The NEXA Mortgage lawsuit landscape centers on the 2024 split between co-founders Mike Kortas and Mat Grella, which has produced overlapping cases in Arizona and Michigan over aircraft spending, employee poaching, trade secrets, and a disputed $350,000 investment. On top of that founder fight, the Arizona-based brokerage (now operating as NEXA Lending) has faced a wage suit, a dismissed data-theft case, a dismissed TCPA class action, and a Washington State regulatory consent order. Most of the big cases are still pending; the few that have been decided have mostly gone against NEXA.
What Set the Litigation in Motion
NEXA was founded in 2017 by Kortas and Grella, who hold 50.5% and 49.5% of the company respectively. In late 2023, Grella asked for a buyout. Kortas kept him on as president during negotiations but later called the arrangement unworkable, and NEXA announced Grella’s termination at a company Town Hall on March 26, 2024.1National Mortgage Professional. Co-Founder Mat Grella Terminated From NEXA The buyout has never closed, and the near-equal ownership split is the backdrop for most of what followed.
Grella’s Lawsuit Over Aircraft Purchases
A week before his firing, on March 19, 2024, Grella sued Kortas and Kortas’s wife, Edna Montijo, in Maricopa County Superior Court. The complaint alleges Kortas used more than $1.5 million in company funds for “secret, unauthorized” aircraft purchases and jet-hangar lease payments for his personal benefit. It also points to a $24 million letter of intent for an airplane-hangar leasehold in Mesa, Arizona, which Grella says he blocked. The suit alleges breach of the operating agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, and conversion, and seeks punitive damages.2HousingWire. NEXA’s Grella Sues Kortas Over Secret Unauthorized Aircraft-Related Purchases
Kortas denied the allegations and said the aviation business was a legitimate NEXA venture that Grella knew about. He characterized Grella’s termination as a response to “tortious and intentional interference” with the company, including contacting the hangar sellers to kill the deal, which did ultimately fall through.3National Mortgage News. NEXA’s CEO Punches Back at Former Co-Owner in Suit The case remains pending.
NEXA’s Countersuit Was Dismissed
NEXA countersued Grella for defamation, tortious interference, and alleged misappropriation of company vehicles. On September 26, 2024, Judge Scott McCoy granted Grella’s motion to dismiss without prejudice, calling the claims “quite weak” and finding that the defamation counts amounted to “bare legal conclusions” with no specific statements identified.4HousingWire. Judge Grants Motion to Dismiss NEXA Mortgage Lawsuit Against Former President The judge also questioned whether NEXA even had authority to pursue the hangar deal, since the operating agreement limits the company’s primary purpose to mortgage brokerage and requires unanimous owner consent for other ventures.5National Mortgage Professional. Judge Grants Grella’s Motion to Dismiss NEXA Lawsuit
The Employee-Poaching Lawsuits
In 2025, NEXA brought a pair of related cases alleging that Grella, after his termination, orchestrated a coordinated raid on NEXA’s workforce to benefit Platinum One Lending, a Michigan-based mortgage company in which Grella holds an interest through a single-member entity called Black Chicken, LLC.6National Mortgage Professional. NEXA Expands Poaching Lawsuit, Targets Ex-President Grella and Platinum One Lending
In May 2025, NEXA sued former training director Kristine Wake in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The complaint alleges Wake solicited 12 NEXA employees, misappropriated trade secrets tied to NEXA’s Mortgage Academy, and held the domain “WhyNexaAcademy.com” hostage for $18,000. The claims include cybersquatting under the Lanham Act, breach of contract, breach of the duty of loyalty, and trade-secret misappropriation.7National Mortgage Professional. NEXA Mortgage Sues Former Director Kristine Wake In October 2025, NEXA amended the complaint to add Grella, his wife Sheridan Murray-Grella, and Platinum One as defendants.8HousingWire. NEXA Lawsuit Trade Secrets
On November 5, 2025, NEXA filed a broader amended complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court naming 15 defendants plus 25 unnamed “Doe” defendants, including former branch manager Gregory Nichols and more than a dozen other former employees.9HousingWire. NEXA Lending Lawsuit Employee Raid The eight-count complaint alleges breach of contract, breach of the duty of loyalty, tortious interference with contracts and business expectancy, aiding and abetting tortious conduct, unfair competition, civil conspiracy, and unjust enrichment. NEXA says all individual defendants signed confidentiality and non-solicitation agreements barring them from soliciting NEXA employees or using proprietary data for at least 12 months after leaving. The company accuses Nichols of coordinating mass resignations and says departing employees lied during exit interviews about why they were leaving.10National Mortgage Professional. NEXA Lending Expands Legal Fight With Ex-President Grella Over Alleged Poaching Scheme
NEXA is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits, and injunctive relief against further contact with its employees and customers. Grella denied the allegations and called the litigation a “litigious vendetta” driven by Kortas, saying former NEXA employees who joined Platinum One left because of a “toxic, untenable work environment.” Discovery is underway in the federal case.11PACER Monitor. NEXA Mortgage LLC v. Wake et al
Platinum One Won a $282,000 Judgment Against NEXA
The only ruling so far that produced a clear winner and a dollar figure came out of Michigan. NEXA and Platinum One fought over $350,000 that Kortas and Grella had deposited into Platinum One in April and May 2023. NEXA, by then controlled by Kortas, said the money was a loan. Platinum One said it was equity.
