Masters Of
Military Branding

Veterans United denies that its branding misleads borrowers and defends its Realty network as optional, saying it helps connect military buyers with agents who understand VA loans and the needs of veteran families.

But the lawsuit has turned one company’s success story into a broader industry referendum. In a market built on service, education, and military affinity, VA lenders are being forced to answer a more uncomfortable question: When trust becomes the business model, how much control is too much?

Borrower Base Built On Trust

The military trains service members to read a map, fire a rifle, and stitch a wound. It does not, however, consistently teach them how to use the VA home loan benefit.

That knowledge gap follows many service members long after they leave the military. Fewer than 20% of eligible veterans use their VA home loan benefit, according to a Veterans United survey.

Many eligible borrowers misunderstand who qualifies, how the benefit works, and whether it can be used more than once. The confusion is especially common among older veterans and reservists. A policy change in the late 1990s expanded VA loan eligibility to military reservists, but many who served in the 1970s and 1980s still assume they do not qualify.

Bryan Bergjans of loanDepot said many older reservists tend to “minimize their service” and are often “shocked” to learn they are eligible because the VA home loan benefit was never meaningfully discussed with them.

That lack of awareness has created an opening in the mortgage market.

Leading VA originator and CEO of World Home Loans, Brian Cooke said military borrowers are often among the most “honest,” “straightforward,” and “more trusting, in general, than other demographics.”

Asked why veteran borrowers would be especially trusting, Cooke said, “They come from military life. They take orders, and they’ve operated in that environment for years.”

Those same qualities, however, can make them vulnerable when they encounter bad actors. In a mortgage transaction, veterans and active-duty service members may be more likely to rely on authority figures, referrals from military networks, or companies that present themselves as veteran-focused.

Bergjans said active-duty buyers can be especially vulnerable because they are often operating under compressed timelines, sometimes trying to find a home during a 10-day house-hunting leave.

“They come in hot,” Bergjans said of active-duty buyers, who often rely on existing military networks and Facebook groups to find trusted professionals. “They’re not really worried about cost or rate because they receive a housing allowance. Most of the time, as long as the payments are within that housing allowance, they’re going to be fine.”

That dynamic can make it easier for lenders to bury costs, steer borrowers toward higher-priced products, or rely on payment-focused sales pitches instead of transparent comparisons. If the monthly payment fits within the service member’s housing allowance, some borrowers may not scrutinize the rate, fees, or long-term cost of the loan as closely as they otherwise might.

Tyler Carlston, branch manager for Victor Alpha Group at CrossCountry Mortgage, said he has seen that trust weaponized by unethical operators. Before becoming a loan officer, Carlston spent four years running a marketing agency that generated and sold online leads to VA lenders. That experience, he said, exposed him to deep systemic problems.

“Not being licensed at the time, I didn’t really know everything,” Carlston said. “But as I started to learn more over those four years, I really got to understand how veterans are taken advantage of, how they’re misled, how often they’re lied to and overcharged.”

In a market where patriotic branding, military affinity, and referral networks can create a fast sense of trust, tight relocation deadlines, housing allowances, and confusion about the VA program itself can leave borrowers exceptionally loyal to good lenders — and exceptionally exposed to bad ones.

When Branding Blurs The Line

That vulnerability is especially acute when a private lender’s military-focused branding resembles the government benefit borrowers are trying to access.

Although competitors do not dispute Veterans United Home Loans’s standing as a leading VA lender, some say the company’s name and marketing can confuse inexperienced borrowers who are new to the mortgage process.

Carlston said a first-time buyer recently came to him believing he had already been approved directly by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I was like, what do you mean? The VA doesn’t do loans,” Carlston said. “He’s like, ‘yes, they do.’”

It turned out, he said, that the borrower’s approval letter was from Veterans United.

The confusion underscored a broader concern about VA lending: borrowers who do not understand that the VA guarantees loans, rather than originates them, may mistake a private lender’s veteran-focused branding for an official government connection.

Veterans United disputes the idea that borrowers are misled by its name or branding. The company points to disclosures across its website and emails that identify Veterans United Home Loans as a private lender, including language such as “Not a government agency” and “Not endorsed or sponsored by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.”

Veterans United Home Loans also argues that marketing itself as the “#1 VA Lender” is both factually supported by the VA’s own aggregate statistics and inconsistent with the claim that the company is pretending to be the government. In the company’s view, the phrase itself implies competition with other private lenders in the VA lending market.

The company further argues that no reasonable consumer would be deceived simply because the word “Veterans” appears in its name, noting that more than 1,000 active trademarks use the term. It also says its social media presence only highlights charitable efforts for veterans, not any government affiliation.

Despite those disclaimers, Cooke said he believes “the name, Veterans United, is questionable marketing.”

