or selling U.S. Treasury securities, and/or other tools and strategies. These hedging decisions will be determined in light of the facts and circumstances existing at the time and may differ from our current hedging strategies. These hedging strategies may be less effective than our current hedging strategies in mitigating the risks described above, which could be detrimental to our business and financial condition.
We rely on internal models to manage risk and to make business decisions. Our business could be adversely affected if those models fail to produce reliable and/or valid results.
We make significant use of business and financial models in connection with our proprietary technology to measure and monitor our risk exposures and to manage our business. For example, we use models to measure and monitor our exposures to interest rate, credit and other market risks. The information provided by these models is used in making business decisions relating to strategies, initiatives, transactions, pricing and products. If these models are ineffective at predicting future losses or are otherwise inadequate, we may incur unexpected losses or otherwise be adversely affected.
We build these models using historical data and our assumptions about factors such as future mortgage loan demand, default rates, home price trends and other factors that may overstate or understate future experience. Our assumptions may be inaccurate and our models may not be as predictive as expected for many reasons, including the fact that they often involve matters that are inherently beyond our control and difficult to predict, such as macroeconomic conditions, and that they often involve complex interactions between a number of variables and factors.
Our models could produce unreliable results for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, the limitations of historical data to predict results due to unprecedented events or circumstances, invalid or incorrect assumptions underlying the models, the need for manual adjustments in response to rapid changes in economic conditions, incorrect coding of the models, incorrect data being used by the models or inappropriate application of a model to products or events outside of the model’s intended use. In particular, models are less dependable when the economic environment is outside of historical experience, as was the case from 2008 to 2010 or during the present COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the time and resources, including technical and staffing resources, that are required to perform these processes effectively, it may not be possible to replace existing models quickly enough to ensure that they will always properly account for the impacts of recent information and actions.
A substantial portion of our assets are measured at fair value. Fair value determinations require many assumptions and complex analyses, and we cannot control many of the underlying factors. If our estimates prove to be incorrect, we may be required to write down the value of such assets, which could adversely affect our earnings, financial condition and liquidity.
We measure the fair value of our mortgage loans held for sale, derivatives, interest rate lock commitments (“IRLCs”) and MSRs on a recurring basis and we measure the fair value of other assets, such as mortgage loans held for investment, certain impaired loans and other real estate owned, on a non-recurring basis. Fair value determinations require many assumptions
and complex analyses, especially to the extent there are not active markets for identical assets. For example, we generally estimate the fair value of loans held for sale based on quoted market prices for securities backed by similar types of loans. If quoted market prices are not available, fair value is estimated based on other relevant factors, including dealer price quotations and prices available for similar instruments, to approximate the amounts that would be received from a third party. In addition, the fair value of IRLCs are measured based upon the difference between the current fair value of similar loans (as determined generally for mortgages held for sale) and the price at which we have committed to originate the loans, subject to the anticipated loan financing probability, or pull-through factor (which is both significant and highly subjective).
Further, MSRs do not trade in an active market with readily observable prices and, therefore, their fair value is determined using a valuation model that calculates the present value of estimated net future cash flows, using estimates of prepayment speeds, discount rate, cost to service, float earnings, contractual servicing fee income and ancillary income, and late fees.
If our estimates of fair value prove to be incorrect, we may be required to write down the value of such assets, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Because accounting rules for valuing certain assets and liabilities are highly complex and involve significant judgment and assumptions, these complexities could lead to a delay in preparation of financial information and the delivery of this information to our stockholders and also increase the risk of errors and restatements, as well as the cost of compliance.
Risks Relating to Regulatory Compliance and Litigation
We operate in a heavily regulated industry, and our mortgage loan origination and servicing activities expose us to risks of non-compliance with an increasing and inconsistent body of complex laws and regulations at the U.S. federal, state and local levels, as well as in Canada.
Due to the heavily regulated nature of the mortgage industry, we are required to comply with a wide array of Canadian, U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations that regulate, among other things, the manner in which we conduct our loan origination and servicing businesses and the fees that we may charge, and the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information.
Because we originate mortgage loans and provide servicing activities nationwide and have operations in Canada, we must be licensed in all relevant jurisdictions and comply with the respective laws and regulations of each, as well as with judicial and administrative decisions applicable to us. Such licensing requirements also may require the submission of information regarding any person who has 10% or more of the combined voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result of the voting provisions of our certificate of incorporation, as long as persons other than RHI hold approximately 21% or less of our outstanding common stock, a person could have 10% or more of the combined voting power of our common stock even though such person holds less than 10% of our outstanding common stock. In addition, we are currently subject to a variety of, and may in the future become subject to additional Canadian, U.S. federal, state, and local laws that are continually evolving and developing, including laws on advertising, as well as privacy laws, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the CAN-SPAM Act, the Canadian Anti-Spam Law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). More states may enact legislation similar to the CCPA, which provides consumers with new privacy rights such as the right to request deletion of their data, the right to receive data on record for them and the right to know what categories of data, generally, are maintained about them, and increases the privacy and security obligations of entities handling certain personal information of such consumers. These regulations directly impact our business and require ongoing compliance, monitoring and internal and external audits as they continue to evolve, and may result in ever-increasing public scrutiny and escalating levels of enforcement and sanctions. Subsequent changes to data protection and privacy laws could also impact how we process personal information, and therefore limit the effectiveness of our products and services as well as our ability to operate or expand our business, including limiting strategic partnerships that may involve the sharing of personal information. In addition, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors in September 2020 issued a proposal for public comment that would subject nonbank mortgage servicers to prudential standards, which, if adopted, would impact our regulatory obligations and could adversely affect our business.
We must also comply with a number of federal, state and local consumer protection laws including, among others, the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“ECOA”), the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), the TCPA, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), Military Lending Act, the Homeowners Protection Act
(“HPA”), the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”), the SAFE Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”), U.S. federal and state laws prohibiting unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices, and state foreclosure laws. These statutes apply to loan origination, marketing, use of credit reports, safeguarding of non-public, personally identifiable information about our clients, foreclosure and claims handling, investment of and interest payments on escrow balances and escrow payment features, and mandate certain disclosures and notices to clients.
In particular, various federal, state and local laws have been enacted that are designed to discourage predatory lending and servicing practices. The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (“HOEPA”) prohibits inclusion of certain provisions in residential loans that have mortgage rates or origination costs in excess of prescribed levels and requires that borrowers be given certain disclosures prior to origination. Some states have enacted, or may enact, similar laws or regulations, which in some cases impose restrictions and requirements greater than those in HOEPA. In addition, under the anti-predatory lending laws of some states, the origination of certain residential loans, including loans that are not classified as “high cost” loans under applicable law, must satisfy a net tangible benefits test with respect to the related borrower. This test may be highly subjective and open to interpretation. Failure of residential loan originators or servicers to comply with these laws, to the extent any of their residential loans are or become part of our mortgage-related assets, could subject us, as a servicer or, in the case of acquired loans, as an assignee or purchaser, to monetary penalties and could result in the borrowers rescinding the affected loans. If our loans are found to have been originated in violation of predatory or abusive lending laws, we could be subject to lawsuits or governmental actions, or we could be fined or incur losses.
In July 2020, it was announced that the Financial Stability Oversight Council will begin an activities-based review of the secondary mortgage market. The FHFA has expressed support for this review. In September 2020, the Council released a statement containing key findings from its review, which focused on the FHFA’s June 2020 proposed capital regulation for the GSEs. The Council’s statement encouraged the FHFA and other regulatory agencies to coordinate on capital requirements for market participants, encouraged the FHFA to tailor the GSEs’ capital buffers and encouraged the FHFA to implement regulatory capital definitions for the GSEs similar to those in the U.S. banking framework. Changes to the GSEs’ capital requirements could affect secondary mortgage market activities in a manner that could have an adverse effect on our business.
