loanDepot (LDI) Risk Factors

As a public company, we have significant requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. If we are unable to maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations on a timely basis, result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements and harm our operating results. In addition, we are required pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, because we are now an "accelerated filer," as defined in the Exchange Act, our independent registered public accounting firm is required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b). Testing and maintaining internal controls may divert our management's attention from other matters that are important to our business. Further, our testing, or the subsequent testing by our independent public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. If either we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we may be subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC.

While our Board declared a regular cash dividend of $0.08 per share on our Class A common stock for each quarter from the completion of our IPO until March 2022, since the second quarter of fiscal 2022, our Board has determined to suspend dividend payments. There can be no assurance that our Board will determine to recommend cash dividends in the future. Any such determination will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, level of indebtedness, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, including the satisfaction of our obligations under the tax receivable agreement, restrictions in our debt agreements, business prospects and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends depends on our receipt of distributions from our operating subsidiaries, which may further restrict our ability to pay dividends as a result of the laws of their jurisdiction of organization, agreements of our subsidiaries or covenants under any indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur. For more information about our dividends, see "Item. 7. Management Discussion and Analysis - Liquidity and Capital Resources - Dividends and Distributions."

GAAP is subject to standard setting or interpretation by the FASB, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the United States 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.

In deciding whether to extend credit or to enter into other transactions with borrowers, we rely on information furnished to us by or on behalf of borrowers, including credit, identification, employment and other relevant information. Some of the information regarding borrowers provided to us is used to determine whether to lend to borrowers and the risk profiles of such borrowers. Such risk profiles are subsequently utilized by warehouse line counterparties who lend us capital to fund mortgage loans. We also may rely on representations of borrowers as to the accuracy and completeness of that information. While we have a practice of seeking to independently verify some of the borrower information that we use in deciding whether to extend credit or to agree to a loan modification, including, depending on the program, employment, assets, income and credit score, not all borrower information is independently verified, and if any of the information that is independently verified (or any other information considered in the loan review process) is misrepresented and such misrepresentation is not detected prior to loan funding, the value of the loan may be significantly lower than expected. Additionally, there is a risk that, following the date of the credit report that we obtain and review, a borrower may have become delinquent in the payment of an outstanding obligation, defaulted on a pre-existing debt obligation, taken on additional debt, lost his or her job or other sources of income; or sustained other adverse financial events. Whether a misrepresentation is made by the loan applicant, another third-party or one of our employees, we generally bear the risk of loss associated with the misrepresentation. We may not detect all misrepresented information in our mortgage loan originations or from service providers we engage to assist in the loan approval process. Any such misrepresented information could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are also subject to the risk of fraudulent activity associated with the origination of loans, and this risk is compounded with recent advancements in technology innovation such as artificial intelligence ("AI") which has the ability to make fraud schemes more sophisticated. The level of our fraud charge-offs and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if fraudulent activity were to significantly increase. High profile fraudulent activity or significant increases in fraudulent activity could lead to regulatory intervention, increased losses, and negatively impact our operating results, brand and reputation and lead us to take steps to reduce fraud risk, which could increase our costs.

We may incur costs if we are required to, or if we elect to, execute or re-file documents or take other action in our capacity as a servicer in connection with pending or completed foreclosures on mortgage loans. We may incur litigation costs if the validity of a foreclosure action is challenged by a borrower. If a court overturns a foreclosure because of errors or deficiencies in the foreclosure process, we may have liability to a title insurer or the purchaser of the property sold in foreclosure. These costs and liabilities may not be legally or otherwise reimbursable to us, particularly to the extent they relate to securitized mortgage loans. In addition, if certain documents required for a foreclosure action are missing or defective, we could be obligated to cure the defect or repurchase the mortgage loan. A significant increase in litigation costs could adversely affect our liquidity, and our inability to be reimbursed for an advance could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our transition from an outsourcing model to the servicing of loans in-house means that we are more directly responsible for complying with guidelines set forth by the Agencies and other investors (including securitization trusts) on whose behalf we service mortgage loans. Failure to meet stipulations of servicing guidelines can result in the assessment of fines and loss of reimbursement of loan-related advances, expenses, interest and servicing fees. When the subservicing of a loan is transferred to the Company to be serviced in-house, the loan may have been previously serviced in a manner that will contribute towards our not meeting certain servicing guidelines. If not recovered from a prior servicer, such event could lead to the eventual realization of a loss to us.

