A newly launched California mortgage lender is suing a competitor over allegedly submitting false fraud reports to shared lending partners in order to sabotage it.
Lendwise Mortgage filed a complaint Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Priority Financial Network Lending Group and its CEO, Marc Shenkman. The lawsuit claimed PFN falsely reported to shared partners, such as Rocket and PennyMac, that Lendwise organized an "Amended Returns Scheme," although the alleged scheme was said to have occurred at PFN under Shenkman.
Lendwise seeks at least $25 million in damages through lost active transactions and the destruction of future business opportunities, according to the filing.
"Lendwise and [Founder] Anthony Amini are the victims of a vicious smear campaign in which PFN and Marc Shenkman spread malicious lies in order to bury their own improper actions," Alex Weingarten, a lawyer at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which represents Amini, told National Mortgage News. "But, neither Lendwise nor Mr. Amini were aware of the wrongdoing that PFN and Mr. Shenkman now freely admit occurred at PFN."
The suit stems from the departure of PFN's former president and chief operating officer, Amini, who left last year to start Lendwise. While at PFN, Amini allegedly warned Shenkman about nepotism and unqualified staff, like Shenkman's family, in critical roles, including on the quality control team, the suit claims.
"Amini stepped down from role as President in January 2025 due largely to his concerns with quality control and compliance oversight at PFN and to his desire to start a new business free of the indefensible nonsense occurring at PFN," the filing said.
Several former PFN employees followed Amini to Lendwise, and while the new lender grew, PFN's business declined, according to the complaint.
The filing alleges PFN later discovered that at least one loan officer had used amended tax returns in connection with loans, and in an attempt to deflect blame and hurt a competitor, Shenkman shifted the blame to Lendwise and reported it to major industry partners.
Multiple counterparties, including PennyMac, Rocket and DeepHaven Mortgage, then ended their relationship with Lendwise. The terminations halted Lendwise's early momentum and resulted in the loss of active transactions, including one worth $2.33 million with Rocket.
The company had funded $12 million across 14 loans in its first few weeks and was on pace to exceed $24 million by March 1, according to the filing.
PFN denied a request for comment.
The complaint marks another bad breakup the mortgage industry has seen this month, following a