Both the scope of the laws and regulations and the intensity of the supervision to which our business is subject have increased over time, in response to the financial crisis as well as other factors such as technological and market changes. Regulatory enforcement and fines have also increased across the banking and financial services sector. We expect that our business will remain subject to extensive regulation and supervision. These regulatory changes could result in an increase in our regulatory compliance burden and associated costs and place restrictions on our origination and servicing operations. Our failure to comply with applicable Canadian, U.S. federal, state and local consumer protection and data privacy laws could lead to:
•loss of our licenses and approvals to engage in our servicing and lending businesses;
•damage to our reputation in the industry;
•governmental investigations and enforcement actions;
•administrative fines and penalties and litigation;
•civil and criminal liability, including class action lawsuits;
•diminished ability to sell loans that we originate or purchase, requirements to sell such loans at a discount compared to other loans or repurchase or address indemnification claims from purchasers of such loans, including the GSEs;
•inability to raise capital; and
•inability to execute on our business strategy, including our growth plans.
As these Canadian, U.S. federal, state and local laws evolve, it may be more difficult for us to identify these developments comprehensively, to interpret changes accurately and to train our team members effectively with respect to these laws and regulations. Adding to these difficulties, U.S., Canadian, state and local laws may conflict with each other, and if we comply
with the laws of one jurisdiction, we may find that we are violating laws of another jurisdiction. These difficulties potentially increase our exposure to the risks of non-compliance with these laws and regulations, which could be detrimental to our business. In addition, our failure to comply with these laws, regulations and rules may result in reduced payments by clients, modification of the original terms of loans, permanent forgiveness of debt, delays in the foreclosure process, increased servicing advances, litigation, enforcement actions, and repurchase and indemnification obligations. A failure to adequately supervise service providers and vendors, including outside foreclosure counsel, may also have these negative results.
The laws and regulations applicable to us are subject to administrative or judicial interpretation, but some of these laws and regulations have been enacted only recently and may not yet have been interpreted or may be interpreted infrequently. Ambiguities in applicable laws and regulations may leave uncertainty with respect to permitted or restricted conduct and may make compliance with laws, and risk assessment decisions with respect to compliance with laws difficult and uncertain. In addition, ambiguities make it difficult, in certain circumstances, to determine if, and how, compliance violations may be cured. The adoption by industry participants of different interpretations of these statutes and regulations has added uncertainty and complexity to compliance. We may fail to comply with applicable statutes and regulations even if acting in good faith due to a lack of clarity regarding the interpretation of such statutes and regulations, which may lead to regulatory investigations, governmental enforcement actions or private causes of action with respect to our compliance.
To resolve issues raised in examinations or other governmental actions, we may be required to take various corrective actions, including changing certain business practices, making refunds or taking other actions that could be financially or competitively detrimental to us. We expect to continue to incur costs to comply with governmental regulations. In addition, certain legislative actions and judicial decisions can give rise to the initiation of lawsuits against us for activities we conducted in the past. Furthermore, provisions in our mortgage loan and other loan product documentation, including but not limited to the mortgage and promissory notes we use in loan originations, could be construed as unenforceable by a court. We have been, and expect to continue to be, subject to regulatory enforcement actions and private causes of action from time to time with respect to our compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The recent influx of new laws, regulations, and other directives adopted in response to the recent COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies the ever-changing and increasingly complex regulatory landscape we operate in. While some regulatory reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic relaxed certain compliance obligations, the forbearance requirements imposed on mortgage servicers in the CARES Act added new regulatory responsibilities. The GSEs and the FHFA, Ginnie Mae, HUD, various investors and others have also issued guidance relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have received and expect to continue to receive inquiries from various federal and state lawmakers, attorneys general and regulators seeking information on our COVID-19 response and its impact on our business, team members, and clients. Future regulatory scrutiny and enforcement resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown.
On August 25, 2020, the FHFA issued a policy change mandating the assessment of a 50-basis point Adverse Market Refinance Fee for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on and after December 1, 2020. This policy change impacts all mortgage originators delivering loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This new fee could negatively impact the market, our origination volume due to increased cost to the consumer or our revenue, and could be detrimental to our business.
As a licensed real estate brokerage, our Rocket Homes business is currently subject to a variety of, and may in the future become subject to, additional, federal, state, and local laws that are continually changing, including laws related to: the real estate, brokerage, title, and mortgage industries; mobile- and internet-based businesses; and data security, advertising, privacy and consumer protection laws. For instance, we are subject to federal laws such as the FHA and RESPA. These laws can be costly to comply with, require significant management attention, and could subject us to claims, government enforcement actions, civil and criminal liability, or other remedies, including revocation of licenses and suspension of business operations.
In some cases, it is unclear as to how such laws and regulations affect Rocket Homes based on our business model that is unlike traditional brokerages, and the fact that those laws and regulations were created for traditional real estate brokerages. If we are unable to comply with and become liable for violations of these laws or regulations, or if unfavorable regulations or interpretations of existing regulations by courts or regulatory bodies are implemented, we could be directly harmed and forced to implement new measures to reduce our liability exposure. It could cause our operations in affected markets to become overly expensive, time consuming, or even impossible. This may require us to expend significant time, capital, managerial, and other resources to modify or discontinue certain operations, limiting our ability to execute our business strategies, deepen our presence in our existing markets, or expand into new markets. In addition, any negative exposure or liability could harm our brand and reputation. Any costs incurred as a result of this potential liability could harm our business.
As a licensed title and settlement services provider, Amrock is currently subject to a variety of, and may in the future become subject to, additional, federal, state, and local laws that are continually changing, including laws related to: the real estate, brokerage, title, and mortgage industries; mobile- and internet-based businesses; and data security, advertising, privacy and consumer protection laws. For instance, Amrock is subject to federal laws such as the FHA and RESPA. These laws can be costly to comply with, require significant management attention, and could subject us to claims, government enforcement actions, civil and criminal liability, or other remedies, including revocation of licenses and suspension of business operations.
More restrictive laws and regulations may be adopted in the future, and governmental bodies or courts may interpret existing laws or regulations in a more restrictive manner, which could render our current business practices non‑compliant or which could make compliance more difficult or expensive. Any of these, or other, changes in laws or regulations could have a detrimental effect on our business.
The CFPB continues to be active in its monitoring of the loan origination and servicing sectors, and its recently issued rules increase our regulatory compliance burden and associated costs.
We are subject to the regulatory, supervisory and examination authority of the CFPB, which has oversight of federal and state non-depository lending and servicing institutions, including residential mortgage originators and loan servicers. The CFPB has rulemaking authority with respect to many of the federal consumer protection laws applicable to mortgage lenders and servicers, including TILA and RESPA and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. The CFPB has issued a number of regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act relating to loan origination and servicing activities, including ability-to-repay and “Qualified Mortgage” standards and other origination standards and practices as well as servicing requirements that address, among other things, periodic billing statements, certain notices and acknowledgements, prompt crediting of borrowers’ accounts for payments received, additional notice, review and timing requirements with respect to delinquent borrowers, loss mitigation, prompt investigation of complaints by borrowers, and lender-placed insurance notices. The CFPB has also amended provisions of HOEPA regarding the determination of high-cost mortgages, and of Regulation B, to implement additional requirements under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act with respect to valuations, including appraisals and automated valuation models. The CFPB has also issued guidance to loan servicers to address potential risks to borrowers that may arise in connection with transfers of servicing. Additionally, through bulletins 2012-03 and 2016-02, the CFPB has increased the focus on lender liability and vendor management across the mortgage and settlement services industries, which may vary depending on the services being performed.
