Lawsuits continue to rear their ugly heads in the mortgage industry. The lawsuit against RealFi, filed last month in civil court in New Jersey, alleges that Youngclaus faced a “severe and pervasive pattern of mentally and physically abusive conduct, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.”
Tom Marinaro, who served as president of the company from 2001 to 2020; Robert Lupi, the company's current president since 2020, and Frank Kuri, vice president of branch development, are each cited as defendants in the lawsuit. The company, which rebranded as RealFi Home Funding Corp. in August 2020, is identified by its former brand, Residential Home Funding Corp., in the lawsuit.
Youngclaus states that Marinaro asked her to “dress sexy” at work events to attract more clients and that, due to her ”beautiful appearance,” attracting new clients was what she was "best at."
According to the lawsuit, Youngclaus also alleges that Dave Pressell, the company's vice president of business development, entered her office and blew kisses at her. Youngclaus stated that after repeatedly asking Pressell to stop because it made her uncomfortable, she told him, “Enough. That’s disgusting. Would you be blowing kisses at me if your wife was here?” In response, the lawsuit claims, Pressell said yes and laughed as he walked away.
Youngclaus alleges she also faced gender discrimination when trying to secure maternity leave in July 2019. The lawsuit states that Kuri told her, “12 weeks maternity leave? That’s too long, you need to bring your baby in and work.” This was one of the instances in which she describes hostile encounters with Kuri.
Additionally, the lawsuit states that Youngclaus was called a “dumb bitch” by Bobby DeOrio, a mortgage loan originator for the company. The lawsuit alleges he would later attempt to apologize by stating, “sorry girl, want to make out?” Youngclaus alleges she pushed him away and went back to her office.
She claims she also faced sexual advances from a senior loan officer while meeting with him to showcase marketing technology. On other occasions, Youngclaus states in the lawsuit, she had to fight for her earned commissions and was also falsely accused of having a sexual relationship with a coworker.
In 2017, RealFi admitted to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage fraud and settled by paying $1.67 million for its actions.
NMP has reached out to both Youngclaus and RealFi for comment. The company did issue a statement to another media outlet saying that it “categorically denies any misconduct and looks forward to disproving any of this disgruntled former employee’s unfounded allegations.”
Update 1:40 PM ET: In a statement to NMP, RealFi added to their previous statement saying, “All of the individuals mentioned in the lawsuit are either no longer employed at RealFi or are in non-supervisory positions.”