On February 1, 2023, we completed the transfer of servicing operations from Cenlar FSB ("Cenlar") and brought the servicing of all MSRs in-house. However, Cenlar was our primary subservicer from 2012 through March 2022, and our subservicer until February 1, 2023. Notably, on October 26, 2021, Cenlar entered into a consent order with its regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, regarding an alleged failure to establish effective controls and risk management practices related to its mortgage servicing and subservicing activities. When Cenlar serviced our loans on our behalf, there were a number of factors out of our control that could have a negative impact on Cenlar's ability to effectively service our portfolio and to satisfy their contractual obligations to us. These included both intentional actions Cenlar took in running their businesses such as management of staffing levels and the number of customers serviced, and the occurrence of external events, including, but not limited to regulatory changes, enforcement actions, and natural disasters that may have posed challenges to Cenlar. The failure on Cenlar's part to effectively service our portfolio of MSRs in the past could result in residual, regulatory, operational and litigation risk which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. Our current servicing operations also could be required to address any past servicing concerns on behalf of Cenlar, which also could result in regulatory, operational and litigation risk.

Certain of our loan funding 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. In addition, 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. As a result of the change in the interest rate market due to stimulus, interest rate and inflation uncertainty, we have faced some margin calls on hedges and our financing facilities and may face additional margin calls in the future. To date these calls have not been material, and we regularly stress test our positions, but if the interest rate market experiences significant volatility, we could face additional margin calls that could impact our liquidity.

A substantial portion of our aggregate mortgage loan origination is secured by properties concentrated in the states of California, Texas and Florida, and properties securing a substantial portion of our outstanding UPB of mortgage loan servicing rights portfolio are located in California, Texas, Florida, Virgina, Washington and Arizona. During the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 (the "Financial Crisis"), the states of California and Florida experienced severe declines in property values and a disproportionately high rate of delinquencies and foreclosures relative to other states. To the extent that the states of California, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Washington and New York experience weaker economic conditions or greater rates of decline in real estate values than the United States generally, the concentration of loans that we service in those states may decrease the value of our servicing rights and adversely affect our lending business. The impact of property value declines may increase in magnitude and it may continue for a long period of time. Additionally, if states in which we have greater concentrations of business were to change their licensing or other regulatory requirements to make our business cost-prohibitive, we may be required to stop doing business in those states or may be subject to a higher cost of doing business in those states, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our profitability is directly affected by the level of, and changes in, interest rates. The market value of closed LHFS and IRLCs generally decline as interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Changes in interest rates could also lead to increased prepayment rates, which could materially and adversely affect the value of our MSRs. Historically, the value of MSRs has increased when interest rates rise as higher interest rates lead to decreased prepayment rates and have decreased when interest rates decline as lower interest rates lead to increased prepayment rates. As a result, large moves and substantial volatility in interest rates materially affect our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows. We employ various economic hedging strategies that utilize derivative instruments to mitigate the interest rate and fall-out risks that are inherent in many of our assets, including our IRLCs, our LHFS and our MSRs. Our derivative instruments, which currently consist of forward sale contracts, interest rate swap futures, and put options on treasuries are accounted for as free-standing derivatives and are included on our consolidated balance sheet at fair market value. Our operating results may suffer because losses on derivatives we enter into may not be offset by changes in the fair value of the related hedged transaction. Our hedging strategies may also require us to post cash or collateral margin to our hedging counterparties. The level of cash or collateral that is required to be posted is largely driven by the mark to market of our derivative instruments. The exchange of margin with our hedging counterparties could under certain market conditions, adversely affect our short-term liquidity position. Some of our derivatives (forward sale contracts and TBA MBS) are not traded on a regulated exchange with a central clearinghouse that determines the margin requirements and offers protection against a lack of performance by individual market participants. This exposes us to the risk that a counterparty may not be able to post margin or otherwise perform on the terms of the contract. This failure could adversely affect our liquidity position and have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Our hedging activities in the future may include entering into interest rate swaps and/or purchasing caps and floors. Our hedging decisions in the future will be determined by the facts and circumstances existing at that time and may differ from our current hedging strategy. Moreover, our hedging strategies may not be effective in mitigating the risks related to changes in interest rates and could affect our profitability and financial condition. Poorly designed strategies or improperly executed transactions could increase our risk and losses.

