NEXA Lending acquires UMortgage, adds Anthony Casa to exec team

NEXA Lending has finalized an asset‑purchase agreement to acquire UMortgage, bringing the latter’s CEO Anthony Casa on board as an executive partner and signaling the end of a high‑profile rivalry between the two mortgage‑brokerage firms. The transaction, whose financial terms remain undisclosed, will see UMortgage’s corporate entity dissolved by the close of 2026, though its brand may persist as a DBA for teams that wish to retain it. As part of the deal, three additional UMortgage executives—Jimmy Hobson, Nash Paradise and Tyler Hodgson—will also join NEXA as executive partners, and the NXT Mortgage team, previously powered by UMortgage, will be integrated into NEXA’s operations.

The acquisition adds 246 UMortgage loan officers, who generated $2.05 billion in originations over the past year, to NEXA’s existing roster of 4,047 loan officers responsible for $14.15 billion in annual volume, further cementing NEXA’s position as the nation’s leading brokerage shop. Casa explained that the merger allows NEXA to compensate loan officers more aggressively while providing the technology, culture, and systems needed to stay competitive. He will focus on pursuing additional broker acquisitions, shaping NEXA’s sales culture, and acting as a liaison between loan officers and senior leadership. UMortgage’s proprietary Tempo platform will be spun off as an independent product, and the company will transition from its flat‑fee model to NEXA’s 100‑percent commission split program, NEXA 100.

The deal, facilitated by former UMortgage chief sales officer Todd Bitter—now NEXA’s national sales director—originated from a meeting intended to mend personal tensions rather than negotiate a purchase. Both Kortas and Casa emphasized that the partnership reflects a broader shift from rivalry to collaboration in the mortgage‑broker channel. While most UMortgage staff will be retained, eight to twelve employees whose roles overlap with NEXA’s existing departments will not join the combined firm; Casa has already helped place roughly half of them elsewhere and is assisting the remainder. The integration promises stability for loan officers, no mass layoffs, and the potential for the Tempo technology to serve a wider market beyond NEXA’s network.

⚡ Effects Interpreter