RESPA and Pricing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the class action bar have interpreted Section 8(b) of RESPA, as giving them the ability to challenge prices mortgage, real estate, title, and other settlement services to see if they is reasonable related to the services provided.  Courts have often disagreed with HUD's interpretation, saying that RESPA is not a “price-fixing” statute.  The following provides more information about this confusing area of the law.

RESPRO^® Products

• RESPA & Pricing: Almost Ten Years Later (2010 Annual)
• RESPA & Pricing: Today's Lay of the Land (2008 Annual)
• RESPRO® Audio Seminar: "Making Sense of Busby-Is Your Pricing Compliant" (May 2009)

Related Articles

• RESPA & Pricing: Almost Ten Years Later; by Jay Varon, Esq., Foley & Lardner (March 2010)
• Courts Continue to Disagree About RESPA Liability for Charges that Are Not "Split" With Third Parties (March 2010)
• Ask RESPRO®: Real Estate Broker Closing Instructions on Brokerage Fees (February 2010)
• Louisiana Court Grants Summary Judgment For Lender Alleged to Have Charged and Collected Unearned Fees (September 2009)
• Makring Sense of Busby: Is Your Pricing RESPA Compliant? (Juny 2009)
• Tips to Minimize Your Legal Risks When Pricing Your Services (June 2009)
• The Legal Scorecard: The Section 8(b) Legal Precedents In Your State(s) (June 2009)
• HUD Policy Statement on Section 8(b) and “Unearned Fees” (2001)
• Section 8(b): A Statute that is Still Crazy (and Confused) After All These Years (October 31, 2008)
• Eleventh Circuit Puts Further Damper on RESPA Claims for Overcharges (July 2008)
• What About Reforming Section 8(b) of RESPA? (March 2008)
• Cohen v. J.P. Morgan Chase (Second Circuit Court of Appeals 2008)
• Increasing HUD's Firepower - The Second Circuit Rules That Undivided Unearned Fees Violate Section 8(B) of RESPA (K& L Gates 2007)
• Alabama Class Action Challenges Markup of Recording and Other Title Insurance Fees (December 2006)
• Ohio Federal Court Adopts Mark-up Analysis of Fourth, Seventh And Eighth Circuits Rather Than That of the Second, Third and Eleventh Ciccuits (December 2006)
• Santiago Decision Creates 50-50% Split Among Courts on RESPA and Third Party Markups (August 2005)
• An Overview of Circuit Court Decisions on Third Party Markups (2005)
• Another District Court Refuses to Adopt HUD's Interpretation on Markups and Overcharges (2005)
• District Court Decides That Eleventh Circuit Would Not Interpret RESPA As Reaching Overcharges or Excessive Fees (2005)
• Court Denies Request for Rehearing of Kruse Decision on Third Party Markups (2004)
• RESPRO® Legal Corner: Kruse-Both Clarifying and Muddying the Waters (2004)
• Legal Corner: Kruse-Both Clarifying and Muddying the Unearned Fees Picture (2004)
• RESPRO-Industry Coalition Supports Request for Rehearing of Kruse Decision on Third Party Mark-Ups (October 2004)
• RESPRO® and Industry Coalition Submit Amicus Brief Supporting Rehearing in Kruse (2004)
• Will the Supreme Court Eventually Decide the Third Party Markup Issue? (September 2004)
• Will the Third Party Mark up Issue Be Decided in the Supreme Court? (September 2004)
• Second Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds HUD Scrutiny of Markups, But Not Overcharges (September 2004)
• Second Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds HUD Scrutiny of Mark-Ups, But Not Overcharges (September 2004)
• Sosa v. Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation (Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals 2003)
• RESPRO® Legal Corner: The Court Gives HUD a Victory With One Hand and Snatches it Away With the Other in Sosa (2003)
• HUD Successfully Concludes Mark-Up Claim (2003)
• Haug v. Bank of America (8th Circuit Court of Appeals) (2003)
• Eight Circuit Becomes Third Appeals Court to Reject HUD Policy on Markups (2003)
• Krzalic v. Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. (7th Circuit Court,) (2002)
• Formal HUD Opinion Does Not Change Echevarria, Seventh Circuit Says (2002)
• HUD Amicus Brief in Haug v. Bank of America (8th Circuit)(2002)
• RESPRO® and Industry Coalition Submit Amicus Brief in Haug v. Bank of America (2002)
• The Shifting Section 8(b) Legal Landscape: What to Expect After Boulware (May 2002)
• RESPRO® and Industry Coalition Submit White Paper to HUD on Unearned Fees (2002)
• HUD's Unearned Fee Policy is Unjustified But Can't Be Ignored, Legal Experts Say (2001)
• RESPRO® Summary of HUD's October 15 Policy Statement of YSPs, Third Party Markups, Transaction Fees, RESPA Reform
• HUD Resolves YSP Problem But Reserves Right to Scrutinize Prices (2001)
• Second Circuit of Appeals Upholds Scrutiny of Markups But Not Overchanges (2004)
• It Takes Two to Tango: The Echevarria Decision on Section 8(b) (September 2001)
• Echevarria v. Chicago Title and Trust Co. (July 5, 2001) Section 8(b) of RESPA and Third Party Markups (2001)