As of December 31, 2023, we had $4.2 billion of outstanding indebtedness, of which $1.9 billion was secured, short term indebtedness under our warehouse lines, $1.3 billion was secured debt obligations, and $989.3 million was unsecured debt obligations. For more information regarding our financing arrangements, see "Item 7. Management discussion and analysis -Liquidity and capital resources-Warehouse Lines and Debt Obligation." Subject to the limits contained in the applicable agreements governing our warehouse lines and other debt obligations, we may be able to incur substantial additional debt from time to time to finance working capital, capital expenditures, investments, or acquisitions, or for other purposes. If we do so, the risks related to our high level of debt could increase. Specifically, our high level of debt could have important consequences to the holders of our Class A Common Stock, including the following: - require us to dedicate a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on indebtedness, including indebtedness we may incur in the future, thereby reducing the funds available for other purposes;- limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general corporate requirements, including our ability to obtain short-term credit, including renewing or replacing warehouse lines;- increase our vulnerability to fluctuations in market interest rates, to the extent that the spread we earn between the interest we receive on our LHFS and the interest we pay under our indebtedness is reduced;- increasing our cost of borrowing;- place us at a competitive disadvantage to competitors with relatively less debt in economic downturns, adverse industry conditions or catastrophic external events; or - reduce our flexibility in planning for, or responding to, changing business, industry and economic conditions. In addition, our indebtedness could limit our ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all, to fund our day-to-day loan origination operations, future acquisitions, working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements, general corporate and other purposes, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. The agreements governing our outstanding indebtedness contain financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interests. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of such debt. Our liquidity needs could vary significantly and may be affected by general economic conditions, industry trends, performance and many other factors not within our control. Further, our warehouse lines are short-term debt that must to be renewed by our lenders on a regular basis, typically once a year. We also depend primarily on cash generated by our operations to pay our expenses and any amounts due under our existing indebtedness and any future indebtedness we may incur. As a result, our ability to repay our indebtedness depends on the future performance of our business, which will be affected by financial, business, economic and other factors, many of which we cannot control. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flows from operations in the future and we may not achieve our currently anticipated growth in revenues and cash flows, either or both of which could result in our being unable to repay indebtedness or to fund other liquidity needs. If we do not have enough funds, we may be required to refinance all or part of our then existing indebtedness, sell assets or borrow additional funds, in each case on terms that may not be acceptable to us, if at all. In addition, the terms of existing or future debt agreements may restrict us from engaging in any of these alternatives. Obligations under our indebtedness could have other important consequences. For example, our failure to comply with the restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our indebtedness that limit our ability to incur liens, to incur debt and to sell assets, among other things, could result in an event of default that, if not cured or waived, could harm our business or prospects and could result in our bankruptcy. In addition, if we defaulted on our obligations under any of our secured debt, our secured lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. Furthermore, if we default on our obligations under one debt agreement, it may trigger defaults under our other debt agreements which include cross-default provisions.

