United Wholesale Mortgage has ended one of its ongoing legal battles by paying $2.7 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the company unfairly treated its employees, including forcing them to work overtime without pay.
In a letter to employees, UWM executive vice president Allen Beydoun claimed the company did nothing wrong and workers should not expect the culture inside the nation’s largest wholesale mortgage lender to change.
“While we are extremely confident that our account executives were and are fairly and accurately compensated for the work and time dedicated to their business, UWM chose to stop spending additional time and money with attorneys,” Beydoun wrote.
According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, the arbitrator made no ruling on the merits of the claims.
“The parties have entered into this settlement solely with the intention to avoid further disputes and litigation with the attendant inconvenience and expense,” the settlement document says.
The lawsuit was filed by former UWM account executive Annie Haberlein. “They were trying to drive more work without having to pay the compensation,” Haberlein’s attorney, Noah Hurwitz of NachtLaw in Ann Arbor, said at the time. “Whenever you work for the benefit of the company, that is called compensable time. And once you are above 40 hours, it always has to be time and a half.”
The overtime dispute is just one of several legal entanglements stemming from UWM’s aggressive — some say confrontational — business practices. The company is currently involved in lawsuits over its attempts to enforce an ultimatum it imposed on brokers: You must agree not to work with Rocket Mortgage or Fairway Independent Mortgage if you work with UWM.
The company has already sued three brokerages this year over the policy, including America’s MoneyLine, Kevron Investments Inc., and Mid Valley Funding. America’s MoneyLine is fighting back, filing its own lawsuit against UWM and calling Ishbia and his team “untrustworthy bullies” who are “obsessed with damaging the business and reputation of their rivals.”
And there is also an ongoing class-action lawsuit on behalf of brokers against UWM over its ultimatum policy as well.