Lower is suing another lender for poaching a branch that was originally brought on board via its
Ohio-based Lower has accused Residential Wholesale Mortgage of "aiding and abetting" several of its employees in poaching 17 workers, allegedly causing the company "irreparable harm."
In January, RWM began recruiting members of the Texas-based branch, with three senior Lower originators—named as defendants in the suit—setting up video calls with the competitor and encouraging colleagues to consider leaving for a new employer, according to the litigation.
As a result of efforts by RWM, along with originators Stephen Ferguson and Douglas Smithe, 17 Lower employees resigned within a three-week span in early 2025 to join RWM Lower's complaint filed March 7 in Texas federal court said.
"The near simultaneity of these employees' resignations reflects extensive planning and coordination with RWM and with each other. RWM's conduct effectively gutted Lower's Georgetown operations," the filing read.
In addition to poaching allegations, Lower argues that some defecting originators violated non-solicitation and confidentiality clauses in their contracts.
Specifically, some of the former employees are accused of taking "valuable property" including customer information, leads, proprietary instructional materials for processing loans and sending business to RWM while still employed at Lower.
Lower and California-based Residential Wholesale Mortgage did not respond to a request for comment as of Wednesday.
The Ohio-based mortgage lender is asking a Texas court to award it nominal damages in excess of $75,000. Lower, among a number of other demands, wants RWM and its former employees to be halted from future employee solicitation.
This is not the first time Lower has taken legal action over alleged poaching. Just weeks earlier, the lender sued New American Funding for
A former San Antonio branch manager, who oversaw a group of 12 Lower loan originators, is also named as a defendant in the litigation filed in a federal Texas court Feb. 25.
The branch manager, Andrew Steven Kolmeier, and New American Funding "colluded...to solicit 12 other Lower employees, whom Kolmeier supervised, to leave Lower and join NAF, which they all did on the same day," Lower claims.
Plans to move to NAF were allegedly hatched at the beginning of 2025, while the simultaneous departure of all 13 employees took place Feb.3. The suit is still pending in court.
The lawsuits come at a time when mortgage lenders are fiercely competing for experienced originators amid shifting market conditions.
The two complaints show that, combined, at least 30 Thrive Mortgage employees have left to Lower competitors in the past two months.
The partnership with Georgetown, Texas-based Thrive was expected to boost Lower's production. In 2023, Thrive originated nearly $1.42 billion in loans, while Lower originated $1.88 billion, according to data from Modex.
When the acquisition was announced, Lower CEO Dan Snyder said his company was "building a better approach to mortgage" and added, "Thrive is an award-winning, national lender with the same belief, and we're excited to bring them onto our platform." However, the recent suits suggest there are
