Independent mortgage banks ramped up hiring last year, driven by expectations that falling interest rates would boost origination activity. As a result, personnel expenses, including compensation, surged at public lenders, 10-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show.

At the same time, some lenders reported large volumes of government loan buyouts from securitizations Ginnie Mae guaranteed, along with increased investment in technology and tech-related personnel.

Read on for more insights from 10-K SEC filings of public independent mortgage banks, rounding out 2024.

United Wholesale Mortgage

• Throughout 2024, United Wholesale Mortgage grew its ranks up to 9,100 team members as of Dec. 31, 2024, its 10-K SEC filing shows.
• Its relationships with independent mortgage brokers have grown to over 13,000 partners, equating to close to 55,000 associated loan officers—of which approximately 35,000 submitted a loan to us during 2024, UWM revealed in its filing.
• The wholesale lender ramped up the hiring of technology personnel, employing 1,800 at year-end to build out its information systems, up from 700 team members in 2019.
• General and administrative expenses rose at UWM to $210 million at year-end, up from $170 million in 2023.

Rocket Mortgage

• Expenses at Rocket Mortgage grew to $4.4 billion at year-end, a 5% increase from $4.2 billion in 2023. General and administrative expenses, which totaled $893.2 million, drove the increase and represented a 11% jump from the previous year, according to the company's 10-K filing with the SEC.
• Marketing and advertising expenses rose 12% to $842 million, largely due to investments in digital efforts with tracked results in 2024, Rocket said. 
• Rocket, which has pushed to grow its broker channel, saw revenue grow in this segment to $669.8 million, up 53% from $438.9 million in 2023, it revealed.
• The 10-K filing shows that the megalender had 17 funding facilities at the end of 2024. All-in-all, the aggregate available amount under said facilities was $24.5 billion.
• The Detroit-based mortgage fintech also noted that $2.8 billion worth of loans were subject to Ginnie Mae buyouts, an increase from $1.5 billion worth of loans in 2023.

Guild Mortgage

• Guild Mortgage, which has made several acquisitions in recent years, saw its headcount balloon to 5,270 employees at the end of 2024, according to its SEC filing.
• In its filing with the government agency, Guild revealed that it funded the acquisitions of four firms with cash on hand and borrowings totaling $17 million and $8 million in 2024 and 2023, respectively. Its recapture rate amounted to 34.6% in 2024, up from 27.3% in 2023.
• Expenses at the mortgage firm grew to almost $930 million, up from $701 million in 2023. Employee salaries, which amounted to $724 million, increased from $530 million the year prior and were the main driver of costs.
• Ginnie Mae buyouts totaled $817 million at the end of 2024, up from $700 million in 2023, according to Guild's SEC filing.

Loandepot

• Loandepot reported having about 4,900 employees at the end of 2024, as stated in its 10-K SEC filing. Of that total, 1,700 were loan officers sponsored by the mortgage lender, according to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.
• The Irvine, California-based company estimates loan-loss obligations for loans sold of $18.4 million in 2024, a dip from $32 million in 2023.
• Following its cybersecurity incident in 2024, Loandepot said it recognized $24.6 million worth of expenses net of insurance recoveries during fiscal 2024.
• Overall expenses rose to $1.3 billion, up from $1.25 billion in 2023. Personnel expenses, which came in at $600 million in 2024, drove the increase and were up from $573 million the year prior.
• At year-end, the firm had nine revolving lines of credit with lenders providing an aggregate of $3.7 billion of warehouse and securitization facilities, Loandepot revealed.

Better

• In its most recent annual filing, Better noted it may "incur net losses in the near future," partly due to continued investments in technology. At the end of 2024, Better reported a net loss of $206 million, an improvement from the $536 million loss in 2023.
• Better can capture up to 10,000 data points per customer during the loan transaction process through its technology, according to its filing. This data can help the company cross-sell products in the future, like its flood insurance coverage for consumers.
• The mortgage firm had 1,250 team members, with 690 located in the U.S., 410 employees located in India and 150 located in the United Kingdom, a filing shows. This marks an 88% workforce reduction of 10,400 team members in the fourth quarter of 2021.
• Better did add some NEO Home Loans employees, who it brought on board in the third quarter of 2024 to build out distributed retail. As of March 17, 2025, it had onboarded approximately 110 NEO loan officers across 53 branches, the company added.
• Better's reserve for repurchases and indemnification obligations was $7.5 million at the end of the year. "The loan repurchase reserve represents our estimate of the total losses expected to occur," the firm said in its filing to the government agency.

Mr. Cooper

• Mr. Cooper, which recently announced it would merge with Rocket Mortgage, had approximately 7,900 employees at the end of 2024 across the U.S. and India, it revealed in an annual SEC filing.
• Expenses at the megaservicer and lender grew primarily due to an increase in salaries, wages and benefits.  As such, this category grew to $340 million in 2024, up from $178 million the year prior.
• Mr. Cooper had $1.2 billion worth of Ginnie Mae buyouts at the end of the year, up from $966 million in 2023.
• The Texas- based firm also disclosed that Chris Marshall, its former president, who moved to Xome, will remain a special consultant for the company. As consideration for the services, including "any inventions created by Mr. Marshall, the company shall pay him a consulting fee of $62,500 per month plus reimbursement for business and travel expenses required to perform the services."

Rithm

• Rithm, parent company company of Newrez, revealed it had 6,045 employees at the end of 2024, per an annual SEC filing.
• Newrez had 453 loan officer employees involved in its joint venture operations. The employees are in 159 locations, documents show.
• Expenses at Newrez grew to $3.84 billion at the end of 2024, a significant increase from $2.95 billion in 2023. The rise was driven primarily by compensation and benefits, which totaled $1.13 billion at year-end, up from $787 million the previous year.
• The lender and servicer also noted that close to 5,400 of its mortgages with a total unpaid principal balance of $2.5 billion are in a FEMA-declared disaster area due to the 2025 California wildfires. Approximately 1,400 of the loans were securitized and had a total UPB of approximately $900 million. Roughly 4,000 were Newrez-owned mortgages with a total UPB of approximately $1.6 billion at year-end. Damage from the 2025 California wildfires may lead to delayed payments and increased expenses, including advances during forbearance or the rebuilding period. 

Pennymac

• Pennymac reported having a little over 4,000 domestic employees at the end 2024.Servicer and lender costs increased in 2024 compared to 2023.
• According to a filing with the SEC, its salaries and wages grew to $387 million, up from $370 million the year prior.
• Drilling into salary expenses, compensation costs increased by $56 million at year-end, the lender revealed. An increase in the mortgage banking business' performance-based incentives drove the gain as origination volumes, achievement of profitability targets and salary costs escalated during the year.
• Pennymac emphasized the importance of developing and protecting its proprietary technology, which requires "significant capital and legal expenditures." Regarding legal costs, it said its recent litigation with Black Knight resulted in a final arbitration award against the company, leading to a pretax accrual of $158.4 million in fiscal year 2023 and a payment of $160 million in fiscal year 2024.