A Michigan lender that’s been a billion-dollar originator in recent years is accusing a local competitor of trademark infringement.
Mortgage 1 Inc., based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, filed its lawsuit against Mortgage One Funding Tuesday in Michigan federal court for civil counts including unjust enrichment. The Troy, Michigan-based Mortgage One Funding changed its name from JJDA Capital in 2021, according to state business records.
The 31-year-old Mortgage 1 company claims it cautioned MOF a year ago that it was confusing its customers. The older company included in its recent lawsuit copies of consumer complaints to regulators that have mistakenly been sent to it instead of the younger competitor. One customer told Mortgage 1 in an email last week that MOF was “trying to scam in” on his active refinance application.
Mortgage 1 crossed the $2 billion origination volume mark in 2020, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, and generated $792.6 million in 2023. It sponsors 150 mortgage loan originators and has four branches across California, Connecticut and Florida, according to Nationwide Multistate Licensing System records.
Mortgage One Funding counts 16 sponsored MLOs in NMLS records, and is licensed in 34 states.
Jason Jamoua, CEO and senior loan officer at Mortgage One Funding, declined to provide a statement in an email response Wednesday. Neither a representative for Mortgage 1 nor its attorney responded to requests for comment.
The plaintiff firm, in a correspondence with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, accused MOF of using trigger leads in contacting consumers.
“They use these leads to make unsolicited calls and send unsolicited text messages to individuals who recently had their credit pulled by another mortgage lender,” wrote Kathleen Higgins, vice president of Mortgage 1, in a letter dated in September.
In communication between the firms, MOF allegedly identified a “third party federal trademark registration” to excuse its infringement. Counsel for the plaintiff lender however suggested common law trademark rights that favor Mortgage 1 for its use of the brand in the local area far prior to MOF’s existence.
Mortgage 1, in addition to seeking unspecified damages, is seeking disgorgement of MOF’s profits, and an order to force the competitor to destroy all materials that infringe its trademark.
Real estate players have levied trademark disputes against one another in recent years, including two by Loandepot against firms it claimed copied its real estate platform Mello. It reached a confidential settlement this month in its dispute with payments platform Melio, according to federal court records.
Another lawsuit between HomeVestors of America, of the “We Buy Ugly Houses” trademark, and Warner Bros. Discovery, defendant for HGTV’s “Ugliest House in America” television show, remains pending.
Cincinnati-based Rapid Mortgage Co. last November reached a settlement with Bingham Farms, Michigan-based Rapid Mortgage Funding, in which the Michigan lender changed its name to Rapid Home Lending.yeah
