New York Title Insurance Kick-Back Scandal Proceeds
The New York Attorney General is investigating large title insurance companies like First American to see if they made illegal payments to favored customers and referral fees to agents in the state of New York. Clearly the antiquated system of purchasing and selling New York real estate is in dire need of reform. The lawsuit earlier last year about how large brokerages do business and investigations like the current one by the NY Attorney General are surely not going to be the last.
New York authorities are investigating whether some of the biggest U.S. title insurers illegally paid secret rebates to favored customers and referral fees to agents, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people briefed on the probe. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the New York State Insurance Department estimate such payments raised title-insurance costs for millions of New York homeowners, the paper said, citing the people briefed. The probes are examining whether title insurers including First American Title Insurance Co. paid millions of dollars in premium rebates to big real-estate developers and national chain stores, as well as referral fees to title agents, mortgage brokers and attorneys who delivered clients, the paper said.
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tags: first+american, new+york, new+york+real+estate, real+estate, title+insurance