NEXA Lending CEO Mike Kortas is dismissing claims that the company misappropriated trade secrets and confidential customer data after being sued by rival lender loanDepot in federal court.
The complaint alleges that NEXA knowingly assisted two former loanDepot employees in taking proprietary information before leaving the company and using it to solicit borrowers. The lawsuit comes as loanDepot is resuming operations in the wholesale channel.
In a conversation with HousingWire, Kortas said that the lawsuit, filed April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, is “basically stupid.”
“It’s a means for their attorney to chump up some costs for themselves, if you ask me,” Kortas added. “We don’t have, and never had, any of their information, nor do we care. In fact, I wouldn’t copy their model if I knew it because mine is better.”
Kortas also said he told loanDepot “multiple times” that NEXA does not have their information. “Some people are just sue happy and want to use the legal system as a weapon,” he said. “loanDepot needs to learn to better operate against brokers rather than try to attack them. They won’t bully NEXA, I assure you.”
Kortas added thtat he looks forward to having the lawsuit thrown out and “asking for all attorney fees as per case law history.”
A representative from loanDepot said it had no comment about the suit.
According to the lawsuit, the employees — identified as Jennifer Spicer and Velvet Chalet Robbins, both mortgage originators in northern Mississippi — had access to nonpublic customer data such as names, addresses, financial information, and other sensitive records protected under federal and state privacy laws.
loanDepot claims the employees accessed and transferred confidential and trade secret information in the months leading up to their departures, and that NEXA “aided and abetted” the alleged misconduct. The company also alleges that a NEXA manager directed or encouraged the employees to obtain the information from loanDepot systems.
“NEXA knowingly assisted, if not orchestrated, the Former Employees’ breaches of these contractual and legal restrictions to obtain a competitive advantage over loanDepot,” the suit says.
The lawsuit includes claims under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It also includes state-level claims ranging from violations of the Mississippi Uniform Trade Secrets Act, tortious interference with business relationships and conversion of confidential information.
loanDepot said it has initiated separate arbitration proceedings against the former employees.
The company is seeking monetary damages, including punitive damages and legal fees, as well as injunctive relief requiring NEXA to return or stop using the disputed information. The complaint also asks the court to order a forensic review to determine how the data was accessed and shared.
loanDepot alleges that NEXA has refused to return the information despite demands and continues to retain it.