Likewise, Carlston said, “I don’t agree with how they do things. I think they make themselves look too similar to the VA.”

Omnipresence Matters In A Niche

The nation’s top VA lenders say educational content has become one of the fastest ways to build trust, visibility, and long-term brand equity in a niche where many borrowers are still learning how the benefit works.

“Our focus from day one has been to educate veterans and service members about this hard-earned benefit and to provide an exceptional experience for those we’re privileged to serve,” Chris Birk, vice president of mortgage insight at Veterans United Home Loans, said. “Our growth has been a byproduct of that focus and our commitment to enhancing lives.”

In broad mortgage lending, borrowers may rely on rate comparison tables or agent referrals; in niche lending, brand visibility carries more weight. Before contacting an agent or comparing rates, borrowers are likely to do some research or attend a seminar to better understand the VA home loan benefit.

“If you want to really make an impact in this space,” Bergjans said, “you have to create omnipresence.” The borrower, he said, needs to feel like they see the brand “everywhere all the time.”

That means showing up repeatedly in the places military borrowers already trust: veteran nonprofits, military associations, social groups, PCS resources, YouTube searches, local real estate education, Facebook groups, and referral networks.

Carlston directs much of his marketing spend toward a nationwide VA loan webinar he hosts every two weeks, along with educational YouTube videos. He said veterans are tired of being “sold” to and are more interested in being armed with information that helps them protect themselves.

“I’m putting a lot of my money behind that just to try to push education, and I don’t care about making a sale on someone right now,” Carlston said.

Educational content and social media influence are often more effective at building a company’s brand than generating immediate leads. That is why Carlston said his goals are focused less on lead generation and more on increasing brand visibility, engagement, and credibility.

“They will call me when they’re ready — whether that’s in two weeks or two years,” Carlston said. “I just want to set the record straight and get in front of as many people as I can.”

Leading VA originators also target real estate agents, since they are often the first point of contact for borrowers. A major part of that education involves clearing up outdated assumptions about VA appraisals and property requirements.

“Realtor ignorance is the roadblock,” Cooke said, referring to listing agents and sellers who may misunderstand the product.

His brokerage, World Home Loans, has built agent education into standard operating procedures. Before handing a preapproval to a buyer, his team calls the buyer’s agent to explain the VA loan, answer questions, and outline timelines. His team also asks to be copied on offers so they can contact the listing agent directly, address common misconceptions, and reinforce that the veteran is fully approved.

Carlston also makes agent education part of his branding strategy, focusing on the professionals who often shape a veteran buyer’s first impression of the VA loan process.

But content creation requires time and consistency to build an audience. For those wanting to rapidly scale their company and gain trust, leaders in the VA lending space recommend partnering with a reputable organization or nonprofit that targets the same demographic.

Bergjans partners with trusted military nonprofits, including the VFW, to host educational seminars. By aligning with organizations veterans already trust, he said, lenders can increase their own credibility.

“You are who you hang out with,” Bergjans said. “If you want to educate the veteran and active duty military community, then you have to partner with organizations that effectively support that same demographic.”

Cooke secured a strategic partnership to be the preferred lender for Military.com, the largest digital destination globally for active-duty service members, veterans, and military families, with more than 6 million unique website visitors per month. The platform offers a comprehensive database for military and veteran benefits and keeps the community connected through its daily newsletters. Because Military.com has massive brand authority, linking the World Home Loans brand to theirs serves as a powerful lead generator.

“You could have the greatest product in the world, but if no one knows about it, then you’re just not going to sell much,” Cooke said.

Cooke said he hired Barbara Ludwig, a mortgage-industry marketing executive turned agency founder, to help build the World Home Loans brand. Ludwig previously held senior brand and strategy roles at United Wholesale Mortgage and The Money Source before launching LUDWIG+. Her agency has worked with major consumer and financial brands, including McDonald’s, McCann, Campbell Ewald, Vanguard, Rocket Mortgage, PNC Bank, and others.

Cooke said he has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” on branding, including the campaign rallying cry “victory on the home front.”

Affiliated Real Estate Agent Networks

In VA lending, patriotic branding is not neutral. Military affinity, veteran-focused messaging, and names that imply service can create immediate credibility. But if borrowers later feel steered, overcharged, or boxed into affiliated services, that brand advantage can turn into reputational blowback.

That tension is now at the center of a pending class-action lawsuit against Veterans United Home Loans (VUHL) and its affiliated referral network business, Veterans United Realty.

Veterans United Realty does not operate like a traditional storefront brokerage with a local roster of agents who directly represent buyers. Instead, it functions as a national referral brokerage, or “paper brokerage.” Homebuyers who visit VUR’s website or are referred by VUHL are matched with one of roughly 5,000 independent, third-party agents in its network.

The complaint alleges those agents are discouraged from offering alternative lending options or competitive bids, allegedly keeping buyers with a VUHL loan that may carry higher costs or interest rates.

