Sunday, April 28, 2013

More Bad News for Creig

Occasionally I get asked about a post I wrote back on December 20, 2011 concerning a lawsuit filed against HoCo über realtor, Creig Northrop. “Whatever happened with that?” they’ll ask.

I had no idea. It seemed to have faded off into that silent world of negotiated settlements.

Until today that is. In his column in The Washington Post, Robert McCartney writes that an unrelated new suit, filed in federal court, alleges that Creig “received hundreds of thousands of dollars of illicit payments over a period of 13 years to send settlement business to a local title firm.”

That would be Lakeview Title. McCartney also mentions them.

“The agreement provided that Northrop would “designate Lakeview as its exclusive preferred settlement and title company,” and would not “designate or endorse any entity” other than Lakeview for such business.

The new lawsuit alleges that the marketing deal was a clear violation of a U.S. law, known as RESPA, which prohibits a firm from receiving compensation in exchange for referrals for real estate settlement services.”

The column also shed some light on the case from my earlier post.

“Much of the earlier lawsuit, in state court, was defeated on technical grounds. A judge ruled that the complaint didn't qualify as a class action and that the statute of limitations had expired. The plaintiffs plan to appeal.”

Now you know.
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