CFPB dismisses RESPA ‘kickback’ lawsuit against Rocket Companies, Jason Mitchell Group

Originally filed in December 2024, when the CFPB was still under the purview of Rohit Chopra, the suit alleges that between 2019 and 2024, real estate brokerage firm Rocket Homes incentivized real estate brokers and agents with referrals and priority for future referrals in exchange for steering clients toward mortgage lender Rocket Mortgage and settlement firm Amrock, which are also under the umbrella of Detroit-based Rocket Companies.

The Jason Mitchell Group (JMG) and its founder, Jason Mitchell, were accused of engaging in kickbacks by referring thousands of clients to Rocket’s companies. The lawsuit claims Mitchell awarded $250 “Dog Bone” gift cards to agents who made the most referrals to his preferred partners, including Rocket Mortgage. 

The CFPB at the time also alleged that Rocket restricted brokers and agents from sharing competing lenders’ information, including details about down payment assistance programs. At JMG, agents were allegedly trained to suggest transactions could fail if clients shopped around for other mortgage options, the CFPB previously said. 

Rocket and JMG both strongly denied the allegations and that they violated the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA).
“It is good to see the truth come to light. This case was a misrepresentation of the facts, as we have said from the day the suit was filed,” Rocket told HousingWire in a statement Thursday.

“It was an empty claim brought forth by former CFPB director Chopra for the sole purpose of seeing his name in headlines during the final days in public office. Rocket Homes has always connected buyers with top-performing agents based only on objective criteria like how well they helped homebuyers achieve their dream of homeownership. We are proud to put this matter behind us and remain focused on our mission to help everyone home.”
Mitchell previously told HousingWire that the CFPB spent three years engaging in back-and-forth discussions before offering a $200,000 settlement on the charges, which he refused.

“I wanted this to be over with a long time ago and when I had an opportunity to settle, which would have been the easy route, it was a weird situation to say no, ‘I am going to fight this and do the right thing,'” Mitchell said.

“It was really hard to figure out what to do, but what it came down to it, I truly felt we were right and I felt even though this might be significantly harder for a period of time, but in the end I’ll prevail and it ended up happening a lot sooner than I anticipated.”

After the lawsuit was filed in December, Chopra said the “kickback scheme” discouraged homebuyers from comparison shopping and getting the best deal.

“At a time when homeownership feels out of reach for so many, companies should not illegally block competition in ways that drive up the cost of housing,” he said. 

The CFPB, under the Trump administration, is expected to take a very different approach to enforcement and supervision of housing companies. Staff have been instructed not to supervise, regulate or engage in active litigation for the time being.

President Trump’s nominee to lead the CFPB, Jonathan McKernan, testified in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that the CFPB has been a rogue agency under Democrats that has “pushed beyond the limits of statutory authority.”

“It has seized opportunities to expand its jurisdiction and power. It has offended our basic notions of fairness and due process when it has regulated by enforcement,” he said. “And it has harmed consumers through higher prices and reduced choice when it has failed to strike an appropriate balance between costs and benefits in prescribing new regulations.

“Even if you don’t agree with that view, it’s clear that the CFPB suffers from a crisis of legitimacy. This must be corrected if the CFPB is to reliably do what it’s supposed to do — look out for the American consumer.”

In a post on LinkedIn on Thursday, Mitchell wrote “HOT OFF THE PRESS. CFPB DISMISSES CASE AGAINST JMG WITH PREJUDICE!!!!! LET’S GO!!”

“When you stick up for what you feel is right, as hard as it may be to go through, days when you get the news like I just got today, it reemphasizes that character and morals [matter] … and when you do the right thing, you will come out on top. It’s just a matter of time,” Mitchell told HousingWire.

While Mitchell describes his three-year battle with the CFPB as “incredibly stressful and expensive,” he feels that it was all worth it.

“Referrals are such an important part of the mortgage and real estate industries, and I believe that the CFPB was on a path to destroy it,” Mitchell said. “But I said no and I fought for this for my company, but also for the industry.”

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the suit last Friday. 

While the CFPB did not disclose any reasons for why it choose to dismiss the suit, Marx Sterbcow, an attorney representing Mitchell and his firm noted along with Thomas Burke, Richard Andreano, & Mitchell Turbenson of Ballard Spahr, that the previously filed motion to dismiss “showed that the CFPB had no case.”

“This one was so egregious,” said Sterbcow, the managing attorney at Sterbcow Law Group. “They had no evidence whatsoever to support any of the allegations in that complaint. I would even go as far to say that some of the allegations in the suit were complete falsehoods.”