Our ability to finance our operations and repay maturing obligations rests on our ability to borrow money and secure investors to purchase loans we originate or facilitate. We rely in particular on our warehouse lines of credit to fund our mortgage loan originations. We are generally required to renew our warehouse lines each year, which exposes us to refinancing, interest rate, and counterparty risks. As of December 31, 2023, we had eight warehouse lines, which provide an aggregate available mortgage loan lending facility of $3.1 billion, and all of our warehouse lines allow advances to fund loans at closing of the consumer's mortgage loan. We rely on two such warehouse line providers for 43% of our aggregate available home lending facility. Our existing indebtedness includes our warehouse lines, secured credit facilities, and other debt obligations. Our secured credit facilities are collateralized by MSRs, trading securities, and servicing advances. If any warehouse line provider or lender ceased doing business with us, our business, operations, and results of operations could materially suffer. See "Item 7. Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations-Liquidity and capital resources-Warehouse Lines and Debt Obligations." Our ability to extend or renew existing warehouse lines, secured credit and other debt facilities, as well as obtain new warehouse lines, secured credit and other debt facilities is affected by a variety of factors including: - limitations imposed on us under our warehouse lines, secured credit facilities, and other debt agreements, including restrictive covenants and borrowing conditions, which limit our ability to raise additional debt and require that we maintain certain financial results, including minimum tangible net worth, minimum liquidity, minimum pre-tax net income, minimum debt service coverage ratio, and maximum total liabilities to tangible net worth ratio as well as require us to maintain warehouse lines with third-party lenders;- changes in financial covenants mandated by lenders, which we may not be able to achieve;- any decrease in liquidity in the credit markets;- potential valuation changes to our mortgage loans, servicing rights or other collateral;- prevailing interest rates;- the strength of the lenders from whom we borrow, and the regulatory environment in which they operate, including proposed capital strengthening requirements;- our ability to sell our products to the Agencies;- lenders seeking to reduce their exposure to residential loans due to other reasons, including a change in such lender's strategic plan or lines of business; and - accounting changes that may impact calculations of covenants in our warehouse lines and other debt agreements which result in our ability to continue to satisfy such covenants. Warehouse lines, secured credit and other debt facilities may not be available to us with counterparties on acceptable terms or at all. Our access to and our ability to renew our existing warehouse lines ,secured credit and other debt facilities could suffer in the event of: (i) the deterioration in the performance of the mortgage loans underlying the warehouse lines; (ii) our failure to maintain sufficient levels of eligible assets or credit enhancements; (iii) our inability to access the secondary market for mortgage loans (see "-We depend on the programs of the Agencies. Discontinuation, or changes in the roles or practices, of these entities, without comparable private sector substitutes, could materially and negatively affect our; results of operations and ability to compete.") or (iv) termination of our role as servicer of the underlying mortgage loan assets upon the occurrence of certain events such as (x) we default in the performance of our servicing obligations or (y) we declare bankruptcy or become insolvent. Our access to our existing warehouse lines, secured credit and other debt facilities could also suffer in the event of market disruptions, including in the event of a bank failure. An event of default, an adverse action by a regulatory authority or a general deterioration in the economy that constricts the availability of credit, similar to the financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2011, the market conditions may increase our cost of funds and make it difficult or impossible for us to renew existing warehouse lines, secured credit or other debt facilities or obtain new warehouse lines, secured credit or debt facilities, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations, and would result in substantial diversion of our management's attention. Similarly, market disruptions, such as the unanticipated failure of our lenders, could disrupt our ability to access existing or identify new warehouse lines, secured credit and other debt facilities. Our existing indebtedness also imposes financial and non-financial covenants and restrictions on us that limit the amount of indebtedness that we may incur, impact our liquidity through minimum cash reserve requirements, and impact our flexibility to determine our operating policies and investment strategies. Certain of our warehouse lines contain financial covenants under which net income or net income before income taxes for the applicable measurement period must be $1.00 or more. If we default on one of our obligations under a warehouse line, secured credit facility or debt obligation or breach our representations and warranties contained therein, the lender may be able to terminate the transaction, accelerate any amounts outstanding, require us to prematurely repurchase the loans, and cease entering into any other repurchase transactions with us. Because our warehouse lines typically contain cross-default provisions, a default that occurs under any one agreement could allow the lenders under our other agreements and under our other debt obligations to also declare a default. Additional warehouse lines, bank credit facilities or other debt facilities that we may enter into in the future may contain additional covenants and restrictions. If we fail to meet or satisfy any of these covenants, we would be in default under these agreements, and our lenders could elect to declare outstanding amounts due and payable, terminate their commitments, require the posting of additional collateral and enforce their interests against existing collateral. Any losses that we incur on our warehouse lines, secured credit facilities or other debt obligations could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. As a result of our losses incurred in fiscal 2023, we were required to amend certain of our warehouse lines, secured credit facilities and other debt obligations related to profitability covenants and we expect that we will need to execute additional amendments from certain of our lending counterparties related to our profitability covenants or other similar financial covenants in the future. There can be no assurance that such amendments will be agreed to, in which case we would be in default under these agreements, and our lenders could elect to declare outstanding amounts due and payable, terminate their commitments, require the posting of additional collateral and enforce their interests against existing collateral, as well as triggering cross default provisions under other financing facilities which could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. See "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Liquidity and Capital Resources-Warehouse Lines and Debt Obligations" for more information about these and other financing arrangements. If we are unable to access such other sources of capital and liquidity, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively impacted.

