WASHINGTON–Quicken Loans has lost a bid to move a legal case to a venue it believes to be more favorable, but said the denial does not change the merits of its argument.
In the case of Quicken Loans v. United States, a federal judge has ruled the case will be heard in a U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., rather than in Detroit, Quicken's hometown, where the company had sought to have the case moved.
U.S. district court judge Mark Goldsmith said he had concluded that "Quicken's complaint was filed for the purpose of acquiring a favorable forum." He did not rule on merits.
"This temporary procedural setback does not deter Quicken Loans from exposing the truth about the DOJ's egregious attempts to coerce unjust settlements from its victims including Quicken Loans by using the guise of the heavy hand and power of the federal government in doing so," said Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson in a released statement.
The case involves a preemptive lawsuit filed by Quicken Loans against the government after the Justice Department had indicated it was preparing to sue the company in April of 2015 for alleged poor underwriting involving several hundred of Federal Housing Administration-insured single-family loans. The Justice Department was reportedly planning to pursue civil penalties of between $5,500 and $11,000 for each under the False Claims Act.
Quicken moved first with its against DOJ in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, arguing the government had "retroactively changed its process of evaluating loans" in pursuing settlements with FHA lenders.