Katie Sweeney claims United Wholesale Mortgage is meddling in a prominent brokers advocacy group’s affairs and threatening to pull its funding if it gives her a six-figure payout.
The new allegations emerged in Sweeney’s lawsuit against the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts, which she claims owes her $300,000 in combined bonus and severance pay. The sides have accused each other of wrongdoing since the federal lawsuit was filed in April.
Attorneys for Sweeney want to add the lender and its chief marketing officer Sarah DeCiantis as defendants, suggesting they committed tortious interference with AIME and Sweeney’s contract negotiations. AIME opposes the request, according to Tuesday’s filing, and a federal judge set deadlines next month for the sides to debate whether the updated complaint can be submitted.
AIME says Sweeney directed over $900,000 to herself during her time leading the organization, an accusation she’s denied. Sweeney, who today works for Rocket Pro, is AIME’s former CEO, although the trade group has disputed her title.
In the prospective amended complaint, Sweeney accuses DeCiantis and UWM President and CEO Mat Ishbia of pressuring AIME leadership to behave in a way directly benefiting UWM and prohibiting the promotion of competing wholesale players. UWM is AIME’s title sponsor since its founding in 2018.
“Sweeney believes that DeCiantis and UWM have threatened to withhold UWM funds from AIME or take other retributive action if AIME does not follow UWM’s directive,” her filing reads.
A spokesperson for AIME said the organization couldn’t comment on pending litigation, but emphasized that the trade group was a 501(c)6 nonprofit. Neither UWM, Sweeney nor her attorneys responded to a request for comment Wednesday.
Sweeney shares more accusations against UWM
According to this week’s filing, AIME leaders told Sweeney in 2020 to negotiate with DeCiantis for her salary and bonus to become the trade group’s CEO. Although AIME accuses Sweeney of arranging her own hefty payouts, Sweeney claims she did not have access to the company’s accounting software.
In 2022, an unnamed AIME executive reviewed the organization’s financials and discovered an employee had used AIME funds to pay for her mortgage “to UWM”. The same employee also allegedly abused a company credit card for personal expenses, the filing states.
Sweeney says she told AIME President Marc Summers to address the issue, but he downplayed the embezzlement and later put the employee on a payment plan he never enforced.
Sweeney asked DeCiantis that Summers be removed over the issue, which the UWM executive refused. Sweeney then sent a list of AIME demands to DeCiantis, including establishing independence from UWM, which the executive also allegedly wouldn’t fully agree to.
In September 2023, Sweeney said she was resigning over the unethical, and possibly illegal, conduct at AIME, and DeCiantis negotiated and signed off on her transition agreement. AIME purportedly agreed to pay Sweeney a $240,000 bonus and another $240,000 in severance, in $20,000 monthly installments.
AIME didn’t pay the bonus by February 2024, and the trade group’s president told Sweeney that UWM barred AIME from paying it.
“On information and belief, AIME’s decision not to pay the 2023 bonus was made at UWM’s direction, despite the fact UWM—through DeCiantis—had negotiated and approved the form of the transition agreement that Summers executed on AIME’s behalf,” the lawsuit stated.
The group also stopped paying Sweeney’s severance, and stopped responding to her inquiries after she was hired by Rocket, leaving $60,000 unpaid.
AIME has also accused Sweeney of covertly dealing with other industry groups during her leadership, including diverting monetary contributions to a competing broker group. Case filings have mentioned several other prominent industry figures, although no other companies nor individuals have been accused of wrongdoing.
