Edwards v. The First American Corp
This case concerns the types of evidence a private plaintiff needs to put forward to demonstrate that a defendant paid for a referral in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The Bureau filed a brief arguing that, when a referral agreement is entered into as part of a transaction involving the sale of ownership interests, a plaintiff could prove that the defendant paid for the referral without necessarily showing that the defendant overpaid for those ownership interests. The brief also argued that, when a plaintiff receives multiple referrals to the same settlement provider, the plaintiff is not required to prove that the unlawful referral was the one that influenced the plaintiff’s decision to select that provider.