NEXA Lending Signals The End Of 'Brokers Are Better'

NEXA Mortgage is rebranding as NEXA Lending in a move CEO Mike Kortas says is meant to signal the company’s evolution from a broker shop to a correspondent-heavy lender — and to dial down the rhetoric that once defined its identity.

“We are a lender, more than we are a broker now,” Kortas said in an exclusive interview with NMP. “We are funding over 50% of our loans, approaching 60% of all of our loans through a corresponding environment. The difference between us and retail is that we have wholesale rates and we share the purchase advice on every single transaction.”

Since 2018, NEXA has flown the “Brokers Are Better” banner, a rallying cry that helped drive awareness and market share but also created sharp divides between brokers and retail lenders. Born out of the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) and championed by leaders like Anthony Casa, president and CEO of UMortgage, and United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia, the slogan quickly spread across the industry as both a recruiting tool and a consumer-facing message. For NEXA, it worked: the firm grew from a startup in 2017 to the nation’s largest brokerage by headcount within just a few years, adding thousands of loan officers who rallied to the message. NEXA currently has 3,350 sponsored loan officers on its roster, according to NMLS Consumer Access.

The campaign also weathered scandals and infighting, including NEXA’s own split from AIME in 2022 after Kortas accused the group of fostering hostility toward large shops. By 2023, even some broker leaders were tempering the message, and Kortas now says that message no longer serves the industry.

“I believe brokering is better, but I want to rename it to wholesale. And wholesale is brokering, if you will,” he said. “I’m not taking down the banner, I’m just taking down the line in the sand. The rhetoric of the word brokers are better no longer serves the broker community. It caused a lot of risks. It caused a lot of turmoil within the industry. So what changes is let’s grow up. Let’s stop fighting each other.”

NEXA Lending changes its colors from flashy blue and orange to classic black and white. CEO Kortas explains that it's more than a simple makeover, saying “Our NEXAns will still bleed blue, but we have chosen to go with black and white as our colors, reflecting our long-standing commitment to transparency.”

A Pitch To Retail LOs

Kortas said the rebrand is aimed squarely at independent retail loan officers who may have dismissed NEXA because of its broker label. He argued that the perception of lost control in wholesale is a myth perpetuated by “middle-level management” in retail firms that adds margin to rates.

“Most of our loan officers are choosing more of the time than not to use the correspondent lines,” Kortas said. “The best person for NEXA is going to be an independent self-producing loan officer. We have all the support platforms in place already. The only thing we don’t have is all the middle management … that has additional margins built into the rates.”

Responding to one of retail’s common talking points — that in-house underwriters give them more control — Kortas countered that NEXA has pods of dedicated underwriters at its correspondent partners.

“I have pods of underwriters at all these lenders that only underwrite for NEXA Lending,” he said. “It’s no different. No loan officer in the industry has the ability to make an underwriter force a decision … so what’s the difference? If anything, we have way more control because if that underwriter and that company [have] an overlay and they’re going to give a stupid condition, I just … have somebody else underwrite it, and I’m going to fund the loan in my name at that company. That is the beauty of non-delegated correspondent. We have that option.”

From Confrontation To Maturity

Kortas said the “Brokers Are Better” slogan succeeded in its time, but that time has passed.

“Years ago, brokers would constantly fight and say that we’re better … and then it worked. It gained market share. It was jolting for somebody to hear it,” he said. “But now the line in the sand, the rift there, the arguments and the fights just are not worth it to the broker community.”

The rebrand, Kortas added, is as much about tone as it is about structure. “We don’t want to fight anymore. We don’t want to make the argument that brokers are better. We understand that that is no longer a valid term to use anymore. We are all in the mortgage industry [to] better the consumer. And the consumer is never going to be more better off than with somebody who has wholesale.”

“Changing from NEXA Mortgage to NEXA Lending is more than symbolic,” said NEXA Lending Chief Growth Officer Geri Farr. “It’s a statement about growth and momentum. We’ve proven what’s possible in mortgage; now we’re expanding our lending platform to meet the needs of today’s market and tomorrow’s vision.”

Although brokers may be toning down their message, the retail-versus-wholesale battle is unrelenting. That's especially true for NEXA Lending COO Jason duPont, who recently clashed with 20+ year industry veteran and mortgage banker, Dr. Rick Roque, in "The Fight Of The Century." Together, the industry heavyweights aim to settle the debate once and for all: Who is better, mortgage bankers or mortgage brokers?