Federal suit alleges Optimal Blue enabled lenders to coordinate mortgage pricing nationwide
A federal class-action lawsuit claims that mortgage technology provider Optimal Blue and nearly 30 major lenders—including Rocket Mortgage, United Wholesale Mortgage, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase—worked together for years to increase mortgage rates and fees for millions of homebuyers.
The suit, filed in Nashville, Tennessee, alleges that since at least 2019, these lenders used Optimal Blue’s analytics software to share private, real-time pricing information and coordinate mortgage rates, violating federal antitrust laws.
Plaintiffs claim the scheme “transformed the American dream of homeownership into a financial nightmare,” driving up costs at a time when affordability was already under pressure.
How the alleged scheme worked
At the heart of the complaint is Optimal Blue’s “Competitive Analytics” software, which plaintiffs say required lenders to surrender granular, loan-level data—including margins, price adjustments, and loan officer compensation.
In return, lenders gained access to competitors’ pricing intelligence, enabling them to adjust rates and fees in lockstep rather than compete openly.
“Armed with this intelligence, Loan Originator Defendants abandoned competition and instead coordinate to extract maximum profits from homebuyers,” the suit alleges.
One lender reportedly told Optimal Blue, “We were able to nearly double our margins from 1.78% in November 2024 to 3% in July 2025.”
Optimal Blue’s own marketing materials boasted that its tools provide “actual rates and live pricing so you confidently go about your work, and truly price competitively. It’s not survey pricing results like competitors offer, but rather, real-time insight into an effective pricing strategy.”
Tech, transparency, and the future of mortgage pricing
The lawsuit claims that since 2020, mortgages priced using Optimal Blue’s tools carried rate spreads 49.2% higher than those from non-users—a figure that, if accurate, would represent a significant windfall for lenders and a substantial cost burden for borrowers.
None of the allegations against the lenders mentioned have been proven in court.
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