Hagens Berman Solbol Shapiro Cases

Escrow - Reconveyance Fees

Date Filed: May 14, 2008

Court: U.S. District Court

Location: Seattle and San Francisco

Ticker Symbol: FAF

Hagens Berman filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of consumers against the nation's largest title and escrow companies, claiming they engaged in a series of schemes and deceptions designed to bilk customers out of tens of millions of dollars.

The companies named in the lawsuits are Fidelity National Title Company, First American Title Insurance Company (NYSE: FAF), Old Republic Title and Escrow and Chicago Title Company.

The lawsuits identify four schemes created to bilk customers the suit alleges.

All of the companies allegedly engaged in a captive reconveyance scheme - charging customers fees for reconveyance when the reconveyance is actually done by the prior lender, a charge built into the payoff amount.

First American and Fidelity National also engaged in a retained interest scheme, pooling customer's loans and taking the profit from gained interest, the suit states. The companies failed to disclose this to customers, which is a violation of fiduciary duties, according to the claim.

First American also engaged in an affiliate reconveyance scheme, steering customers to subsidiary businesses for reconveyance tracking then charging the customer three times the rate the affiliated company charges independents, the suit claims.

The complaint also alleges that First American engaged in a wire fee scheme charging customers for the transfer of funds back and forth from the bank, when in reality the banks provided these for no fee or minimal cost to First American.

HBSS believes that the defendants engaged in these practices over the past five years and have illegally collected tens of millions of dollars from consumers.

If you used any of the four companies please contact HBSS by clicking here, e-mailing info@hbsslaw.com or calling (206) 623-7292.