Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced that the state’s Consumer Protection Division entered into an $850,000 settlement with a Maryland-based title company and six joint venture companies accused of violating RESPA by paying fees to real estate agents and brokers in exchange for referrals of title insurance customers.
An Illinois federal judge denied a motion filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Chicago mortgage broker Townstone Financial to vacate the settlement the two parties reached which resolved allegations of redlining against Townstone.
One of the attorneys representing Townstone spoke to RESPA News about the decision.
An Illinois federal judge denied a motion filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Chicago mortgage broker Townstone Financial to vacate the settlement the two parties reached to resolve allegations of redlining against Townstone.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice filed a motion in U.S. District Court to terminate a 2021 consent order with a Jacksonville, Miss., lender which was accused of redlining. The order was scheduled to expire in October 2026.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha reached a $213,000 settlement with a national real estate management corporation, resolving claims that the company’s application and screening practices violated the state’s Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act and Fair Housing Practices Act as well as the federal Fair Housing Act.
The Legal Defense Fund reached a settlement on behalf of a New York-based fair housing group against a realty company accused of limiting housing opportunities for Black homebuyers through racial steering.
The National Fair Housing Alliance and 13 other fair housing and consumer protection organizations filed an amicus brief opposing a joint request by Townstone Financial and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to vacate the settlement in CFPB v. Townstone Financial, Inc., et al.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights issued a finding of probable cause against a same-day lender alleging the business refused to lend to prospective clients based on race, national origin and nationality.
The finding alleged the firm’s owner and other employees instructed sales staff not to do business with people of certain racial and ethnic groups.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the legal team for Townstone Financial filed a joint motion asking the court to vacate the settlement the CFPB reached with Townstone in November, which resolved allegations of redlining and violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) against the Chicago mortgage broker.
The CFPB called the Townstone case “abusive,” “unjust” and “a seven-year harassment saga.” Attorneys on the Townstone team talked to RESPA News about this unprecedented reversal by the bureau.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois – Eastern Division to vacate the settlement in CFPB v. Townstone Financial, Inc., et al., which resolved allegations of redlining and violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) against the Chicago mortgage broker owned by Barry Sturner.
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