We historically have relied on selling or securitizing our mortgage loans into the secondary market in order to generate liquidity to fund maturities of our indebtedness, the origination and warehousing of mortgage loans, the retention of servicing rights and for general working capital purposes. We bear the risk of being unable to sell or securitize our mortgage loans at advantageous times and prices or in a timely manner. Demand in the secondary market and our ability to complete the sale or securitization of our mortgage 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 mortgage loans, the willingness of investors to purchase mortgage loans and MBS and changes in regulatory requirements. If it is not possible or economical for us to complete the sale or securitization of certain of our LHFS, we may lack liquidity under our warehouse lines to continue to fund such mortgage loans and our revenues and margins on new loan originations would be materially and negatively impacted, which would materially and negatively impact our consolidated net revenue and net income and also have a material adverse effect on our overall business and our consolidated financial position. The severity of the impact would be most significant to the extent we were unable to sell conforming mortgage loans to the GSEs or securitize such loans pursuant to Agency-sponsored programs. Any significant disruption or period of illiquidity in the general MBS market would 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 materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The level of home prices and home price appreciation affects performance in the mortgage loan industry. For example, during the financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2011, falling home prices across the United States resulted in higher LTV ratios, lower recoveries in foreclosure and an increase in loss severity above those that would have been realized had property values remained the same or continued to increase. There is a risk that housing prices decline, reducing borrower equity and incentive to repay. Additionally, adverse macroeconomic conditions may reduce borrowers' ability to pay. Further, if rates continue to rise, borrowers with adjustable rate mortgage loans may face higher monthly payments as the interest rates on those mortgage loans adjust upward from their initial fixed rates or low introductory rates. All of these factors could potentially contribute to an increase in mortgage loan delinquencies and correspondingly, defaults and foreclosures. Increased mortgage loan delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures may result in lower revenue for loans that we service for the Agencies, because we only collect servicing fees for performing loans. Additionally, while increased delinquencies generate higher ancillary fees, including late fees, these fees are not likely to be recoverable in the event that the related loan is liquidated. Also, increased mortgage loan defaults may ultimately reduce the number of mortgage loans that we service. Increased mortgage loan delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures will also result in a higher cost to service those loans due to the increased time and effort required to collect payments from delinquent borrowers and to liquidate properties or otherwise resolve loan defaults if payment collection is unsuccessful, and only a portion of these increased costs are recoverable under our servicing agreements. Any loan level advances made on defaulted loans within the allowable levels provided by investors and insurers are recoverable either from the borrower in a reinstatement or the investors/insurers in a liquidation. Increased mortgage loan delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures may also result in an increase in our interest expense and affect our liquidity if we are required to borrow to fund an increase in our advancing obligations. Any additional cost to service these loans, including interest expense on loan level advances, are generally not recoverable and are considered a cost of doing business. In addition, we are subject to risks of borrower defaults and bankruptcies in cases where we might be required to repurchase loans sold with recourse or under representations and warranties. In these cases, a borrower filing for bankruptcy during foreclosure could have the effect of staying the foreclosure and thereby delaying the foreclosure process, which may potentially result in a reduction or discharge of a borrower's mortgage loan debt. Even if we are successful in directing a foreclosure on a mortgage loan that has been repurchased, the liquidation proceeds upon sale of the underlying real estate may not be sufficient to recover our cost basis in the loan, resulting in a loss to us. Furthermore, any costs or delays involved in the foreclosure of the mortgage loan or a liquidation of the underlying property will further reduce the net proceeds and, thus, increase the loss. If these risks materialize, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In the event we originate mortgage loans that we are unable to sell, we will bear the risk of loss of principal on such mortgage loans. An increase in delinquency rates could therefore adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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 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 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. We continue to monitor the markets and make necessary adjustments to our models and apply appropriate management judgment in the interpretation and adjustment of the results produced by our models. This process takes into account updated information while maintaining controlled processes for model updates, including model development, testing, independent validation and implementation. 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.