For example, the CFPB iteratively adopted rules over the course of several years regarding mortgage servicing practices that required us to make modifications and enhancements to our mortgage servicing processes and systems. While the CFPB recently announced its flexible supervisory and enforcement approach during the COVID-19 pandemic on certain consumer communications required by the mortgage-servicing rules, managing to the CFPB’s loss mitigation rules with mounting CARES Act forbearance requests is particularly challenging. The intersection of the CFPB’s mortgage-servicing rules and COVID-19 is evolving and will pose new challenges to the servicing industry. The CFPB’s publication of COVID-19-related FAQs did not resolve potential conflicts between the CARES Act with respect to reporting of consumer credit information mandated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. There are conflicting interpretations of CFPB’s COVID-19 FAQs as to the reporting of consumer credit information when a CARES Act forbearance ends without further action by the consumer, such as an extension of the forbearance or selection of another loss mitigation option to resolve the delinquency.
The mortgage-lending sector is currently relying, for a significant portion of the mortgages originated, on a temporary CFPB regulation, commonly called the “QM Patch,” which permits mortgage lenders to comply with the CFPB’s ability to repay requirements by relying on the fact that the mortgage is eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Reliance on the QM Patch has become widespread due to the operational complexity and practical inability for many mortgage lenders to rely on other ways to show compliance with the ability to repay regulations. For a more in‑depth explanation, see “ - Risks Relating to the Financial and Macroeconomic Environment - Our business is highly dependent on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and certain U.S. government agencies, and any changes in these entities or their current roles could be detrimental to our business.” In June 2020, the CFPB issued proposed rules to revise its ability to repay requirements. In August 2020, the CFPB announced an additional proposed rule that would further revise its ability to repay requirements by creating a new category of seasoned qualified mortgages. On October 20, 2020, the CFPB announced that the QM Patch was being extended until the mandatory compliance date of the final amendments to the General QM definition in Regulation Z, which is currently scheduled for July 1, 2021 based on the CFPB’s December 10, 2020 final rule covering revisions to the General QM definition. More recently, the CFPB issued a proposed rulemaking on March 3, 2021 that would extend the mandatory compliance date of the General QM definition rulemaking (and thereby the QM Patch sunset date) from July 1, 2021 to October 1, 2022. We cannot predict what final actions the CFPB will take and how it might affect us and other mortgage
originators. For a discussion of the risk to our business due to possible changes in the conservatorship status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, see “Business - Government Regulations."
The CFPB’s examinations have increased, and will likely continue to increase, our administrative and compliance costs. They could also greatly influence the availability and cost of residential mortgage credit and increase servicing costs and risks. These increased costs of compliance, the effect of these rules on the lending industry and loan servicing, and any failure in our ability to comply with the new rules by their effective dates, could be detrimental to our business. The CFPB also issued guidelines on sending examiners to banks and other institutions that service and/or originate mortgages to assess whether consumers’ interests are protected. The CFPB has conducted routine examinations of our business and will conduct future examinations.
The CFPB also has broad enforcement powers, and can order, among other things, rescission or reformation of contracts, the refund of moneys or the return of real property, restitution, disgorgement or compensation for unjust enrichment, the payment of damages or other monetary relief, public notifications regarding violations, limits on activities or functions, remediation of practices, external compliance monitoring and civil money penalties. The CFPB has been active in investigations and enforcement actions and, when necessary, has issued civil money penalties to parties the CFPB determines has violated the laws and regulations it enforces. Our failure to comply with the federal consumer protection laws, rules and regulations to which we are subject, whether actual or alleged, could expose us to enforcement actions or potential litigation liabilities. In May 2020, the CFPB issued a civil investigative demand to our subsidiary, Rocket Homes, the stated purpose of which is to determine if Rocket Homes conducted any activities in a manner that violated RESPA and to determine if further CFPB action is necessary. We are cooperating fully with the CFPB in this investigation and are confident in the compliance processes that Rocket Homes has in place.
In addition, the occurrence of one or more of the foregoing events or a determination by any court or regulatory agency that our policies and procedures do not comply with applicable law could impact our business operations. For example, if the violation is related to our servicing operations it could lead to downgrades by one or more rating agencies, a transfer of our servicing responsibilities, increased delinquencies on mortgage loans we service or any combination of these events. Such a determination could also require us to modify our servicing standards. The expense of complying with new or modified servicing standards may be substantial. Any such changes or revisions may have a material impact on our servicing operations, which could be detrimental to our business.
The state regulatory agencies continue to be active in their supervision of the loan origination and servicing sectors and the results of these examinations may be detrimental to our business.
We are also supervised by regulatory agencies under Canadian and state law. State attorneys general, state licensing regulators, and state and local consumer protection offices have authority to investigate consumer complaints and to commence investigations and other formal and informal proceedings regarding our operations and activities. In addition, the GSEs and the FHFA, Ginnie Mae, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), various investors, non‑agency securitization trustees and others subject us to periodic reviews and audits. A determination of our failure to comply with applicable law could lead to enforcement action, administrative fines and penalties, or other administrative action.
If we are unable to comply with TRID rules, our business and operations could be materially and adversely affected and our plans to expand our lending business could be adversely impacted.
The CFPB implemented loan disclosure requirements, effective in October 2015, to combine and amend certain TILA and RESPA disclosures. The TRID rules significantly changed consumer-facing disclosure rules and added certain waiting periods to allow consumers time to shop for and consider the loan terms after receiving the required disclosures. If we fail to comply with the TRID rules, we may be unable to sell loans that we originate or purchase, or we may be required to sell such loans at a discount compared to other loans. We could also be subject to repurchase or indemnification claims from purchasers of such loans, including the GSEs.
As regulatory guidance and enforcement and the views of the GSEs and other market participants evolve, we may need to modify further our loan origination processes and systems in order to adjust to evolution in the regulatory landscape and successfully operate our lending business. In such circumstances, if we are unable to make the necessary adjustments, our business and operations could be adversely affected and we may not be able to execute on our plans to grow our lending business.
Material changes to the laws, regulations or practices applicable to reverse mortgage programs operated by FHA and HUD could adversely affect our reverse mortgage business.
The reverse mortgage industry is largely dependent upon the FHA and HUD, and there can be no guarantee that these entities will continue to participate in the reverse mortgage industry or that they will not make material changes to the laws, regulations, rules or practices applicable to reverse mortgage programs. The vast majority of reverse mortgage loan products we originate through our subsidiary, One Reverse Mortgage LLC, are Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (“HECM”), an FHA-insured loan that must comply with the FHA’s and other regulatory requirements. One Reverse Mortgage LLC also originates non-HECM reverse mortgage products, for which there is a limited secondary market. The FHA regulations governing the HECM products have changed from time to time. The FHA has continued to issue additional guidance aimed at strengthening the HECM program. Most recently, the FHA issued a Mortgagee Letter changing initial and annual mortgage insurance premium rates and the principal limit factors for all HECMs. Our reverse mortgage business is also subject to state statutory and regulatory requirements including, but not limited to, licensing requirements, required disclosures and permissible fees. It is unclear how the various new requirements, including the financial assessment requirement, will impact our reverse mortgage business. We continue to evaluate our reverse mortgage business and the future loan production remains uncertain.
If we do not obtain and maintain the appropriate state licenses, we will not be allowed to originate or service loans in some states, which would adversely affect our operations.
Our operations are subject to regulation, supervision and licensing under various federal, state and local statutes, ordinances and regulations. In most states in which we operate, a regulatory agency regulates and enforces laws relating to loan servicing companies and loan origination companies such as us. These rules and regulations generally provide for licensing as a loan servicing company, loan origination company, loan marketing company, debt collection agency or third-party default specialist, as applicable, requirements as to the form and content of contracts and other documentation, licensing of employees and employee hiring background checks, restrictions on collection practices, disclosure and record-keeping requirements and enforcement of borrowers’ rights. In most states, we are subject to periodic examination by state regulatory authorities. Some states in which we operate require special licensing or provide extensive regulation of our business.
