{"id":49411,"date":"2026-04-27T15:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/exclusive-mike-fawaz-launches-broker-platform-with-uwm-as-first-lender-partner\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:20:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:20:02","slug":"exclusive-mike-fawaz-launches-broker-platform-with-uwm-as-first-lender-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/exclusive-mike-fawaz-launches-broker-platform-with-uwm-as-first-lender-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Mike Fawaz launches broker platform with UWM as first lender partner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Rocket Pro<\/strong> executive Mike Fawaz, who left the company<\/a> in February, is launching a new broker platform in May, and he\u2019s partnering with a previous archrival: United Wholesale Mortgage <\/strong>(UWM<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The new platform, Dearborn, Michigan-based Origna8.com<\/strong>, will provide brokers with technology, marketing, recruiting, leads and lender partnerships under one roof. Former Rocket Pro general manager Dan Sogorka<\/a>, who departed in January, will be the CEO. The nationwide platform, which will work with multiple mortgage products, had about 25 employees in mid-April.<\/p>\n

During his tenure at Rocket, Fawaz frequently criticized UWM CEO Mat Ishbia<\/a>\u2019s \u201cAll-In\u201d ultimatum, which penalized brokers for sending loans to Rocket. Fawaz previously called Ishbia a \u201cplayground bully\u201d and helped launch Rocket\u2019s \u201cBully Shield<\/a>\u201d initiative to pay legal fees for brokers sued by UWM.<\/p>\n

But \u201cafter sitting with Mat and learning about what he\u2019s done, spending a ton of time looking at the UWM vision, mission, leadership and what they\u2019re trying to do for the broker community, there\u2019s no other place I would rather be,\u201d Fawaz told HousingWire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fawaz acknowledged his past statements but said his perspective shifted after viewing the industry from outside the walls of Rocket. \u201cI got to really take a nonbiased look,\u201d Fawaz said. \u201cWhatever statements I made, I still stand by them because I was on the other side of the world. But today, I can tell you I see things a lot differently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ishbia, who welcomed the partnership, said Fawaz has a track record as a fierce competitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Mike\u2019s been an adversary of ours at UWM and me \u2013 and obviously, he\u2019s a winner and a leader,\u201d Ishbia said. \u201cThe only thing he\u2019s going to get from me is what every other broker gets from me, which is partnership<\/a>, care, service, turn times, pricing, product, technology, dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the new platform maintains an open-door policy, Fawaz does not expect Rocket to join the platform, citing a preference for pure wholesale lenders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to partner with lenders that are all in for the broker community,\u201d Fawaz said. \u201cIf you\u2019re a wholesale lender and you have a retail side, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to do anything with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ishbia echoed this sentiment, reinforcing his stance on multichannel lenders. \u201cWe\u2019re a wholesale lender, and there\u2019s no brokers in America that work with both UWM and Rocket because my stance has been that, and it\u2019s going to continue as that stance, to be clear, and always has been,\u201d Ishbia added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For UWM, the partnership follows the recent collapse<\/a> of its Two Harbors Investment Corp.<\/strong> deal. Ishbia declined to comment on the failed acquisition but said the partnership with Fawaz demonstrates that UWM is \u201chere to serve the brokers, and we want to make sure that we deliver excellence for them so they have every opportunity to grow and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about potential noncompete agreements<\/a> with Rocket, Fawaz pointed to his family\u2019s experience fleeing civil wars in the Middle East and Africa in search of freedom in the U.S., where he arrived in 1998 \u201cwith a pair of flip-flops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis freedom tells me that I only know mortgages, so I have to do mortgages,\u201d Fawaz said. \u201cI believe in what I\u2019m doing, and because of that, I decided to build Origna8. I decided to partner with UWM, and I decided to partner with several other lenders that believe in the broker community.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Rocket Pro executive Mike Fawaz, who left the company in February, is launching a new broker platform in May, and he\u2019s partnering with a previous archrival: United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). The new platform, Dearborn, Michigan-based Origna8.com, will provide brokers with technology, marketing, recruiting, leads and lender partnerships under one roof. Former Rocket Pro general…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49411"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}