NEXA Mortgage, one of the largest brokerages in the nation and the biggest by MLO count, abandoned the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) this week, claiming the association has allowed renegade cliques of brokers to “terrorize” larger broker shops.
NEXA CEO Mike Kortas said Thursday he tried to get AIME to address the issue by creating an ethics committee, but claims he “never heard back” from the organization.
“Unfortunately, AIME will not support the big brokers,” Kortas said. “There (is) a small group of brokers in the association that control it and are terrorizing people. If you don’t think the way they do, they’ll terrorize you online to no end.”
To show evidence of this Kortas alleged bullying he provided the following screenshots. The individuals posting these images call NEXA Mortgage a cult that “won’t do well in a tough market.” The following images are memes calling Kortas a "mental midget" and the other depicts Anthony Casa, CEO of UMortgage and former AIME Chairman, as being Kortas' "Daddy."
In the comment section, brokers go back and forth between bashing Kortas and trying to defend him. One individual mocks Kortas, saying, “Let me post about this feud to draw people’s attention to the dumpster fire I’ve created.”
AIME alleges that its mission and purpose is to foster a supportive community for brokers that are dedicated to protecting and growing the broker channel. Kortas, though, claims it hardly stands by that mission statement.
Pressed for examples, he said Evan Wade, vice chairman of partnerships at AIME and president & CEO of Epoch Lending, is trying to lure his employees away from NEXA. Wade wrote a post on Facebook on Tuesday offering his services to all NEXA loan officers, encouraging them to leave and start their own broker shops.
“NEXA Mortgage Loan Officers: friendly reminder, I give free advice to any broker who is looking to go out on their own to start their own shop,” Wade stated in the post. He claimed to know that “there are a ton of great people who work at NEXA who don't like the direction they've taken.”
Wade called Kortas's complaints “baseless” and claimed Epoch has a “moratorium” on poaching. Asked about the Facebook post targeting NEXA’s loan officers, Wade claimed poaching wasn’t his intent.
He also said it’s Kortas and some of his brokers who are the bullies.
Kortas, in fact, typically isn’t shy when it comes to firing back on social media. He admits he has attacked others, but claims it's only to defend his company and its loan officers.
In the recent posts shown below, Kortas takes a shot at Casa for calling his company small and for commenting on Kortas' behavior.
Kortas claims other large brokers reached out to him Wednesday to say they feel the same way, although he declined to name any. At this point, he said, AIME supports only smaller brokerages.
Filings with NMLS show NEXA has nearly 1,900 loan officers. Kortas argues the association that is supposed to support the broker community has not been responsive to his requests — for an ethics committee or even a copy of its bylaws.
“AIME needs an ethics committee,” Kortas wrote to the association’s leadership. “You promised me months ago I’d hear back from you but the lack of leadership from AIME on this is what caused all the problems you now have. Never heard back from you (AIME Membership President Marc Summers) or (AIME CEO) Katie Sweeney.”
A spokesperson for AIME, however, said the organization has “a dedicated Ethics Committee, established in early 2022, along with 15 additional member-led and operated committees.”
None of the 28 committees listed on the association’s website, however, list “ethics” in their name. AIME also did not provide a list of members on the ethics committee.
Kortas also raised the question of AIME’s leadership and how Sweeney was chosen as CEO.
The question arose when he asked Sweeney for a copy of the association’s bylaws, since he was creating his own bylaws for a charitable non-profit foundation he runs called Brokers Care. Kortas asked Sweeney and Summers for a copy because he could not find one online.
At first, Sweeney said he should be able to find the bylaws online, but Kortas claims he could not. Ultimately, Sweeney refused to provide a copy.
AIME has also not provided a copy to NMP, despite repeated requests.
“I’ve never been involved with a non-profit association that is not willing to provide a copy of their bylaws,” Kortas said.
This made Kortas suspicious.
“What’s in them? Why can’t the rest of the community see them? Who’s making the decision of who leads AIME? Who made the decision of who put Katie Sweeney in place?” he asked. “Because nobody voted on it. It was never put up for discussion with the members of AIME.”
Despite all these questions and Kortas’ suspicions over who runs AIME, Sweeney still refused to provide a copy of the bylaws, and eventually said the organization would be creating new bylaws, Kortas said.
Although he said Sweeney was the right leader for the organization and he supported her when she was appointed CEO, he finds it odd that no one voted to elect her to that position. Members should be able to elect their leaders, Kortas said.
Now he believes AIME needs a stronger leader to control the bullies who are part of the association. He claims it goes against the association's philosophy to allow online bullying.
“They don’t have a leader in place that is strong enough to handle some of these personalities,” Kortas said. “Now these people run rampant and unchecked.”
He said he has raised the issue with Sweeney multiple times, especially as the bullying started to escalate.
“Katie did not care to discuss it whatsoever," he said of Sweeney. "She said, ‘You know what, then leave.’ So, here we are today."
According to Kortas, Sweeney’s response was flippant and apathetic, which comes as a surprise considering NEXA is the largest brokerage in the nation, by MLO count, and AIME claims to unite the broker community.
AIME officials have not answered NMP questions about why they have not addressed Kortas' concerns.
Nexa Mortgage CEO Mike Kortas talks about leaving AIME with Katie Jensen on The Principal.
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