Similarly, due to the geographic scope of our operations and the nature of the services our Rocket Homes business provides, we may be required to obtain and maintain additional real estate brokerage licenses in certain states where we operate. Because its lender clients are in multiple states, Amrock is required to obtain and maintain various licenses, for its title agents, providers of appraisal management services, abstractors, and escrow and closing personnel. Some states, such as California, require Amrock to obtain entity or agency licensure, while other states require insurance agents or insurance producers to be licensed individually. There are also states that require both licensures. Many state licenses are perpetual, but licensees must take some periodic actions to keep the license in good standing.
If we enter new markets, we may be required to comply with new laws, regulations and licensing requirements. As part of licensing requirements, we are typically required to designate individual licensees of record. We cannot ensure that we are in full compliance, and will always remain in full compliance with all real estate licensing laws and regulations, and we may be subject to fines or penalties, including license revocation, for any non‑compliance. If in the future a state agency were to determine that we are required to obtain additional licenses in that state in order to transact business, or if we lose an existing license or are otherwise found to be in violation of a law or regulation, our business operations in that state may be suspended until we obtain the license or otherwise remedy the compliance issue.
We may not be able to maintain all requisite licenses and permits, and the failure to satisfy those and other regulatory requirements could restrict our ability to broker, originate, purchase, sell or service loans. In addition, our failure to satisfy any such requirements relating to servicing of loans could result in a default under our servicing agreements and have a material adverse effect on our operations. Those states that currently do not provide extensive regulation of our business may later choose to do so, and if such states so act, we may not be able to obtain or maintain all requisite licenses and permits. The failure to satisfy those and other regulatory requirements could limit our ability to broker, originate, purchase, sell or service loans in a certain state, or could result in a default under our financing and servicing agreements and have a material adverse effect on our operations. Furthermore, the adoption of additional, or the revision of existing, rules and regulations could have a detrimental effect on our business.
We are subject to laws and regulations regarding our use of telemarketing; a failure to comply with such laws, including the TCPA, could increase our operating costs and adversely impact our business.
We engage in outbound telephone and text communications with consumers, and accordingly must comply with a number of laws and regulations that govern said communications and the use of automatic telephone dialing systems (“ATDS”), including the TCPA and Telemarketing Sales Rules. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and the FTC have responsibility for regulating various aspects of these laws. Among other requirements, the TCPA requires us to obtain prior express written consent for certain telemarketing calls and to adhere to “do-not-call” registry requirements which, in part, mandate that we maintain and regularly update lists of consumers who have chosen not to be called and restrict calls to consumers who are on the national do-not-call list. Many states have similar consumer protection laws regulating telemarketing. These laws limit our ability to communicate with consumers and reduce the effectiveness of our marketing programs. The TCPA does not distinguish between voice and data, and, as such, SMS/MMS messages are also “calls” for the purpose of TCPA obligations and restrictions.
For violations of the TCPA, the law provides for a private right of action under which a plaintiff may recover monetary damages of $500 for each call or text made in violation of the prohibitions on calls made using an “artificial or pre‑recorded voice” or an ATDS. A court may treble the amount of damages upon a finding of a “willful or knowing” violation. There is no statutory cap on maximum aggregate exposure (although some courts have applied in TCPA class actions constitutional limits on excessive penalties). An action may be brought by the FCC, a state attorney general, an individual, or a class of individuals. Like other companies that rely on telephone and text communications, we are regularly subject to putative, class action suits alleging violations of the TCPA. To date, no such class has been certified. If in the future we are found to have violated the TCPA, the amount of damages and potential liability could be extensive and adversely impact our business. Accordingly, were such a class certified or if we are unable to successfully defend such a suit, as we have in the past, then TCPA damages could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in tax laws may adversely affect us, and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or a court may disagree with our tax positions, which may result in adverse effects on our financial condition or the value of our common stock.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”), enacted on December 22, 2017, significantly affected U.S. tax law, including by changing how the U.S. imposes tax on certain types of income of corporations and by reducing the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate to 21%. It also imposed new limitations on a number of tax benefits, including deductions for business interest, use of net operating loss carry forwards, taxation of foreign income, and the foreign tax credit, among others. The CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, further amended the U.S. federal tax code, including in respect of certain changes that were made by the TCJA, generally on a temporary basis. There can be no assurance that future tax law changes will not increase the rate of the corporate income tax significantly, impose new limitations on deductions, credits or other tax benefits, or make other changes that may adversely affect our business, cash flows or financial performance. In addition, the IRS has yet to issue guidance on certain issues regarding the changes made by the TCJA and the CARES Act. In the absence of such guidance, the Company will take positions with respect to a number of unsettled issues. There is no assurance that the IRS or a court will agree with the positions taken by us, in which case tax penalties and interest may be imposed that could adversely affect our business, cash flows or financial performance.
Our servicing policies and procedures are subject to examination by our regulators, and the results of these examinations may be detrimental to our business.
As a loan servicer, we are examined for compliance with U.S. federal, state and local laws, rules and guidelines by numerous regulatory agencies. It is possible that any of these regulators will inquire about our servicing practices, policies or procedures and require us to revise them in the future. The occurrence of one or more of the foregoing events or a determination by any court or regulatory agency that our servicing policies and procedures do not comply with applicable law could lead to downgrades by one or more rating agencies, a transfer of our servicing responsibilities, increased delinquencies on mortgage loans we service or any combination of these events. Such a determination could also require us to modify our servicing standards.
Regulatory agencies and consumer advocacy groups are becoming more aggressive in asserting claims that the practices of lenders and loan servicers result in a disparate impact on protected classes.
Antidiscrimination statutes, such as the FHA and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, prohibit creditors from discriminating against loan applicants and borrowers based on certain characteristics, such as race, religion and national origin. Various
federal regulatory agencies and departments, including the DOJ and CFPB, take the position that these laws apply not only to intentional discrimination, but also to neutral practices that have a disparate impact on a group that shares a characteristic that a creditor may not consider in making credit decisions (i.e., creditor or servicing practices that have a disproportionate negative affect on a protected class of individuals).
These regulatory agencies, as well as consumer advocacy groups and plaintiffs’ attorneys, are focusing greater attention on “disparate impact” claims. The U.S. Supreme Court recently confirmed that the “disparate impact” theory applies to cases brought under the FHA, while emphasizing that a causal relationship must be shown between a specific policy of the defendant and a discriminatory result that is not justified by a legitimate objective of the defendant. Recently, HUD issued a final rule amending HUD’s interpretation of the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard. Although it is still unclear whether the theory applies under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, regulatory agencies and private plaintiffs can be expected to continue to apply it to both the FHA and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in the context of home loan lending and servicing. To extent that the “disparate impact” theory continues to apply, we may be faced with significant administrative burdens in attempting to comply and potential liability for failures to comply.
Furthermore, many industry observers believe that the “ability to repay” rule issued by the CFPB, discussed above, will have the unintended consequence of having a disparate impact on protected classes. Specifically, it is possible that lenders that make only Qualified Mortgages may be exposed to discrimination claims under a disparate impact theory.
In addition to reputational harm, violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the FHA can result in actual damages, punitive damages, injunctive or equitable relief, attorneys’ fees and civil money penalties.
Government regulation of the internet and other aspects of our business is evolving, and we may experience unfavorable changes in or failure to comply with existing or future regulations and laws.
