United Wholesale Mortgage will pay $2.75 million to settle claims, dating as far back as 2018, contending it didn’t compensate its account executives for working overtime.
Former and current UWM account executives eligible for a portion of the settlement must have worked at the wholesale lender between Oct. 12, 2018, and Dec. 23, 2021.
An additional requirement: an executive must have had a total gross compensation of less than $100,000 annually before Jan. 1, 2020, or less than $107,432 annually after Jan. 1, 2020, according to a memo sent to UWM’s employees last week. The number of employees eligible for a share of the settlement wasn’t disclosed.
Detroit Free Press first reported on the settlement Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Pontiac, Michigan-based lender did not respond to a request for comment but it shared a letter sent to employees last Thursday by Executive Vice President Allen Beydoun.
Beydoun said UWM is “extremely confident” its account executives were accurately compensated for their work, but the lender “made the choice to stop spending additional time and money with attorneys, and solely focus on growing the business and the wholesale channel.”
UWM will not move to implement changes to its policies or practices, the letter said.
“We have always treated our account executives and team members correctly but made the decision to settle this case as is,” UWM’s executive said.
Beydoun added litigation is “very expensive” and the lender would rather “see the money we would spend proving our position go to team members, instead of litigation attorneys.”
The Detroit Free Press reported nearly $930,000 will cover attorneys’ fees and the size of each individual’s settlement was based on how long they worked at UWM during the eligibility period.
