Two NEXA Mortgage Loan Officers Brian Noe NMLS 228140 and Eileen Pruitt NMLS 217979 who are currently being sued by Smart Mortgage Centers in State and Federal court have filed a class action lawsuit against former employer Smart Mortgage Centers. Last year Smart Mortgage Centers filed a lawsuit against former Sales Managers Brian Noe and Eileen Pruitt for an alleged data breach https://www.housingwire.com/articles/nexa-mortgage-sued-over-brokers-alleged-data-theft/ the case is still on going.
In what looks like retaliation to the data theft lawsuit the NEXA Mortgage Loan Officers waited a year to file a class action lawsuit against Smart Mortgage Centers. The lawsuit claims Smart Mortgage Centers did not pay Brian Noe or Eileen Pruitt minimum wage or overtime hours, deducted fees from commissions and claims Smart Mortgage Centers took part in deceptive advertising practices against Military families and Veterans in the United States. The complaint is public record and can be seen at:
After reviewing the employee contracts (Exhibits) at: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/39320090/NOE_et_al_v_SMART_MORTGAGE_CENTERS,_INC_et_al The employee contracts contradict Noe and Pruitt’s complaint in its entirety. The contract calls for arbitration before any matters are handled through the court system. The employee contract also clearly states that Smart Mortgage has the right to collect any amounts or shortages not collected by the Sales Managers. Upon further review of the employee contracts the Sales Managers clearly acknowledged an attached Schedule B – Outside Sales Rider making Noe and Pruitt exempt from minimum wage and overtime.
The contract in the exhibit clearly states the deductions would be collected. According to Illinois.gov FAQs deductions from pay
https://www2.illinois.gov/idol/FAQs/Pages/Deductions-From-Pay-FAQ.aspx the Sales Managers agreed to these deductions by signing their contracts and Smart Mortgage Centers provided the employees with the deduction breakdowns every pay period.
According to the leagle.com Noe and Pruitt signed similar employee contracts with arbitration clauses. Six previous employees attempted to join the FLSA collective action but failed to acknowledge the arbitration clause in their contracts as well. In August, another Smart Mortgage Sales Manager Ryan Klaic resigned and joined NEXA Mortgage, the same day he joined NEXA he joined the FLSA collective action, disregarding his Smart Mortgage employee contract as well.
DISPUTES: Loan Officer agrees that any disputes of the Loan Officer arising under this Agreement shall be handled through arbitration at the election of Smart. Loan Officer agrees that no litigation, lawsuit, or other proceeding shall be filed against Smart until such arbitration is concluded in all respects.
What makes this case even more contradicting, the former employees now represent a company that has the 100% commission structure option with deductions for mortgage necessities like credit reports, tech fees, leads, loan origination software, email and more. If third party processing is not collected by the borrower, it is deducted from the Loan Officers commissions.
We were able to get a statement from Richard Birk the President of Smart Mortgage Centers. “The complaint is frivolous, an attempt to distract from our Data Breach lawsuit. The complaint clearly states my company uses deceptive advertising practices against Veteran’s. The statement in the complaint couldn’t be further from the truth, it’s reckless and extremely damaging to the corporation. I’m confident in my contracts, compliance and advertising policies, expect multiple new lawsuits to be filed in the coming days.”
Article by Steven Bailey – Mortgage Lawsuit News
Disclaimer: These articles are intended for general informational purposes only and do not substitute the advice of qualified mortgage professionals. Please always consult your mortgage broker or loan officer when it comes to making decisions. All statements are based on public information.
