OneTrust sues UWM, E Mortgage Capital over trade secret theft

As of March 12, 2024, the departing group had successfully solicited at least 79 loans away from OneTrust, representing an aggregate loan volume of just over $31 million, the lawsuit shows. 

In a statement on Thursday to HousingWire, a spokesperson for EMC said the company has a “clear and firm policy,” in which new employees cannot bring leads, borrower information or any loan opportunities that belong to a former employer. EMC said the number of defendants in the lawsuit “is telling in itself,” it is confident in its position and will address the claims through the legal process.

“That policy is non-negotiable and is something we enforce without exception,” the EMC spokesperson said. “The individuals named joined E Mortgage Capital after concluding their employment elsewhere. Any conduct alleged to have occurred prior to or during their departure from their former employer is not something E Mortgage Capital directed, participated in, or had knowledge of.”

A spokesperson for UWM said the claims “are without merit” and the lender will “vigorously defend against them to the fullest extent permitted by law.”

The claims

The alleged misconduct came to light following a separate legal dispute. In mid-2025, former employees demanded arbitration against the lender under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In November 2025, OneTrust filed counterclaims. 

The discovery process yielded about five terabytes of electronically stored information — including internal emails and Microsoft Teams chats — which the lender claims exposed the secret loan diversion scheme in 2026.

A central element of the alleged scheme involved the unauthorized use of the third-party point-of-sale platform Floify. According to the lawsuit, the Arizona team was instructed to use OneTrust’s authorized systems, including Blend. Instead, the employees allegedly used Floify and personal email domains to covertly process borrower leads outside of OneTrust’s visibility, redirecting them to UWM and EMC.

The Arizona division was led by former senior vice president Tim Potempa, who joined OneTrust in February 2022. Potempa — a top-ranked U.S. loan office that originated about $231 million last year, per HousingWire Mortgage Rankings — departed the Dallas-based multichannel lender for EMC in early 2024, bringing a 40-person team and more than $300 million in annual production.

Potempa left EMC after over a year to join CrossCountry Mortgage in August 2025. He did not immediately reply to a request for comments.

OneTrust alleges that Potempa and other division leaders began engaging in “coordinated efforts” in late 2023 to transition the pipeline and personnel away from the company, despite employment contracts strictly prohibiting the solicitation of OneTrust employees for 18 months following their departure. Arizona division leaders also allegedly downloaded company trade secrets — including pricing models, vendor fees and internal cost allocations — to use at EMC.

The lawsuit also points the finger directly at UWM. OneTrust alleges the wholesale giant received and funded the loans despite knowing it did not have a brokerage relationship with OneTrust. 

The complaint claims UWM was “willfully blind” to the fact that the loan opportunities originated from OneTrust personnel and systems, and were being actively redirected for the benefit of EMC and UWM.

OneTrust is seeking damages on multiple counts, including misappropriation of trade secrets, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with contractual relations and business expectancies, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment.