Anthony Casa announced Thursday he will take a leave of absence from his role as the head of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts – but stopped short of resigning after it was disclosed he sent lewd and misogynistic video texts about the wife of a rival.
Casa has been under fire since Sunday, when The Mortgage Note and others shared videos he sent to Quicken executive Austin Niemiec falsely alleging his wife Theresa had sexual relations with United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia. Casa later followed up those videos with more inappropriate texts to Niemiec before Mrs. Niemiec filed a defamation lawsuit against him.
Since then, AIME has lost two of its three platinum sponsors for 2020, as well a silver and bronze level sponsor. Other sponsors condemned his remarks, with UWM saying “Anthony Casa is separate from AIME” – even though Casa is the founder and chairman of the organization.
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Casa isn’t resigning. In a statement released by AIME, he said he is taking a leave of absence – and, for the first time, specifically apologized to Theresa Niemiec publicly. Here is Casa’s full statement:
“The last few days since my initial statement, I’ve found myself faced with many tough conversations that I deserve to have to face. I have spent time surrounding myself with industry leaders and some of the strongest women I know, and I understand I’ve crushed the trust that you’ve all had in me. I’m truly sorry. There is no defending or excusing what I did.”
“My sincere apologies go out to Theresa Niemiec and her family. As well as the entire broker community and the AIME team who have been impacted by my inexcusable behavior. In the moment, I did not think about how my poor judgement would cast a negative light on so many. I am sorry for how my actions have impacted you and I want you to know that my actions moving forward are focused on how I can grow to be a better leader, mentor, father and friend.”
“Effective immediately, I will be taking a leave of absence from AIME.”
HousingWire reported AIME will be led by President Marc Summers and Executive Vice President of Strategy Katie Sweeney.
In a Facebook post, AIME also said:
“With this announcement, please know that the continued work of AIME on the behalf of the broker community will not lapse. Our members are the foundation of the movement started over three years ago and the changes we have seen in that time cannot be overlooked or underestimated. This progress will continue if we as a community work together. AIME is focused on serving our 40,000 members, the growth of the channel and opening the dialogue to have candid conversations about how we can be better together.”