AnnieMac seeks nearly $500,000 from former branch manager

AnnieMac is suing a former branch manager to recoup an alleged $500,000 signing bonus, its second such federal lawsuit against a former employee in the past two months. 

Peyton Elizabeth Fullerton, a Denver-based originator, owes $496,136.63 after voluntarily leaving the company in January, AnnieMac alleges in its complaint filed last week. The sum stems from a $500,000 retention bonus Fullerton signed when she joined the company last July as an originating branch manager, and it mandated she stay with the firm for at least 18 months or repay the bonus. 

Neither AnnieMac, its attorney, nor Fullerton, who is still working for the Denver-based The Mortgage Project, responded to requests for comment last week. A summons for Fullerton in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey was issued June 28.

The lawsuit includes an alleged copy of Fullerton's electronically signed retention bonus, which said she would receive the sum across her first two paychecks last July. Sections describing Fullerton's salary and compensation in basis points per volume threshold are redacted. 

Fullerton had $3,863.37 deducted from her final paycheck in January to cover the retention bonus, the complaint said. The employment agreement also requires Fullerton to pay for costs of litigation and to consent to litigation in a New Jersey state or federal court. 

AnnieMac earlier this month voluntarily dismissed a similar suit against former Pennsylvania-based branch manager Nicholas Roberto DeJesus, who allegedly owed the firm $102,133.01 after his departure. DeJesus, according to the complaint, received a $144,000 retention bonus when he joined in October 2021 but quit last October, falling just short of his agreement's 12-month stipulation to keep the bonus. 

The lender allegedly deducted $41,867 from DeJesus' final paycheck, and the former branch manager refused to repay the rest. AnnieMac's voluntary dismissal of the suit June 1 didn't say whether the sides had reached any agreement.

The company is also facing a discrimination complaint from a former Florida-based mortgage closer, who alleged disparate treatment of Black workers during her employment, and AnnieMac has yet to respond to a summons in that case. 

The Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based firm originated over $731 million in mortgage volume between January and April this year and over $4 billion in mortgage volume last year, according to data from analytics firm S&P Global. AnnieMac counts 450 mortgage loan originators according to Nationwide Multistate Licensing System records, and in March it acquired in-state competitor Family First Funding. 

The lawsuits over retention bonuses resemble an action by megalender CrossCountry Mortgage, which is also suing at least one former employee to recoup an alleged five-figure sign-on bonus. That case remains pending in an Ohio federal court.