Three homebuyer plaintiffs filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that Rocket Companies violated RESPA through its lead referral program for real estate agents.
Rocket Companies on Monday became the latest company to face lawsuits for allegedly forcing real estate agents to steer customers to its mortgage products.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan by three homebuyer plaintiffs from Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs said they were introduced to the company by a real estate agent and used Rocket for their mortgage loans.
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The lawsuit further states that Rocket operates a referral network that directs real estate agents in exchange for a commission on closings.
“In exchange for these leads, the real estate agents were required to direct their customers to Rocket Mortgage LLC (Rocket’s mortgage company) and away from other mortgage providers, all in violation of the real estate agents’ fiduciary duties to their customers,” the plaintiffs allege in the complaint.
“Rocket also forced agents and brokers to refer customers to Rocket Mortgage even if the customers had no prior connection with Rocket Mortgage.”
The complaint alleges that this practice continued even after Rocket completed its acquisition of Redfin, with the mortgage company still working with agents who did not work for Redfin.
“If these third-party agents do not direct customers to Rocket Mortgage, Rocket charges these third-party agents higher referral fees,” according to the complaint. “This whole operation is textbook operation.”
In response to the lawsuit, a Rocket spokesperson disputed the allegations.
“We categorically disagree and will refute any allegations that Rocket, Redfin, or any of the named defendants are engaged in illegal activity,” the spokesperson said. “The allegations in this lawsuit are a complete rehash of a lawsuit filed by the CFPB that was quickly dismissed. Rocket takes pride in helping homebuyers navigate complex real estate partnerships, and we are confident that we will be vindicated once the facts are presented.”
The lawsuit was filed by Barbara Waller, Elizabeth Johnson, and Randell Clark. The trio is being represented by attorneys from Hagens Berman, the same law firm that brought the Mail Commission lawsuit targeting the entire real estate industry.
Hagens Berman also represents plaintiffs who have sued Zillow and various other brokerages in lawsuits alleging that Zillow inflated the cost of buying a home through its lead generation and mortgage referral practices.
Zillow currently faces several different lawsuits over its alleged mortgage operations, the most recent of which was filed last week.
In a statement regarding the new lawsuit against Lockett, Hagens Berman Managing Partner Steve W. Berman said Monday, “Everyday families rely on the laws that govern our nation’s real estate markets for fairness and transparency, and we believe Lockett failed to abide by the rules.”
“We believe that at least hundreds of thousands of consumers have been fooled by Rocket’s scheme. Judging by its year-over-year revenue, the plan worked,” Berman added.
The proposed lawsuit would include anyone who used Rocket Mortgage or Quicken Loans to finance home purchases from 2019 to the present, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit follows another lawsuit filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in December 2024, which accused Rockett Homes of using illegal kickback schemes to induce agents to drive customers to the company.
The lawsuit was filed shortly after President Donald Trump was elected to his second term, but was withdrawn shortly after the Trump administration took office.
Three months after that lawsuit was dropped, Rocket announced plans to acquire Redfin, a real estate search portal and brokerage firm with about 2,200 agents across the United States.
Redfin is not a defendant in the new suit, but the complaint alleges that Rocket knowingly acquired intermediaries “to bring pilot operations in-house.”
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