Services Rendered/Relationships
RESPA was adopted to provide for the disclosure of fees and charges in residential real estate transactions, through the Good Faith Estimate and the HUD-1, as well as to prohibit the payment of referral fees with regards to settlement services. Mr. Gordon has distinguished himself in the area of the referral fee prohibitions under Section 8 of RESPA throughout his career.
Most recently he was involved with the issue of marketing agreements and services rendered payments, which arose in connection with the home warranty industry relationships with real estate brokerage companies. In this regard, he was directly involved in the negotiations between the real estate industry and HUD, which resulted in HUD’s recent adoption of an interpretive rule addressing these issues. Previously, Mr. Gordon was directly involved in the issue of mortgage companies compensating real estate brokerage companies for computerized loan origination services. After involvement with HUD and participation in Congressional hearings, this issue was clarified in accordance with the positions taken by Mr. Gordon through HUD's issuance of a policy statement.
Marketing agreements as well as other relationships involving settlement service companies and payments for services rendered are frequently the subject of regulatory scrutiny as well as class action litigation. Mr. Gordon is uniquely qualified to consult with companies in the real estate services industry concerning their business practices in this area. He is also qualified to assist legal counsel that are considering or engaged in litigation in this area.