{"id":49956,"date":"2026-05-08T21:19:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/ftc-puts-mortgage-connect-on-notice-over-worker-noncompetes\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T21:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:19:23","slug":"ftc-puts-mortgage-connect-on-notice-over-worker-noncompetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/ftc-puts-mortgage-connect-on-notice-over-worker-noncompetes\/","title":{"rendered":"FTC puts Mortgage Connect on notice over worker noncompetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Federal Trade Commission <\/strong>(FTC) is warning mortgage services provider Mortgage Connect<\/strong> about its use of noncompete agreements<\/a>, urging the company to review and potentially discontinue restrictive covenants that may violate federal antitrust law.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s letter, signed by FTC<\/a> Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson and addressed to Mortgage Connect<\/a>\u2019s outside counsel, was a reaction to information made public in ongoing litigation in a Pennsylvania state court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFTC staff has reviewed public materials from your client\u2019s lawsuit seeking to enforce a noncompete agreement against a former worker and the competitor who hired her,\u201d Ferguson wrote. \u201cThese materials indicate that Mortgage Connect may have broadly deployed unjustifiable noncompete agreements in employment contracts with potential adverse effects on workers and competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives for Mortgage Connect did not immediately reply to HousingWire<\/strong>\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Ferguson, evidence in the legal case suggests that Mortgage Connect requires all of its employees to sign noncompetes \u201cwithout regard to the employee\u2019s role or responsibilities.\u201d But such blanket restrictions can burden workers, as well as smaller and new competitors, he added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ferguson also questioned whether the company\u2019s stated reasons for using noncompetes (including the protection of confidential information, goodwill, reputation and employees\u2019 specialized skills) could instead be addressed through less restrictive tools \u2014 for example, with nonsolicitation and nondisclosure agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The court filings indicate Mortgage Connect already relies on these narrower restraints and that the employee at issue did not receive specialized training, the letter read.<\/p>\n

The FTC did not take a position on the merits of the lawsuit and did not declare Mortgage Connect in violation of the law. Founded in 2008, Mortgage Connect is based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The warning letter is the latest in a series of actions signaling the FTC\u2019s increased scrutiny of labor market practices, including in mortgage<\/a> and real estate<\/a> services.<\/p>\n

Ferguson cited feedback the agency has received from mortgage industry participants who described noncompetes as \u201ca huge problem\u201d that reduce the pool of candidates and \u201chold loan officers<\/a>, branch managers, and other employees hostage year after year.\u201d This deters moves to competing mortgage firms and potentially chills recruiting efforts.<\/p>\n

In February 2025, the FTC launched a Joint Labor Task Force to prioritize enforcement against deceptive, unfair and anticompetitive labor-market practices. In April 2026, it ordered Rollins Inc.<\/strong>, one of the nation\u2019s largest pest control companies, to stop enforcing noncompete agreements against more than 18,000 employees nationwide.<\/p>\n

The agency has also pursued cases involving pet services and amenities management companies over labor restraints.<\/p>\n

Fl\u00e1via Furlan Nunes reported and wrote this article with drafting assistance from HousingWire Automation, an editorial tool that helps transform announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning mortgage services provider Mortgage Connect about its use of noncompete agreements, urging the company to review and potentially discontinue restrictive covenants that may violate federal antitrust law. Friday\u2019s letter, signed by FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson and addressed to Mortgage Connect\u2019s outside counsel, was a reaction to information…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49956"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}