California-based mortgage brokerage Loan Factory was sued by a class of loan originators, who allege that the company used their personal and professional information, without their authorization, on its website in an attempt to drive business.

Loan officer Derek Daniel Bobadilla and the class members represented by Johnson & Johnson LLP claimed that they have never worked with Loan Factory, but the lender displayed their loan officer profiles on the “Find a Loan Officer” page of its website without their consent, according to a suit filed this week in the California Superior Court of Santa Clara County.

Around July 2023, Bobadilla and the class members discovered the lender “knowingly used plaintiff and the class’ names, images, likenesses, and personal information,” the suit alleges.

Individuals searching for Bobadilla and the class members on the internet were being automatically directed to Loan Factory’s website, the suit states.

“Using plaintiff’s and class members’ names, photographs, likenesses, and personal information, Loan Factory drove internet traffic and business to its site,” it noted.

Loan Factory engaged in “unlawful business” by profiting from the commercial use of personal information it misappropriated without consent and while employing “deception and trickery,” the suit alleges.

Thuan Nguyen, CEO of Loan Factory, told HousingWire that the company took down the loan officers’ information immediately after it received a complaint. He declined to comment further.

The lawsuit claims that Loan Factory violated California common law that prohibits misappropriation of a name or likeness, and that loan officers were harmed through the “unlawful profiting from its exploitation” of their information. 

Bobadilla and the class members are seeking relief that includes statutory damages, repayment of illegally obtained profits, royalties for the use of their names, and an injunction prohibiting Loan Factory’s unlawful conduct.

Johnson & Johnson LLP declined to comment on active litigation.