RESPA

Freedom Mortgage has been sanctioned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for providing illegal incentives to real estate brokers and agents for mortgage loan referrals. The CFPB says Freedom offered agents and brokers perks for past and future loan referrals, a violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. In at least forty cases, Freedom paid for marketing services that were never performed by the brokerages, which the CFPB says amounts to paying for referrals. RESPA particularly addresses illegal marketing service agreements, and the CFPB released detailed guidelines on their use in 2020. Agents who worked with Freedom were also incentivized through paid subscription services offering important industry data, but they typically had to agree to be paired with a…