NEXA Mortgage has
sued
its
former
president,
Mat
Grella,
for
allegedly
causing
the
failure
of
a
hangar-office
property
purchase,
acting
to
defame
the
firm
and
his
partner

Mike
Kortas,
illegally
changing
corporate
documents,
and
keeping
two
company
cars
after
his
termination.
In
response,
Grella
said
that
the
allegations
are
a
“manipulation
of
the
truth.”

The
lawsuit
was
filed
April
29
in
the

Arizona
Superior
Court
of
Maricopa
County.
It
accuses
Grella
and
his
wife,
Sheridan
Murray-Grella,
of
breaching
contractual
and
fiduciary
duties,
tortious
interference
with
business
expectancies,
actual
fraud
and
defamation
by
false
light,
among
other
claims. 

NEXA
was
founded
in
Arizona
in
2017
by
Kortas
and
Grella
after
they
left Equity
Prime
Mortgage.
The
firm
became
the
largest
U.S.
mortgage
brokerage
firm,
with
2,477
licensed
loan
officers
and
236
active
branches
as
of
Monday,
per
the Nationwide
Multistate
Licensing
System (NMLS).

Grella
was
terminated
from
NEXA in
March
amid
negotiations
of
a
buyout
and
a

lawsuit accusing
Kortas
of
making
aircraft-related
purchases
with
company
money
without
his
consent.
Kortas
denies
his
former
partner’s
allegations.

The
lawsuit
filed
by
NEXA
against
Grella
states
that
in
March
2024,
NEXA
entered
into
a
letter
of
intent
to
purchase
a
five-acre
airplane
hangar
leasehold
in
Mesa,
Arizona,
for
$23.95
million.
The
leasehold
included
75,000
square
feet
of
existing
hangar
and
office
space.

According
to
NEXA,
the
purchase
would
allow
the
company
to
have
a
“physical
home
base“
—
which
it’s
currently
lacking
—
where
it
could
host
events
and
save
$500,000
a
year
on
other
venues.
It
would
also
consolidate
company
aircraft
into
one
space
and
potentially
increase
income
through
renting
aircraft
space
to
others. 

​​NEXA
leases
aircraft
hangar
space,
and
it
owns
and
operates
a

charter
company,
which
generates
revenue
from
charter
flights
and
offers
tax
advantages
for
aircraft
ownership,
per
the
lawsuit. The
company
said
that
Grella
was
fully
informed
and
had
authorized
these
moves. 

According
to
the
lawsuit,
Grella
sent
messages
to
the
hangar’s
broker,
seller
and
title
company
that
were
“disparaging,
knowingly
untrue,“
stating
that
NEXA
was
not
authorized
to
purchase
the
property.
This
caused
the
transaction
to
fail
and
harmed
the
company,
NEXA
alleges. 

Grella
told

HousingWire
that
the
purchase
“doesn’t
fit
the
needs
of
NEXA“
as
the

brokerage
firm
focuses
on
mortgages.
Grella
added
that
NEXA
“started
growing
exponentially
as
a
remote
company,“
meaning
it
does
not
need
an
office
space.
Also,
he
had
not
acknowledged
or
consented
to
the
transaction
that
he
believed
would
“almost
entirely
deplete
the
firm’s
cash
account.“

In
a
message
to
HousingWire,
James
Brody,
a
senior
partner
at Garris
Horn
LLP and
attorney
for
NEXA,
said
that
it’s
important
to
ask
“whether
there
could
have
been
concern
that
monies
might
get
tied
up
that
would
potentially
affect
monies
available
for
the
buyout,
which
in
my
opinion
was
the
true
catalyst
for
the
disputes
at
issue.“ 

Still,
“at
the
end
of
the
day,
we
are
hopeful
that
the
parties
can
find
a
way
to
amicably
resolve
these
disputes,“
Brody
said.