When a network agent closes a sale, the agent pays Veterans United Realty roughly 35% of their commission as a broker-to-broker referral fee. Plaintiffs allege that fee, combined with the alleged steering back to VUHL, violates Section 8 of RESPA.

Specifically, the amended complaint claims Veterans United Realty tracks an “alternate lender usage” metric and uses it to adjust or reduce the number of referrals, or leads, that network agents receive if they fail to steer clients to VUHL.

But VUHL makes two key arguments regarding claims that agents were “pushed” or “encouraged” to refer clients through the potential increase or reduction of leads.

“Even assuming this is true,” the defendants argue, “this conduct does not violate Section 2607(a),” under RESPA because the promise of future client referrals is too “hypothetical” and “speculative” to be considered an illegal kickback.

In an emailed response, Birk defended the Realty network as a way to source agents who understand VA loans and the unique needs of veteran buyers and their families. He maintained that the process is entirely optional for consumers.

He estimated that “about half of Veterans United’s customers choose to use an outside agent instead.”

Still, Cooke said the suit highlights what he considers “questionable business practices,” including the risk of pairing a veteran with an agent whose financial relationship with the lender may not be clear to the borrower.

Carlston echoed that concern, arguing that when mortgage companies and real estate agencies link together, it creates a conflict of interest and an incentive to push affiliated services onto the consumer.

“I’ve met with many agents, personally, that rely on Veterans United as their only source of business,” Carlston said. “They get leads. They get tracked. There’s performance metrics and KPIs that need to be met.”

Similar to the allegations raised in the complaint, Carlston said agents have claimed that penalties are enforced within the program.

“If they’re not converting a certain number of applications into closed deals, they get leads reduced. If they do well, they get leads increased,” he said. That creates what he believes to be an unfair dynamic for preferred agents. “You can’t bite the hand that feeds you if you’re one of those agents that rely on those leads,” Carlston said.

End-To-End Implications

The Veterans United lawsuit raises a broader question for lenders building end-to-end mortgage models: When one company can influence the borrower’s path from education to agent selection to loan origination, where does convenience end and steering begin?

For VA lenders, the appeal of that model is obvious. A borrower who starts with a trusted brand can be guided through the purchase process with fewer handoffs, more specialized support, and agents who understand the mechanics of VA loans. For veterans and active-duty buyers, especially first-time homebuyers, that kind of structure can make a complicated process feel more manageable.

But the same structure also concentrates influence. If the lender controls the top of the funnel, the agent referral, the education, the customer experience, and the mortgage relationship, borrowers may not always understand where one service ends and another affiliated relationship begins.

“Is the consumer aware of the relationship between the agent and the lender?” Bergjans said. “I think that’s the million-dollar question.”

The plaintiffs in the case claim there were no disclosures regarding the 35% commission split paid to Veterans United Realty, nor the way agents were allegedly “required to steer” clients back to Veterans United Home Loans.

Bergjans emphasized the importance of building clear opt-in disclosures into any system that links real estate agent and lender business. “I would find it hard to believe,” he said, “that when a customer says that they would like to work with one of their agents, their opt-in box does not disclose the fact that they have a network.”

Still, he cautioned that even the perception of steering could erode the trust veterans place in the mortgage industry, causing borrowers to question, “How did I get here with this group of people?” and, “Am I getting the best deal?”

That perception risk grows when the economics of the model are not obvious to the consumer. Carlston theorized that the 35% fee functions as a way for Veterans United to recoup its massive advertising costs. “The more you spend, the more you have to charge,” he said.

Veterans United has built more than a mortgage operation. It has built an ecosystem that can connect borrowers with real estate agents, educational resources, technology, customer support, and a purchase-focused process.

Bergjans called Veterans United “a modern-day marvel and success story” and praised its shift from what he described as a largely refinance-driven operation to an overwhelmingly purchase-focused business.

Bergjans said the broader industry has to be honest about the economics of online lending. Online lenders often spend heavily on marketing, and that cost has to be recovered somewhere, whether through pricing, referral structures, or other parts of the transaction.

Cooke made a similar point more sharply, arguing that high-margin companies tend to avoid conversations about rate and cost as long as possible. In his view, the more momentum and trust a lender builds before pricing is fully discussed, the easier it is to overcome higher costs later.

For VA lenders, that is the central tension of an end-to-end system. The more seamless the journey becomes, the more responsibility the lender has to make the borrower’s choices visible, voluntary, and fully understood.

If the veteran community feels taken advantage of, Bergjans said, the industry as a whole may have to work harder to earn back that trust.

“What hurts one hurts everybody,” Bergjans said.

When the largest lender in the VA space takes a hit from its own consumer base, other lenders are forced into defense mode, having to prove they are not engaging in similar behavior.