On January 23, 2026, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren ruled for Platinum One in a 14-page opinion, finding that tax returns and accounting records identified the deposits as capital contributions, and dismissing all of NEXA’s claims.12National Mortgage Professional. Court Sides With Platinum One Lending, Dismisses NEXA Claims Over $350K Dispute The judge went further, finding that Kortas had committed statutory conversion by authorizing a transfer of $93,911.06 from Platinum One’s account to NEXA in June 2024 without authorization, and had tried to pressure a Platinum One manager into signing a backdated $280,000 promissory note. Judge Warren gave Kortas’s testimony “absolutely zero weight and credibility,” calling it “mostly lies” and concluding that Kortas was motivated by “ego and vindictiveness.”13National Mortgage News. NEXA Ordered to Pay Platinum One $280,000 in Damages
The court awarded Platinum One $281,733.18 in treble damages, holding Kortas and his entity Coffee Capital, LLC jointly and severally liable. The judge emphasized that the ruling resolved only the Platinum One dispute, not the broader fight between the former partners.
The Smart Mortgage Data-Theft Case Was Dismissed
In February 2020, Smart Mortgage Centers sued former employee Brian Noe and NEXA in Illinois state court, alleging Noe downloaded a client database of more than 3,800 records on his last day at Smart Mortgage in December 2019 and used it to solicit refinancing business for NEXA. A parallel federal suit followed.14HousingWire. NEXA Mortgage Sued Over Broker’s Alleged Data Theft
On September 19, 2024, after more than four years of litigation, the Twelfth Circuit Court of Illinois dismissed the case for lack of evidence. The court found no proof that the defendants had copied, downloaded, or transferred trade secrets, and determined that the 37 loans Noe closed at NEXA involved clients with prior relationships, 15 of whom were self-generated leads. Kortas said NEXA spent roughly $500,000 defending the case and planned to pursue damages from Smart Mortgage.15National Mortgage Professional. NEXA’s Drawn-Out Legal Battle With Smart Mortgage Centers Gets Dismissed
The TCPA Class Action Was Dismissed
In Andersen v. NEXA Mortgage, filed in the Central District of California, plaintiff Dustin Andersen alleged that he received three unsolicited text messages and one voicemail over three days in March 2024, sent using an automated dialing system or prerecorded voice in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. He sought between $2,000 and $6,000 per violation.16Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor. Andersen v. NEXA Decision
On August 12, 2024, Judge David O. Carter granted NEXA’s motion to dismiss with prejudice, ruling that any further amendment would be futile. No appeal was filed and the case was terminated.17PACER Monitor. Dustin Andersen et al v. NEXA Mortgage, LLC
The Molina Wage Case Is Stayed
On August 25, 2025, former employee Jennifer Molina filed a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit against NEXA Mortgage and Kortas individually in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The specific wage claims aren’t detailed in the public docket; the case is classified as a labor and fair-standards matter. It was stayed pending arbitration as of October 2025, and the most recent docket activity is a status report filed on June 9, 2026.18CourtListener. Molina v. Nexa Mortgage LLC
Washington State Consent Order and $60,000 Fine
The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions investigated NEXA’s operations from August 2021 to August 2023 and identified violations of the state’s Mortgage Broker Practices Act and Consumer Loan Act. The findings included inaccurate mortgage call reports across multiple quarters, at least 79 webpages missing required licensing information, 25 webpages using prohibited advertising terms like “best,” “lowest,” and “#1,” preapproval letters issued without proper lender authorization, failure to deliver timely disclosures to at least 21 borrowers, closing-cost tolerance violations for two borrowers, and loan officer compensation tied to loan terms in violation of federal rules.19Washington Department of Financial Institutions. Consent Order, Case No. C-24-3734-25-CO01
On November 5, 2025, NEXA and Mathew Grella entered into a consent order requiring a $60,000 fine, a $1,700 investigation fee, and $950 in restitution to two affected borrowers. The respondents did not admit the allegations and waived their right to an administrative hearing. NEXA said it had corrected the issues and would update its compensation agreements. The order noted that NEXA’s Washington mortgage broker license had expired at the end of 2024, though the company still held a consumer loan company license.
Where Things Stand
As of mid-2026, the core NEXA Mortgage lawsuits remain unresolved. Grella’s March 2024 lawsuit over aircraft purchases is still pending in Maricopa County. The employee-poaching complaints in both state and federal court in Arizona are active, with discovery underway in the federal case. The Molina wage case is stayed pending arbitration. The Smart Mortgage and Andersen TCPA cases are closed in NEXA’s favor. The Washington regulatory matter is resolved by consent order. The only decided matter in the founder dispute, the Oakland County fight over the $350,000 investment, went against NEXA, which was ordered to pay roughly $282,000 in trebled damages. The buyout of Grella’s 49.5% interest, the event that set everything in motion, has still not closed.