Other
allegations

The
NEXA
complaint
also
discusses
the
brokerage
firm’s
ownership
structure.
NEXA’s
lawsuit
states
that,
per
the
company’s
operating
agreement
signed
in
2019,
Kortas
is
its
sole
manager,
with
a
50.5%
ownership
stake,
followed
by
Grella’s
49.5%
stake. 

But
on
March
22,
Grella
reportedly
submitted
documents
to
the
Arizona
Corporation
Commission
stating
that
he
was
NEXA’s
“new
manager,“
including
only
his
signature.
NEXA,
which
attached
the
document
to
the
lawsuit,
said
Grella
“attempted
to
usurp
the
manager’s
powers.“  

Grella,
in
his
complaint
against
Kortas,
said
his
partner
converted
NEXA
funds
and
made
unauthorized
credit
card
purchases,
which
have
reduced
Kortas’
ownership
percentage
to
below
that
of
Grella’s,
such
that
Grella
is
“now
the
majority
owner
of
Nexa.“ In
addition,
the
complaint
states
that
he
added
his
name
as
co-manager
and
did
not
change
Kortas’
manager
status
from
the
documents. 

Brody
said
a
change
of
manager
or
the
addition
of
a
co-manager
would
have
required
a
vote
of
members,
and
since there
was
no
such
vote,
“it’s
difficult
to
understand
how
any
such
filing
by
Grella
with
the
Arizona
Corp.
Commission
was
not
done
improperly.“

The
company’s
lawsuit
states
that,
“On
account
of
Grella’s
actions
in
causing
harm
to
the
company
and
his
impending
buyout,
he
was
terminated
from
the
employment
of
NEXA.“   

According
to
the
NEXA
complaint,
Grella
required
documents
after
his
termination
that
only
employees
could
access.
He
also
“contacted
different
states’
licensing
departments
with
claims
that
NEXA
is
operating
without
a
qualified
individual
for
mortgage
license,“ which
the
company
said
is
untrue. 

Grella
said
he
contacted
NEXA
employees
and
state
regulatory
agencies
to
update
his
status
as
a
former
employee,
since
NEXA
had
not
updated
it
by
March
23.
He
has
“never
harmed
or
sought
to
harm
NEXA,
and
hopes
to
see
the
company
run
effectively
in
the
near
future,
for
the
sake
of
all
of
NEXA’s
stakeholders.“

Brody
said
NEXA
did
not
terminate
the
relationships
in
NMLS
regarding
Grella’s
ownership,
which
would
have
been
improper,
as
“many
states
require
the
registration
of
owners
in
the
NMLS,
even
if
they
are
not
employees.“

NEXA
is
also
accusing
Grella
of
selling
a
Cadillac
Escalade
in
2022
without
authorization.
The
company
bought
the
car
in
2019
for
$76,500
as
an
exclusive
benefit
to
the
owners
while
they
were
company
employees.
But
“Grella
kept
or
otherwise
diverted
the
funds
received
for
the
trade,“
the
lawsuit
states.
The
company
also
seeks
the
return
of
a
2019
Nissan
GT-R
bought
for
company
purposes
for
$104,490.50. 

Grella
said
the
company’s
vehicles
were
kept
at
the
partners’
residences,
with
Kortas
having
two
other
company
cars.
Early
in
the
buyout
negotiations,
however,
the
partners
agreed
to
keep
the
vehicles
in
their
possession. “Kortas
was
to
keep
the
Maserati and
the Range
Rover,
and
I,
the
Escalade
and
the
Nissan
GTR. I
remain
an
owner
of
approximately
half
of
NEXA
and
its
assets,“ Grella
said.

According
to
Brody,
the
company
understands
that
the
vehicles
were
intended
for
use
during
the
partners’
tenures
as
NEXA
employees,
which
was
the
case
for
Grella
early
in
the
buyout
negotiations. 

In
the
lawsuit,
NEXA
asks,
among
other
things,
for
an
injunction
against
Grella,
ordering
that
he
cease
any
further
public
statements
about
NEXA
or
Kortas. 

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