A former mortgage consultant has filed a class action lawsuit in Maryland, claiming that MetLife wrongly withheld sales commissions from consultants who were terminated when MetLife Home Loans abruptly closed. In January, MetLife Home Loans, a division of MetLife Bank, announced it was getting out of the business of originating residential mortgages. The complaint alleges that MetLife promised to pay commissions to hundreds of mortgage consultants for sales that were closed by March 31st.

According to the complaint, MetLife is now trying to change its promise by telling the consultants that the loans had to be funded by March 31st. Funding requires an additional step in the loan process which occurs several days after the closing. The lawsuit claims that hundreds of mortgage consultants likely closed deals on or before March 31st, believing they had beat deadline and would receive the commissions they were promised.

Also, another group of loan officers have filed a collective action lawsuit in Minnesota against MetLife to recover overtime wages. That complaint alleges that MetLife misclassified its loan offices across the country as exempt from overtime pay. According to the complaint in that case, loan officers routinely worked in excess of 40 hours per week but did not receive overtime compensation to which they are entitled.

If you need additional information about this type legislation, contact Lance Gould, a lawyer in our Consumer Fraud Section, at 800-898-2034 or by email at Lance.Gould@beasleyallen.com.

Source: Law 360