New wave of mortgage companies hit with spam call lawsuits

Five more mortgage lenders were hit with spam call lawsuits in the past few weeks, as more joined the lineup of defendant firms. 

The latest companies facing federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaints are Hartford Funding, Mortgage Pros, Mutual of Omaha, NEXA Lending and Tomo Mortgage. The cases all filed since July 16 include some repeat TCPA plaintiff's attorneys, and the same consumer suing two separate lenders over unwanted phone calls. 

Plaintiffs have filed at least 30 spam call suits against mortgage companies since the beginning of the year, according to a National Mortgage News review of federal court records. That's part of an "extraordinarily high" number of putative TCPA class action complaints lodged in federal courts nationwide so far this year, according to an analysis by litigation intelligence platform WebRecon. 

Four of the five recent cases seek to certify classes of others who were allegedly pestered with mortgage solicitations via phone calls and text messages. Under the statute, penalties can range up to $1,500 per infraction, a figure which creates the potential for big payouts. 

Consumers say lenders aren't listening

Each of the latest plaintiffs claim they're on the national Do-Not-Call Registry, and insist lenders should have known that before dialing them. The accusations against each lender are:

• MortgagePros: Seven calls after a negative response to a mistaken identity; 
• Tomo Mortgage: Ten texts after declining to do business and refuting further contact;
• Mutual of Omaha: Nearly 3 dozen texts and calls despite never doing business; 
• NEXA Lending: 12 calls after mistaken identity and an indication of declined interest;
• Hartford Funding: Three text messages with mistaken identity.

The case against Tomo isn't a class action suit. The same consumer sued NEXA and Hartford, while the same law firm is also behind the lawsuits against MortgagePros and Hartford. 

NEXA declined to comment, while other lenders and plaintiffs' attorneys didn't respond to requests for comment.

Historic volume

Several lenders this year have been hit with multiple TCPA complaints. That includes industry leaders United Wholesale Mortgage and Rocket Mortgage, and large brokerage E Mortgage Capital, which has been sued at least five times for spam calls since late last year. 

The pace is part of the larger pattern of consumer financial complaints rising this year, such as a spike in Fair Credit Reporting Act complaints. According to WebRecon, the 1,532 TCPA lawsuits nationwide through June represent a 34% increase over the same time last year. Seventy-six percent of those cases are putative class actions.

How are lenders faring?

Of the complaints filed this year, five have either been settled or voluntarily dismissed. 

More lenders in June and July filed motions to dismiss the cases, scrutinizing allegations they describe as threadbare. While some complainants include detailed logs of the purported lender calls and texts, others thinly trace the outreach back to the lender. 

A few TCPA plaintiffs are ramping up attempts for class action certification, although they've so far been unsuccessful. A federal judge denied a motion for class certification against Southern California-based Loanstream in May, and the lender is currently moving for summary judgment, according to a case docket.

Another plaintiff in a 2025 suit has alleged that E Mortgage Capital is refusing to produce call records necessary to identify a class of telemarketing recipients. The brokerage has denied violating the TCPA, and didn't return a request for comment Friday.