We are subject to a number of regulations and laws that apply generally to businesses, as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the internet and the marketing over the internet. Existing and future regulations and laws may impede the growth and availability of the internet and online services and may limit our ability to operate our business. These laws and regulations, which continue to evolve, cover privacy and data protection, data security, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution, mobile and other communications, advertising practices, electronic contracts, consumer protections, the provision of online payment services, unencumbered internet access to our services, the design and operation of websites and the characteristics and quality of offerings online. We cannot guarantee that we have been or will be fully compliant in every jurisdiction, as it is not entirely clear how existing laws and regulations governing issues such as property ownership, consumer protection, libel and personal privacy apply or will be enforced with respect to the internet and e‑commerce, as many of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues they raise. Moreover, increasing regulation and enforcement efforts by federal and state agencies and the prospects for private litigation claims related to our data collection, privacy policies or other e‑commerce practices become more likely. In addition, the adoption of any laws or regulations, or the imposition of other legal requirements, that adversely affect our digital marketing efforts could decrease our ability to offer, or client demand for, our offerings, resulting in lower revenue. Future regulations, or changes in laws and regulations or their existing interpretations or applications, could also require us to change our business practices, raise compliance costs or other costs of doing business and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our reported financial results may be materially and adversely affected by future changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
U.S. GAAP is subject to standard setting or interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results and could materially and adversely affect the transactions completed before the announcement of a change. A change in these principles or interpretations could also require us to alter our accounting systems in a manner that could increase our operating costs, impact the content of our financial statements and impact our ability to timely prepare our financial statements. Our inability to timely prepare our financial statements in the future would likely adversely affect our share price.
Regulation of title insurance rates could adversely affect our subsidiary, Amrock.
Amrock is subject to extensive rate regulation by the applicable state agencies in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Title insurance rates are regulated differently in various states, with some states requiring Amrock to file and receive approval of rates before such rates become effective and some states promulgating the rates that can be charged. These regulations could hinder Amrock’s ability to promptly adapt to changing market dynamics through price adjustments, which could adversely affect its results of operations, particularly in a rapidly declining market.
We are subject to various legal actions that if decided adversely, could be detrimental to our business.
We operate in an industry that is highly sensitive to consumer protection, and we are subject to numerous local, state and federal laws that are continually changing. Remediation for non‑compliance with these laws can be costly and significant fines may be incurred. We are routinely involved in legal proceedings alleging improper lending, servicing or marketing practices, abusive loan terms and fees, disclosure violations, quiet title actions, improper foreclosure practices, violations of consumer protection, securities or other laws, breach of contract and other related matters. We will incur defense costs and other legal expenses in connection with these lawsuits. Additionally, the final resolution of these actions may be unfavorable to us, which could be detrimental to our business. In cases where the final resolution is favorable to us, we may still incur a significant amount of legal expenses. In addition to the expense and burden incurred in defending any of these actions and any damages that we may incur, our management’s efforts and attention may be diverted from the ordinary business operations in order to address these claims. Additionally, we may be deemed in default of our debt agreements if a judgment for money that exceeds specified thresholds is rendered against us and we fail to timely address such judgment.
Employment litigation and related unfavorable publicity could negatively affect our future business.
Team members and former team members may, from time to time, bring lawsuits against us regarding injury, creation of a hostile workplace, discrimination, wage and hour, team member benefits, sexual harassment and other employment issues. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of discrimination and harassment claims against employers generally. Coupled with the expansion of social media platforms and similar devices that allow individuals access to a broad audience, these claims have had a significant negative impact on some businesses. Companies that have faced employment or harassment-related lawsuits have had to terminate management or other key personnel and have suffered reputational harm that has negatively impacted their businesses. If we experience significant incidents involving employment or harassment-related claims, we could face substantial out-of-pocket losses, fines or negative publicity. In addition, such claims may give rise to litigation, which may be time consuming, distracting to our management team and costly.
The conduct of the brokers through whom we originate could subject us to fines or other penalties.
The brokers through whom we originate have parallel and separate legal obligations to which they are subject. While these laws may not explicitly hold the originating lenders responsible for the legal violations of such brokers, U.S. federal and state agencies increasingly have sought to impose such liability. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), through its use of a disparate impact theory under the FHA, is actively holding home loan lenders responsible for the pricing practices of brokers, alleging that the lender is directly responsible for the total fees and charges paid by the borrower even if the lender neither dictated what the broker could charge nor kept the money for its own account. In addition, under the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (“TRID”) rule, we may be held responsible for improper disclosures made to clients by brokers. We may be subject to claims for fines or other penalties based upon the conduct of the independent home loan brokers with which we do business.
Risks Relating to Privacy and Intellectual Property
The collection, processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data could give rise to liabilities as a result of governmental regulation, conflicting legal requirements or differing views of personal privacy rights.
In the processing of consumer transactions, our businesses receive, transmit and store a large volume of personally identifiable information and other user data. The collection, sharing, use, disclosure and protection of this information are governed by the privacy and data security policies maintained by us and our businesses. Moreover, there are federal, state and international laws regarding privacy and the storing, sharing, use, disclosure and protection of personally identifiable information and user data. Specifically, personally identifiable information is increasingly subject to legislation and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world, the intent of which is to protect the privacy of personal information
that is collected, processed and transmitted in or from the governing jurisdiction. In the United States, regulations and interpretations concerning personally identifiable and data security promulgated by state and federal regulators, including the CFPB and FTC, could conflict or give rise to differing views of personal privacy rights. We could be materially and adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in business practices or privacy policies, or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our failure, and/or the failure by the various third-party vendors and service providers with whom we do business, to comply with applicable privacy policies or federal, state or similar international laws and regulations could damage our reputation or the reputation of these businesses, discourage potential users from our products and services and/or result in fines and/or proceedings by governmental agencies and/or consumers, one or all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could be adversely affected if we inadequately obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights and may encounter disputes from time to time relating to our use of the intellectual property of third parties.
Trademarks and other intellectual property and proprietary rights are important to our success and our competitive position. We rely on a combination of trademarks, service marks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and domain names, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights. Despite these measures, third parties may attempt to disclose, obtain, copy or use intellectual property rights owned or licensed by us and these measures may not prevent misappropriation, infringement, reverse engineering or other violation of intellectual property or proprietary rights owned or licensed by us, particularly in foreign countries where laws or enforcement practices may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States. Furthermore, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions can be difficult to enforce and, even if successfully enforced, may not be entirely effective. In addition, we cannot guarantee that we have entered into confidentiality agreements with all team members, partners, independent contractors or consultants that have or may have had access to our trade secrets and other proprietary information. Any issued or registered intellectual property rights owned by or licensed to us may be challenged, invalidated, held unenforceable or circumvented in litigation or other proceedings, including re‑examination, inter partes review, post‑grant review, interference and derivation proceedings and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings), and such intellectual property rights may be lost or no longer provide us meaningful competitive advantages. Third parties may also independently develop products, services and technology similar to or duplicative of our products and services.
In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time consuming and could result in the diversion of time and attention of our management team and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, attempts to enforce our intellectual property rights against third parties could also provoke these third parties to assert their own intellectual property or other rights against us, or result in a holding that invalidates or narrows the scope of our rights, in whole or in part. Our failure to secure, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our brands and adversely impact our business.
