More than 160 New York-based loan officers claiming Premium Capital Funding LLC's mortgage unit withheld overtime and minimum wage pay won a $9 million judgment Monday — one of the year's biggest jury awards in a Fair Labor Standards Act class action.  U.S. Judge Leonard Wexler approved the plaintiffs' request for double damages following a Sept. 12 jury verdict that found against TopDot Mortgage — Premium Capital's now-defunct home mortgage arm — and its executives.  The judgment came after nearly three years of litigation, during which TopDot faced several lawsuits over its lending practices and had its license revoked by the Federal Housing Administration for “gross violations” of underwriting standards.  “Our number one priority is to make a recovery for the people we represented,” said plaintiffs' attorney Ryan F. Stephan of Stephan Zouras LLP. “It's been our position throughout that they worked extensive time and weren't compensated appropriately.” 

The plaintiffs, who sold mortgages to New York-area homeowners before the FHA suspended TopDot in 2010, will each receive an average payout of $54,000 for two years of unpaid wages.  Stephan said that whether TopDot could actually pay the damages was “the $9 million question.” The lender lost its license after an FHA investigation and its website has since disappeared, though it has not filed for bankruptcy, according to Stephan and a search of bankruptcy petitions.  Counsel for the lender declined to comment.  The suit alleged that the loan officers worked on a commission-only basis, meaning they were not paid any minimum salary or wage and were not paid overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a week. The company had responded that the workers were exempt from FLSA classification.  The parties had been negotiating a possible settlement as late as June 2010, according to the docket, but negotiations broke down that fall and the case went to trial. (click on link to read full story)