LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A man is suing a mortgage lender and servicer, a real estate conglomerate, and their subsidiaries and affiliates over claims of collusion.
Timothy Strader Sr., individually and for all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit Nov. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against PHH Corp., Realogy Holdings, et al., alleging deceptive and collusive practices.
The suit states PHH and Realogy created PHH Home Loans, a sham venture engineered to facilitate and disguise the payment of unlawful referral fees and kickbacks in exchange for the referral of title insurance and other settlement services to Realogy's subsidiary, Title Resource Group (TRG).
According to the suit, Realogy exclusively recommends PHH Home Loans as mortgage lender for its large real estate brokerage network.
Then, under the Private Label Solutions (PLS) model, PHH directs PLS partners to refer title insurance and other settlement services to TRG without disclosing PHH's affiliation with TRG, according to the suit.
The suit states the defendants' deceptive and collusive practices have suppressed competition in the market for title insurance and other settlement services.
Strader and others in the class seek treble damages, interests, and attorney fees and costs. They are represented by attorneys Alan A. Greenberg, Wayne R. Gross, Michael I. Katz, Evan C. Borges, and Michael P. McMahon of Greenberg Gross in Costa Mesa, and by attorneys Mark P. Robinson, Kevin F. Calcagnie, and Daniel S. Robinson of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis in Newport Beach.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 8:15-CV-01973-FMO-AFM