Our success and ability to compete also depends in part on our ability to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. We have encountered, and may in the future encounter, disputes from time to time concerning intellectual property rights of others, including our competitors, and we may not prevail in these disputes. Third parties may raise claims against us alleging an infringement, misappropriation or other violation of their intellectual property rights, including trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. Some third-party intellectual property rights may be extremely broad, and it may not be possible for us to conduct our operations in such a way as to avoid all alleged infringements, misappropriations or other violations of such intellectual property rights. In addition, former employers of our current, former or future team members may assert claims that such team members have improperly disclosed to us the confidential or proprietary information of these former employers. The resolution of any such disputes or litigations is difficult to predict. Future litigation may also involve non-practicing entities or other intellectual property owners who have no relevant product offerings or revenue and against whom our ownership of intellectual property may therefore provide little or no deterrence or protection. An assertion of an intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation claim against us may result in adverse judgments, settlement on unfavorable terms or cause us to spend significant amounts to defend the claim, even if we ultimately prevail and we may have to pay significant money damages, lose significant revenues, be prohibited from using the relevant systems, processes, technologies or other intellectual property (temporarily or permanently), cease
offering certain products or services, or incur significant license, royalty or technology development expenses. Defending against such claims could be costly, time consuming and could result in the diversion of time and attention of our management team. In addition, although in some cases a third party may have agreed to indemnify us for such infringement, misappropriation or other violation, such indemnifying party may refuse or be unable to uphold its contractual obligations. In other cases, our insurance may not cover potential claims of this type adequately or at all, and we may be required to pay monetary damages, which may be significant.
Our subsidiary, Quicken Loans, is party to a license agreement with Intuit, Inc. governing the use of the “Quicken Loans” name and trademark that may be terminated if Quicken Loans commits a material breach of its obligations thereunder, undergoes certain changes of control or in certain instances of wrongdoing or alleged wrongdoing.
Quicken Loans licenses the “Quicken Loans” name and trademark from Intuit, Inc. (“Intuit”) on an exclusive, royalty-bearing basis for use in connection with our business in the United States. Although the license is perpetual, Intuit may terminate the license agreement under various circumstances, including, among other things, if Quicken Loans commits a material breach of its obligations thereunder, undergoes certain changes of control, or in certain instances where wrongdoing or alleged wrongdoing by Quicken Loans or any controlling person could have a material adverse effect on Intuit. Termination of the license agreement would preclude us from using the “Quicken Loans” name and trademark, and the transition to a different brand (whether new or existing in our portfolio) would be time consuming and expensive. Any improper use of the “Quicken Loans” name or trademark by us, Intuit or any other third parties could adversely affect our business. We have entered into an agreement with Intuit that, among other things, gives Quicken Loans full ownership of the “Quicken Loans” brand in 2022 in exchange for certain agreements, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.
Risks Relating to our Human Capital
We may not be able to hire, train and retain qualified personnel to support our growth, and difficulties with hiring, team member training and other labor issues could adversely affect our ability to implement our business objectives and disrupt our operations.
Our operations depend on the work of our approximately 24,000 team members. Our future success will depend on our ability to continue to hire, integrate, develop and retain highly qualified personnel for all areas of our organization. Any talent acquisition and retention challenges could reduce our operating efficiency, increase our costs of operations and harm our overall financial condition. We could face these challenges if competition for qualified personnel intensifies or the pool of qualified candidates becomes more limited. Additionally, we invest heavily in training our team members, which increases their value to competitors who may seek to recruit them. The inability to attract or retain qualified personnel could have a detrimental effect on our business.
If we cannot maintain our corporate culture, we could lose the innovation, collaboration and focus on the mission that contribute to our business.
We believe that a critical component of our success is our corporate culture and our deep commitment to our mission. We believe this mission-based culture fosters innovation, encourages teamwork and cultivates creativity. Our mission defines our business philosophy as well as the emphasis that we place on our clients, our people and our culture and is consistently reinforced to and by our team members. As we develop the infrastructure of a public company and continue to grow, we may find it difficult to maintain these valuable aspects of our corporate culture and our long-term mission. Any failure to preserve our culture, including a failure due to the growth from becoming a public company, could negatively impact our future success, including our ability to attract and retain team members, encourage innovation and teamwork, and effectively focus on and pursue our mission and corporate objectives.
Loss of our key management could result in a material adverse effect on our business.
Our future success depends to a significant extent on the continued services of our senior management, including Jay Farner, our Chief Executive Officer, Bob Walters, our President and Chief Operating Officer, Julie Booth, our Chief Financial Officer and Angelo Vitale, our General Counsel and Secretary. The experience of our senior management is a valuable asset to us and would be difficult to replace. We do not maintain “key person” life insurance for, or employment contracts with, any of our personnel. The loss of the services of our Chief Executive Officer, our President or our Chief Financial Officer or other members of senior management could disrupt and have a detrimental effect on our business.
Risks Relating to our Corporate Structure
We are a holding company and our principal asset is our equity interests in RKT Holdings, LLC ("Holdings"), and accordingly we are dependent upon distributions from Holdings to pay taxes and other expenses.
We are a holding company and our principal asset is our ownership of Holdings. We have no independent means of generating revenue. As the sole managing member of Holdings, we intend to cause Holdings to make distributions to us, RHI and Dan Gilbert, the three equity holders of Holdings, in amounts sufficient to cover the taxes on their allocable share of the taxable income of Holdings, all applicable taxes payable by us, any payments we are obligated to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement and other costs or expenses. However, certain laws and regulations may result in restrictions on Holdings’ ability to make distributions to us or the ability of Holdings’ subsidiaries to make distributions to it.
To the extent that we need funds, and Holdings or its subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions, we may not be able to obtain such funds on terms acceptable to us or at all and as a result could suffer an adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition.
In certain circumstances, Holdings is required to make distributions to us, RHI and Dan Gilbert, and the distributions that Holdings is required to make may be substantial and in excess of our tax liabilities and obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. To the extent we do not distribute such excess cash, RHI and Dan Gilbert would benefit from any value attributable to such cash balances as a result of their ownership of Class B common stock (or Class A common stock, as applicable) following an exchange of their Holdings Units and corresponding shares of Class D common stock (or Class C common stock, as applicable).
Holdings is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, is not subject to any entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, taxable income is allocated to us, RHI and Dan Gilbert, as holders of Holdings Units. Accordingly, we incur income taxes on our allocable share of any net taxable income of Holdings. Under the operating agreement of Holdings (the “Holdings Operating Agreement”), Holdings is generally required from time to time to make pro rata distributions in cash to its equity holders, RHI, Dan Gilbert and us, in amounts sufficient to cover the taxes on their allocable share of the taxable income of Holdings. As a result of (i) potential non pro rata allocations of net taxable income allocable to us, RHI and Dan Gilbert, (ii) the lower tax rate applicable to corporations as compared to individuals, (iii) the favorable tax benefits that we anticipate receiving from the exchange of Holdings Units and corresponding shares of Class D common stock or Class C common stock and future purchases of Holdings Units (along with corresponding shares of Class D common stock or Class C common stock) from RHI and Dan Gilbert and (iv) the favorable tax benefits that we anticipate receiving from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, these tax distributions have been, and we expect that they will continue to be in amounts that exceed our tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Our board of directors will determine the appropriate uses for any excess cash so accumulated, which may include, among other uses, any potential dividends, stock buybacks, the payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement and the payment of other expenses. We have no obligation to distribute such cash (or other available cash other than any declared dividend) to our stockholders. No adjustments to the present exchange ratio of one-to-one for Holdings Units and corresponding shares of Class D common stock or Class C common stock will be made as a result of (i) any cash distribution by Holdings or (ii) any cash that we retain and do not distribute to our stockholders.
We are controlled by RHI, an entity controlled by Dan Gilbert, whose interests may conflict with our interests and the interests of other stockholders.
RHI, an entity controlled by Dan Gilbert, our founder and Chairman, holds 99.94% of our issued and outstanding Class D common stock and controls 79% of the combined voting power of our common stock. As a result, RHI is able to control any action requiring the general approval of our stockholders, so long as it owns at least 10% of our issued and outstanding common stock, including the election of our board of directors, the adoption of amendments to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and the approval of any merger or sale of substantially all of our assets. So long as RHI continues to directly or indirectly own a significant amount of our equity, even if such amount is less than a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock, RHI will continue to be able to substantially influence the outcome of votes on all matters requiring approval by the stockholders, including our ability to enter into certain corporate transactions. The interests of RHI could conflict with or differ from our interests or the interests of our other stockholders. For example, the concentration of ownership held by RHI could delay, defer or prevent a change of control of our Company or impede a merger, takeover or other business combination that may otherwise be favorable for us.
