DETROIT – Mush like they have done with the big banks, the feds are looking to force hefty multi-million dollar fines on big lenders as a penalty for the mortgage meltdown.

Dan Gilbert is not biting. He is sending his lawyers to Detroit federal court, saying "Quicken Loans appears to be one of the targets (due to its large size) of a political agenda under which the Department of Justice is 'investigating' and pressuring large, high-profile lenders into paying nine and 10-figure sums and publicly 'admitting' wrongdoing including conceding that the lenders had made 'false claims' and violated the False Claims Act." In other words, Gilbert says Quicken Loans has to admit that it committed fraud that it never did commit.

Gilbert says Quicken's record is clean, saying in the pleadings "Quicken Loans has built a 'gold standard' for the quality of its loans in both government lending as well as conventional lending and has led the industry in customer service."

"Quicken Loans is really taking on the government in a way that most ordinary people, those of us on the ground so to speak, us everyday people, we would like to be able to do," said attorney Neil Rockind. "But we have to settle because it's too costly to engage in the fight."

Rockind said legally it's a smart move to act first, but it's also important to remember who you are fighting with.

"This is an uphill battle. I don't even know if Quicken Loans thinks they're going to win. I just think they're taking the position that they have to do something to move the ball forward in their favor," said Rockind.

The Department of Justice told Local 4 it does not comment on ongoing investigations, but at least that verifies there is an actual investigation tied to this lawsuit.