Three mortgage companies have been accused of violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) in a new lawsuit filed in the Western District of Missouri.
The newly filed Peyton v. Veterans United Home Loans takes aim at the mortgage company as well as Realty Search Solutions (aka Veterans United Realty) and the Mortgage Research Center, alleging the companies of falsely advertising they are a part of the Veteran’s Affairs department, as well as steering clients.
The case was filed by three homebuyers—Christian Peyton, Salem Zahn and Ernest Easter—who are veterans from Tennessee, Texas and Pennsylvania, represented by Hagens Berman, the same law firm behind the Moehrl commission lawsuit. The homebuyers are also represented by Boulware Law, which was a part of the Burnett case. The proposed nationwide class covers anyone who used Veterans United Home Loans to finance a home purchase since Jan. 1, 2020—a group the complaint estimates could number in the hundreds of thousands.
“Our lawsuit against Veterans United is two-fold,” said Steve W. Berman, managing partner and co-founder of Hagens Berman in a release. “First, we believe Veterans United has engaged in blatantly illegal practices that have harmed homebuyers through predatory loan practices, and second, Veterans United has sought to deceive our nation’s military servicemembers by masquerading as affiliated with the U.S. Veterans Administration.”
In response to the suit, Veterans United Home Loans said in a statement to RISMedia that it is “aware of the lawsuit that was filed,” denies the accusations, and looks “forward to disputing this through the legal process.”
“For 24 years we have been committed to serving Veterans and military families with love, care and respect,” the statement read. “Because this is pending litigation, we can’t comment further.”
In the filing, the three named plaintiffs each describe experiences consistent with the complaint’s broader allegations.
Peyton, who served in the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard and now receives 100% permanent and total disability benefits from the VA, purchased a home in Gallatin, Tennessee in May 2022. He says his Veterans United-referred agent never disclosed the 35% commission kickback arrangement or that he was required to steer clients to the lender.
Zahn, a former Marine Corps Logistics Man who purchased a home in Bedford, Texas in August 2025, says she chose Veterans United because she assumed, based on its name, that it would prioritize her interests—she also alleges the company’s appraiser failed to adequately inspect her property, which has since had significant electrical problems.
Easter, a former Army Chief Signal Specialist responsible for information network security, purchased a home in Lansdale, Pennsylvania in September 2022 and similarly says he used Veterans United because he assumed it was part of the VA.
The suit alleges the companies of “steering clients to more costly, higher interest rate loans.” According to the filing, agents affiliated with Veterans United Realty are given leads in exchange for steering clients toward Veterans United Home Loans. The agents allegedly must also pay Veterans United around 35% of their commission if they close a deal on a house with a lead.
The lawsuit claims that the mortgage companies violated RESPA through these two respects, as RESPA prohibits steering as well as “receiving payments that are not ‘in connection with a transaction involving a federally related mortgage loan.’”
Plaintiffs are seeking treble damages under RESPA—three times the amount of kickbacks paid—along with injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits and attorneys’ fees.
