Dan Gilbert
The Justice Department is fighting Quicken Loans' request to move its lawsuit against the mortgage firm from Washington to Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reports.
The Justice Department filed court papers Thursday in federal court in D.C., arguing that Quicken's move to file a lawsuit against the Justice Department in Detroit over the matter should have no bearing on a change of venue, according to a report by JC Reindl of the Detroit Free Press. The Justice Department argues that D.C. is the proper venue.
The Justice Department in court papers accuses Quicken Loans of forum shopping.
In its lawsuit, the Justice Department has accused Quicken Loans of violating mortgage underwriting rules with FHA-insured mortgages, costing the federal government millions of dollars. Dan Gilbert has denied any wrongdoing and has accused the feds of being on a witch hunt. The feds accuse Quicken of mischaracterizing the settlement discussions in court filings and in the media, the Freep reports:
The government's lawyers called Quicken's lawsuit a surprise "preemptive strike" that came just hours after a phone call in which U.S. attorneys told Quicken's founder Dan Gilbert and senior executives that they would soon file a lawsuit against Quicken Loans if there was no progress in reaching a settlement.
Quicken filed its lawsuit on April 17 against the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, calling the government's three-year investigation of Quicken a flawed effort and a strong-armed attempt to simply extract a big settlement.
