The massive lender and servicer which purchased Home Point Financial in August 2023 did not indicate in court filings nor a statement whether it would pursue the lingering case against Pennsylvania-based Amres Corp. Homepoint, as other lenders have done, sued eight correspondent partners for failing to repurchase loans totaling $4.6 million. 

Most of those cases settled for undisclosed terms, according to a National Mortgage News review of federal court records. Some of those agreements came long after Mr. Cooper completed its nine-figure acquisition of the lender that blossomed and withered over the course of the refinance boom.

The Amres complaint focused on a Freddie Mac repurchase request in 2022, involving a $500,000 loan at a Florida condominium hotel which was mired in a lawsuit over alleged construction defects. Both of those factors violated Freddie Mac guidelines, court filings stated.

Homepoint said it was forced to repurchase the loan, and argued that Amres failed to cure the issue in violation of a correspondent agreement it signed in 2018. Counsel for Homepoint claims Amres in 2023 also reneged on an agreed-upon $80,000 settlement. 

Amres in January filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing Homepoint lacked standing because it ceased to exist. U.S. District Court Judge Robert White denied that motion last week and found Homepoint, or Mr. Cooper as successor-in-interest, had standing to sue.

"Ultimately, when Mr. Cooper absorbed Homepoint, Homepoint's claim became another asset, like Homepoint's loans or its office buildings," wrote White. 

Amres recorded $185 million in loan origination volume last year and over $500 million in 2022 when the loan in question was made, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. 

A spokesperson and attorney for Mr. Cooper declined to comment this week, while an attorney and executive for Amres didn't reply to requests for comment. 

Homepoint closed out correspondent disputes amid shutdown

The former wholesale and correspondent shop reached settlements with six correspondent partners it accused of failing to repurchase loans. Those cases were: 

• AHL Funding, over two loans totaling $751,999, dismissed in May
• Continental Mortgage Bankers, over one loan for $663,984, dismissed in 2024
• Fidelity Direct, over one loan for $297,069, dismissed in December 2023
• Lending 3, over two loans totaling $523,630, dismissed in July 2023
• Loan Factory, over one loan for $248,872.12, dismissed in August 2023
• Patriot Lending, over one loan for $218,991.75, dismissed in October 2023

A federal court in 2023 also granted Homepoint default judgment in a case against Trans United Financial Services for three loans totaling $1.6 million. The court also allowed Homepoint to garnish funds from the lender's Wells Fargo bank account. Nationwide Multistate Licensing System records indicate the Tustin, California-based Trans United stopped originating loans in 2023. Mr. Cooper paid $324 million for Homepoint in May 2023, a month after the company sold its wholesale business to The Loan Store. Home Point Capital, the lender's parent company, was founded in 2014 and made its Wall Street debut in 2021 with huge production numbers. 

The company was one of several to go out of business when interest rates began their climb in 2022 and 2023. Although it generated almost $900 million in loan volume in the first three months of 2023, the company posted a $133.8 million net loss in that final quarter as a public company.

Mr. Cooper meanwhile has posted large profits in recent quarters and is awaiting the closing of a massive acquisition by Rocket Cos.