Lawyers from Robinson Calcagnie, Inc. and Greenberg Gross secured final approval of a major settlement in Southern California in September on behalf of consumers in a class action against PHH Corporation and Realogy Holdings Corp. and their subsidiaries. The $17 million settlement had national reach and originated in 2015 in the United States District Court, Central District of California, alleging that PHH and Realogy violated section 8(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), 12 U.S.C. § 2607(a), by improperly paying and receiving kickbacks, referral fees, or other things of value in connection with the referral of title insurance and other settlement services.
Daniel Robinson, Wesley K. Polischuk, and Michael W. Olson of Robinson Calcagnie, Inc. and Wayne R. Gross, Evan C. Borges, and Aluyah I. Imoisili of Greenberg Gross represented the plaintiffs. Greenberg Gross was recently featured for having secured a major defense verdict for another law firm, and was recognized Greenberg Gross for having the number four Settlement of 2017 in the 2018 edition of Los Angeles’ Leading Lawyers.
“We are extremely pleased to have been able to obtain such a tremendous result for the class, one that is virtually unequalled in RESPA cases,” said Borges.
Class members include individuals who, on or after Nov. 25, 2014 and on or before Nov. 25, 2015, (1) closed on any mortgage loan originated by PHH Corporation, PHH Mortgage Corporation, PHH Home Loans, LLC, or their affiliates (including loans where PHH Mortgage Corporation provided origination services on behalf of any PLS Partners), and (2) paid title-, escrow-, or closing-related charges in connection with that mortgage loan to Title Resource Group LLC or its affiliates.
The average payment will be $360 to each of the 32,217 class members.
The case is Sheri Dodge, et al. v. PHH Corporation et al., case number 8:15-cv-01973 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
