NEXA Leaningformerly known as NEXA Mortgage, accuses several former NEXA loan officers, managers and former president Mat Grella of carrying out a coordinated “employee raid” to damage its business.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 5 in Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona, alleges that Grella, former branch manager Gregory Nichols and Michigan-based Platinum One Loans, in which Grella has an ownership stake, conspired to recruit NEXA loan officers and use the company’s confidential data to build a competing business.
“NEXA is not in the business of playing games,” NEXA CEO Mike Kortas said in a statement HousingWire. “If anyone or any group tries to harm the company and all the great people who are part of our family, we will do everything we can to protect their interests. In this case, I will simply let the facts speak for themselves.”
Kortas said NEXA is working closely with legal counsel. “Our focus right now is simple: protect our people, our partners and the thousands of loan officers who rely on us. Any action taken against NEXA will be met with responsibility, period… I have always believed that opportunity shows a person’s character. Some people use it to grow – others waste it. Either way, NEXA keeps moving forward. We don’t slow down for anyone.”
Grella and other defendants did not respond to HousingWire’s requests for comment at the time of publication.
Also named in the lawsuit are former NEXA lenders and servicers Anthony and Cristy Galaviz, Brandon Watson, Kristin Berg, Naveen Vadhwa, Nicole and Katey Powalisz, Shannon Bell, Taylor McCarty, Alexandra Marchand, Tabitha Jimenez and Zane Darlington.
Grella’s wife, Sheridan Murray-Grella, and Platinum One Lending are also named, along with 25 unnamed “Doe” defendants.
Lawsuit alleges Grella used inside information
The lawsuit alleges that the former employees “breached binding contractual obligations, duties of loyalty and established principles of Arizona law, resulting in significant financial and reputational harm to one of the nation’s largest and most successful mortgage brokers.[s] and lender[s].”
NEXA alleges that Grella, who was fired in March 2024 and “currently holds a 49.5% dissociated membership interest” in NEXA, used inside knowledge of the company’s systems and compensation structure to help Platinum One replicate its business model.
Nichols is accused of working with Grella while still working at NEXA to recruit colleagues and transfer loans and customers.
The complaint says Nichols and 11 other lenders violated employment agreements that prohibit them from recruiting colleagues or using proprietary information. NEXA claims the group hid their plans, lied during exit interviews about leaving the industry or moving to other companies, and misused borrower information after eventually working for Platinum One.
The lawsuit states that “Nichols and the co-conspirators who left NEXA and eventually joined Platinum One began stating that they were part of the Nichols team before Nichols ever joined Platinum One.”
NEXA accuses the defendants of breach of contract, breach of loyalty, tortious interference, unfair competition, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment. The company is seeking monetary damages, punitive damages, and injunctions prohibiting the defendants from using their data or contacting their employees and customers.
Other lawsuits
NEXA has been involved in other legal action this year. In the past month, the Arizona-based lender expanded its lawsuit against former employee Kristine Wake, naming Grella, Murray-Grella and Platinum One Lending in the suit, alleging that each defendant misappropriated trade secrets, breached contracts and conspired to recruit NEXA employees for a competing company.
The amended complaint builds on NEXA’s May 2025 lawsuit, which accused Wake of using confidential training materials, soliciting employees to join a rival company and refusing to return a company domain name. The case is still ongoing.
NEXA previously sued the Grella couple in April 2024 for breach of contract, fiduciary breaches, interference, fraud and defamation. Grella, who co-founded NEXA with Kortas in 2017 after both left Equity Prime Mortgagewas terminated in March 2024 due to buyout talks. He has separately accused Kortas of misusing company funds for airline expenses, a claim Kortas denies.
Related
#NEXA #Lending #suing #employees #orchestrating #employee #raid