Section 8 of RESPA states that …No person shall give and no person shall accept any fee, kickback or other thing of value pursuant to any agreement or understanding, oral or otherwise, that business incident to or part of a settlement service involving a federally related mortgage loan shall be referred to any person. Any referral of a settlement service is not a compensable service…. Even though the term “agreement or understanding” is not defined in RESPA it’s pretty clear that the bar is pretty low. An agreement or understanding could be written or unwritten, verbal or non-verbal or even implied based on repeated business. It states, When a thing of value is received repeatedly and is connected in any way with the volume or value of the business referred, the receipt of the thing of value is evidence that it is made pursuant to an agreement or understanding for the referral of business.
Kevin explains more in the video.
Published
2025/12/1