We share our Chief Executive Officer and certain directors with RHI, our Chief Executive Officer does not devote his full time and attention to our affairs, and the overlap may give rise to conflicts.
Our Chief Executive Officer, Jay Farner, continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer of RHI. Although we expect that Jay will continue to devote a majority of his time to the business of the Company, he will not be able to devote his full time, effort and attention to the Company’s affairs. In addition, our Chief Executive Officer, our other executive officers and the directors affiliated with RHI continue to own equity interests in RHI. Furthermore, four members of our board of directors (Dan Gilbert, Jennifer Gilbert, Matthew Rizik and Jay Farner) continue to be directors of RHI and two members of our board of directors (Jay and Matthew) continue to be officers of RHI. The overlap and the ownership of RHI equity interests may lead to actual or apparent conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving or affecting our Company and RHI and its affiliates other than the Company and its subsidiaries (collectively, RHI and its affiliates other than the Company and its subsidiaries, the “RHI Affiliated Entities”). For example, there will be potential for conflicts of interest if there are issues or disputes under the commercial arrangements that will exist between us and the RHI Affiliated Entities or if we or one of the RHI Affiliated Entities look at acquisition or investment opportunities that may be suitable for both companies.
Our certificate of incorporation contains a provision renouncing our interest and expectancy in certain corporate opportunities.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that no RHI Affiliated Entity nor any officer, director, member, partner or employee of any RHI Affiliated Entity (each, an “RHI Party”) has any duty to refrain from engaging in the same or similar business activities or lines of business, doing business with any of our clients or suppliers or employing or otherwise engaging or soliciting for employment any of our directors, officers or employees. Our certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we renounce our right to certain business opportunities, and that each RHI party has no duty to communicate or offer such business opportunity to us and is not liable to us or any of our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary or other duty under statutory or common law, as a director, officer or controlling stockholder, or otherwise, by reason of the fact that any such individual pursues or acquires such business opportunity, directs such business opportunity to another person or fails to present such business opportunity, or information regarding such business opportunity, to us. The Exchange Agreement provides that these provisions of our certificate of incorporation may not be amended without RHI’s consent for so long as RHI holds any Holdings Units. These provisions of our certificate of incorporation create the possibility that a corporate opportunity of ours may be used for the benefit of the RHI Affiliated Entities.
We are required to pay RHI and Dan Gilbert for certain tax benefits we may claim, and the amounts we may pay could be significant.
We are parties to a Tax Receivable Agreement with RHI and Dan Gilbert that provides for the payment by us to RHI and Dan Gilbert (or their transferees of Holdings Units or other assignees) of 90% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) as a result of: (i) certain increases in our allocable share of the tax basis in Holdings’ assets resulting from (a) the purchases of Holdings Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class D common stock or Class C common stock) from RHI and Dan Gilbert (or their transferees of Holdings Units or other assignees) using the net proceeds from our initial public offering or in any future offering, (b) exchanges by RHI and Dan Gilbert (or their transferees of Holdings Units or other assignees) of Holdings Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class D common stock or Class C common stock) for cash or shares of our Class B common stock or Class A common stock, as applicable, or (c) payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement; (ii) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed arising as a result of payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement; and (iii) disproportionate allocations (if any) of tax benefits to Holdings as a result of section 704(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) that relate to the reorganization transactions. The Tax Receivable Agreement makes certain simplifying assumptions regarding the determination of the cash savings that we realize or are deemed to realize from the covered tax attributes, which may result in payments pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement in excess of those that would result if such assumptions were not made.
The actual tax benefit, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including, among others, the timing of exchanges by or purchases from RHI and Dan Gilbert, the price of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchanges or purchases, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of the taxable income we generate in the future and the tax rate then applicable, and the portion of our payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement constituting imputed interest.
Future payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be substantial. We estimate that, as a result of the amount of the increases in the tax basis in Holdings’ assets from the purchase of Holdings Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class D common stock) in connection with the initial public offering and over-allotment option (Greenshoe), assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law and that we will have sufficient taxable income to utilize all of the tax attributes covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement when they are first available to be utilized under applicable law, we estimate that future payments to RHI and Dan Gilbert under the Tax Receivable Agreement would aggregate to approximately $549.3 million over the next 20 years and for yearly payments over that time to range between approximately $1.7 million to $41.4 million per year. Future payments under the Tax Receivable Agreements in respect of subsequent purchases or exchanges of Holdings Units (along with the corresponding shares of Class D common stock or Class C common stock) would be in addition to these amounts. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned upon RHI’s or Dan Gilbert’s continued ownership of us.
There is a possibility that under certain circumstances not all of the 90% of the applicable cash savings will be paid to the selling or exchanging holder of Holdings Units at the time described above. If we determine that such circumstances apply and all or a portion of such applicable tax savings is in doubt, we will pay to the holders of such Holdings Units the amount attributable to the portion of the applicable tax savings that we determine is not in doubt and pay the remainder at such time as we reasonably determine the actual tax savings or that the amount is no longer in doubt.
In addition, RHI and Dan Gilbert (or their transferees or other assignees) will not reimburse us for any payments previously made if any covered tax benefits are subsequently disallowed, except that any excess payments made to RHI or Dan Gilbert (or such holder’s transferees or assignees) will be netted against future payments that would otherwise be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement with RHI and Dan Gilbert, if any, after our determination of such excess. We could make payments to RHI and Dan Gilbert under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are greater than our actual cash tax savings and may not be able to recoup those payments, which could negatively impact our liquidity.
In addition, the Tax Receivable Agreement provides that in the case of a change in control of the Company or a material breach of our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we are required to make a payment to RHI and Dan Gilbert in an amount equal to the present value of future payments (calculated using a discount rate equal to the lesser of 6.50% or LIBOR plus 100 basis points, which may differ from our, or a potential acquirer’s, then-current cost of capital) under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which payment would be based on certain assumptions, including those relating to our future taxable income. For additional discussion of LIBOR, see “ - We are exposed to volatility in transitioning from LIBOR as an interest rate index, which can result in higher than market interest rates and may have a detrimental effect on our business. .” In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our, or a potential acquirer’s, liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring, modifying or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control. These provisions of the Tax Receivable Agreement may result in situations where RHI and Dan Gilbert have interests that differ from or are in addition to those of our other stockholders. In addition, we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are substantial, significantly in advance of any potential actual realization of such further tax benefits, and in excess of our, or a potential acquirer’s, actual cash savings in income tax.
Finally, because we are a holding company with no operations of our own, our ability to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement is dependent on the ability of our subsidiaries to make distributions to us. Our debt agreements restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to make distributions to us, which could affect our ability to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of restrictions in our debt agreements, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid, which could negatively impact our results of operations and could also affect our liquidity in periods in which such payments are made.
Our organizational documents may impede or discourage a takeover, which could deprive our investors of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may make it more difficult for, or prevent a third party from, acquiring control of us without the approval of our board of directors. These provisions include:
•having a dual class common stock structure, which provides RHI with the ability to control the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, even if it beneficially owns significantly less than a majority of the shares of our outstanding common stock;
•having a classified board of directors;
•providing that, when the RHI Affiliated Entities and permitted transferees (collectively, the “RHI Parties”) beneficially own less than a majority of the combined voting power of the common stock, a director may only be removed with cause by the affirmative vote of 75% of the combined voting power of our common stock;
•providing that, when the RHI Parties beneficially own less than a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock, vacancies on our board of directors, whether resulting from an increase in the number of directors or the death, removal or resignation of a director, will be filled only by our board of directors and not by stockholders;
•providing that, when the RHI Parties beneficially own less than a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock, certain amendments to our certificate of incorporation or amendments to our bylaws will require the approval of 75% of the combined voting power of our common stock;
•prohibiting stockholders from calling a special meeting of stockholders;
•authorizing stockholders to act by written consent only until the RHI Parties cease to beneficially own a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock;
•establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on by stockholders at stockholder meetings;
•authorizing “blank check” preferred stock, the terms and issuance of which can be determined by our board of directors without any need for action by stockholders; and
•providing that the decision to transfer our corporate headquarters outside of Detroit, Michigan will require the approval of 75% of the combined voting power of our common stock.
