Company rejects accusations of executive poaching and stealing 'Jet Mortgage' brand
Wholesale lender OCMBC has issued a statement to the lawsuit filed by Home Mortgage Alliance Corporation (HMAC), calling the allegations "baseless and dramatized."
The lawsuit, filed by HMAC in the Superior Court of the State of California in Orange County on May 23, accused OCMBC and its former executive, Michael Turturro, of stealing the "Jet Mortgage" brand.
HMAC alleged that Turturro, who previously worked as divisional president for its Jet Mortgage division, conspired with OCMBC to "effectively steal the entirety of the same 'Jet Mortgage' division from the plaintiff," including confidential information, employees, pipeline, resources, and trademarks.
OCMBC countered these claims, stating, "Employees have every right to choose their place of work, and their transitions to OCMBC were made independently and lawfully. Furthermore, OCMBC maintains robust procedures to ensure brokers, who are publicly available for solicitation, are fully aware they are engaging with OCMBC, regardless of any trade names filed."
The company also questioned the motivations behind the lawsuit, citing a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) suspension order that detailed misconduct by Affiliated Funding Corporation (AFC), whose key individuals are now associated with HMAC.
“All parties involved in the downfall of Affiliated Funding Corporation (AFC) appear to be suspended from future participation with regulated entities such as warehouse banks,” OCMBC said.
“The FHFA suspension order details AFC's misconduct, leading to a directive for regulated entities to cease any business relationship with AFC indefinitely from July 2017. As of the date of this publication, it appears HMAC currently holds several warehouse lines of credit, with regulated entities. Given the association of key individuals from AFC with HMAC, the motivations behind this lawsuit become even more questionable.”
HMAC's lawsuit claims that Turturro entered into a confidentiality agreement with the company and was later promoted to a position of "extreme authority and influence" over its business operations. The plaintiff alleged that Turturro resigned in May 2024 without prior notice and currently works for OCMBC.
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In response to the allegations, OCMBC maintained that it "has not violated any California laws; this situation merely involves the routine transition of at-will employees to a new company."
The company added, "All DBAs operated by OCMBC are properly filed and marketed in compliance with county laws and NMLS requirements. This lawsuit is a groundless attempt by a less reputable entity to extract financial gain."
HMAC has released a statement asserting that "Jet Mortgage is very much still in business and is actively soliciting and processing new loans." The company's founder, Alfred Hanna, will assume the day-to-day leadership of Jet Mortgage until a new executive is appointed.
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