Part of our growth strategy has included acquisitions, and we may acquire additional companies or businesses. We may not be successful in identifying origination platforms or businesses, or other businesses that meet our acquisition criteria in the future. In addition, even after a potential acquisition target has been identified, we may not be successful in completing or integrating the acquisition. We face significant competition for attractive acquisition opportunities from other well-capitalized companies, who may have greater financial resources and a greater access to debt and equity capital to secure and complete acquisitions than we do. As a result of such competition, we may be unable to acquire certain assets or businesses that we deem attractive or the purchase price may be significantly elevated or other terms may be substantially more onerous. Any delay or failure on our part to identify, negotiate, finance on favorable terms, consummate and integrate such acquisitions could impede our growth. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage our future growth effectively, and any failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control our expenses. Furthermore, we may be responsible for any legacy liabilities of businesses we acquire, including liabilities resulting from an acquisition target's controls related to financial reporting, disclosure, and cyber and information security environment. The existence or amount of these liabilities may not be known at the time of acquisition and may have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flow.

Our risk management framework seeks to anticipate, mitigate, detect, measure and manage risk while balancing risk and return according to the Company's risk appetite. We have established policies and procedures intended to help identify, monitor and manage the types of risk to which we are subject, including market and interest rate risk, liquidity risk, cyber risk, regulatory and legal risk, reputational risk, operational risk, vendor risk, and counterparty risk. Developing and maintaining our risk management policies, procedures and framework requires significant resources and while we expect to continue to devote such resources to the risk management program in the future, these policies and procedures, as well as our risk management techniques such as our hedging strategies, may not be fully effective. There may also be risks that exist, or that develop in the future, that we have not appropriately anticipated, identified or mitigated. As regulations and markets in which we operate continue to evolve, our risk management framework may not always keep sufficient pace with those changes. If our risk management framework does not effectively identify or mitigate our risks, we could suffer unexpected losses and could be materially adversely affected.

We are party to joint ventures, with partners such as home builders and real estate brokers, and the termination of any of these joint ventures (including as a result of one of our partners exiting the industry or the formation of a joint venture with another lender), or a decline in the activity of the building industry generally, could cause revenue from loans originated through these joint ventures to decline, which would negatively impact our business.

We are required to continuously develop our systems and infrastructure in response to the increasing sophistication of the lending markets and legal, accounting and regulatory developments relating to all of our existing and projected business activities. Our ability to execute on our Vision 2025 Plan will depend, among other things, on our ability to maintain an operating platform and management system sufficient to address our business plan and will require us to incur significant additional expenses and to commit additional senior management and operational resources. As a result, we may face significant challenges in: - securing funding to maintain our operations and future growth;- maintaining and improving our loan retention and recapture rates;- maintaining and scaling adequate financial, business and risk controls;- implementing new or updated information and financial systems and procedures;- training, managing and appropriately sizing our work force and other components of our business on a timely and cost-effective basis;- increasing and maintaining the number of borrowers utilizing our products and services;- increasing the volume of loans originated and facilitated through us;- entering into new markets and introducing new products;- continuing to develop, maintain and scale our platform;- effectively using personnel and technology resources;- maintaining the security of our platform, systems and infrastructure and the confidentiality of the information (including personally identifiable information) provided and utilized across our platform; and - attracting, integrating and retaining an appropriate number of qualified employees. We may not be able to execute on our Vision 2025 Plan and failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control our expenses.