Additionally, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. An interested stockholder includes a person, individually or together with any other interested stockholder, who within the last three years has owned 15% of our voting stock. We opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL, but our certificate of incorporation includes a provision that restricts us from engaging in any business combination with an interested stockholder for three years following the date that person becomes an interested stockholder. Such restrictions, however, do not apply to any business combination between RHI, any direct or indirect equity holder of RHI or any person that acquires (other than in connection with a registered public offering) our voting stock from RHI or any of its affiliates or successors or any “group,” or any member of any such group, to which such persons are a party under Rule 13d-5 of the Exchange Act and who is designated in writing by RHI as an “RHI Transferee,” on the one hand, and us, on the other.
Until the RHI Parties cease to beneficially own at least 50% of the voting power of our common stock, RHI will be able to control all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, amendment of our certificate of incorporation and certain corporate transactions. Together, these provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock. Furthermore, the existence of the foregoing provisions, as well as the significant Class A common stock beneficially owned by RHI, could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of us, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your Class A common stock in an acquisition.
The provision of our certificate of incorporation requiring exclusive forum in certain courts in the State of Michigan or the State of Delaware or the federal district courts of the United States for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or stockholders to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine has to be brought only in the Third Judicial Circuit, Wayne County, Michigan (or, if the Third Judicial Circuit, Wayne County, Michigan lacks jurisdiction over such action or proceeding, then another state court of the State of Michigan or, if no state court of the State of Michigan has jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan) or the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction, any other state court of the State of Delaware, or if no state court of the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware), unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum. The foregoing provision does not apply to claims arising under the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal or concurrent federal and state jurisdiction. Additionally, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Although we believe these exclusive forum provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware or Michigan law and federal securities laws in the types of lawsuits to which each applies, the exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder as a result of our exclusive forum provisions. Further, in the event a court finds either exclusive forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be unenforceable or inapplicable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Exchange rules and, as a result, qualify for and intend to rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
As long as RHI continues to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding voting stock, we will be a controlled company within the meaning of the Exchange rules. Under the Exchange rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by another person or group of persons acting together is a controlled company and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
•a majority of the board of directors consist of independent directors;
•the nominating and corporate governance committee be composed entirely of independent directors; and
•the compensation committee be composed entirely of independent directors.
These requirements will not apply to us as long as we remain a controlled company. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the Exchange.
Transformation into a public company has increased our costs and may disrupt the regular operations of our business.
Since our initial public offering, we have incurred, and expect to in the future incur, significant additional legal, accounting, reporting and other expenses as a result of having publicly traded common stock, including, but not limited to, increased costs related to auditor fees, legal fees, directors’ fees, directors and officers insurance, investor relations and various other costs. We also have incurred, and anticipate that we will continue to incur, costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) and the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and the Exchange. Compliance with these rules and regulations makes some activities more difficult, time consuming, or costly, and as a result may place a strain, on our systems and resources. Moreover, the additional demands associated with being a public company may disrupt regular operations of our business by diverting the attention of some of our senior management team away from revenue-producing activities.
Furthermore, because we had not operated as a company with publicly traded common stock prior to our initial public offering, we might not be successful in implementing these requirements.
In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
If we are unable to effectively implement or maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial results and our stock price could be adversely affected.
Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires us to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year, include a management report assessing the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, and include a report issued by our independent registered public accounting firm based on its audit of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, in each case, beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. We may identify weaknesses or deficiencies that we may be unable to remedy before the requisite deadline for those reports. Our ability to comply with the annual internal control report requirements will depend on the effectiveness of our financial reporting and data systems and controls across the Company. We expect these systems and controls to involve significant expenditures and to become increasingly complex as our business grows. To effectively manage this complexity, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and procedures. Any weaknesses or deficiencies or any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in the implementation or operation of these controls, could harm our operating results and cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements, which could adversely affect our business and reduce our stock price.
Future sales of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress the price of our Class A common stock.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales may occur, could have an adverse effect on our stock price and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional stock. In the future, we may attempt to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our common stock. Issuing additional shares of our Class A common stock, Class B common stock or other equity securities or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our Class A common stock or both. Issuing additional shares of our Class C common stock or Class D common stock, when issued with corresponding Holdings Units, may also dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our Class A common stock or both.
As of December 31, 2020, we had 115,372,565 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding and 1,869,079,483 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon potential exchanges and/or conversions. Of these shares, the 115,000,000 shares sold in the IPO are freely tradable without further restriction under the Securities Act. The remaining 1,869,452,048 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding as of December 31, 2020 (including shares issuable upon exchange and/or conversion) are “restricted securities,” as that term is defined under Rule 144 of the Securities Act. The holders of these “restricted securities” are entitled to dispose of their shares pursuant to (i) the applicable holding period, volume and other restrictions of Rule 144 or (ii) another exemption from registration under the Securities Act. Additional sales of a substantial number of our shares of Class A Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that sales could occur, could have a material adverse effect on the price of our Class A Common Stock.
We have filed a registration statement under the Securities Act registering 105,263,158 shares of our Class A common stock reserved for issuance under the 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan and our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”). We have entered into a Registration Rights Agreement pursuant to which we have granted demand and piggyback registration rights to RHI, Dan Gilbert and the affiliates of Dan Gilbert.
The price of our Class A common stock has been, and may in the future be, volatile and your investment in our common stock could suffer a decline in value.
The market price for our Class A common stock has been, and may in the future be, volatile and could fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, most of which we cannot control. These factors include, among others, intense competition in the markets we serve; failure to accurately predict the demand or growth of new financial products and services that we are developing; fluctuations in quarterly revenue and operating results, as well as differences between our actual financial and operating results and those expected by investors; the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC; announcements relating to litigation; guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in such guidance or our failure to meet such guidance; changes in financial estimates or ratings by any securities analysts who follow our Class A common stock, our failure to meet such estimates or failure of those analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our Class A common stock; the sustainability of an active trading market for our Class A common stock; investor perceptions of the investment opportunity associated with our Class A common stock relative to other investment alternatives; the inclusion, exclusion or deletion of our Class A stock from any trading indices; future sales of our Class A common stock by our officers, directors and significant stockholders; the effect on our business and results of operations from system failures and disruptions, hurricanes, wars, acts of terrorism, pandemics, other natural disasters or responses to such events; novel and unforeseen market forces and trading strategies by third parties, including those who post anonymously on social media; short selling of our Class A common stock or related derivative securities; and price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market, including as a result of trends in the economy as a whole. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our Class A common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, we could incur substantial costs and our resources and the attention of management could be diverted from our business.
The dual class structure of our common stock may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A common stock.
In July 2017, S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell announced changes to their eligibility criteria for the inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the Russell 2000, the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares of common stock from being added to these indices. As a result, our dual class capital structure would make us ineligible for inclusion in any of these indices, and mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track these indices will not be investing in our stock. Furthermore, we cannot assure you that other stock indices will not take a similar approach to S&P Dow Jones or FTSE Russell in the future. Exclusion from indices could make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors and, as a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.