Legal News

More controversial winds continue to swirl about the Appraisal Institute (AI) as a former employee alleged in a lawsuit that misreporting of student test scores took place at the organization.

The exams centered on qualifying and continuing education for appraisers.

Read on for more details surrounding this case.

Oklahoma House Bill 1081, which would amend sections of the Oklahoma Certified Real Estate Appraisers Act and Oklahoma Appraisal Management Company Regulation Act, passed the House of Representatives March 13.

The bill would become effective Nov.1.

Read on to learn more.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) dismissed its December 2024 complaint against Rocket Homes Real Estate, JMG Holding Partners LLC, (which does business as The Jason Mitchell Group) and the firm’s owner Jason Mitchell that alleged they participated in a kickback scheme involving referrals and steering homebuyers toward Rocket Mortgage.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in West Virginia recently dismissed the majority of a $10.6 million judgment against Rocket Mortgage.

The dismissal also involved Rocket Mortgage affiliate, Amrock LLC, according to court documents.

Read on for the details surrounding this case.

A Boston man was sentenced on Jan. 3 for a tax fraud scheme in which he willfully failed to pay employment taxes for his two businesses.

On Dec. 5, 2024, lender Rocket Mortgage, part of Rocket Companies, filed suit in federal district court against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This was in response to another legal battle where the U.S. Department of Justice sued Rocket Mortgage, alleging the company is accountable for the actions of an independent appraiser. To go in deeper into these cases, Valuation Review sat down with Rocket Companies’ President Bill Emerson for an interview.

Read on for the full conversation with Emerson.

A former Philadelphia Eagles running back recently plead guilty to federal fraud charges after he was accused of submitting fraudulent tax returns and applications for hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic aid programs.

On Dec. 5, lender Rocket Mortgage, part of Rocket Companies, filed suit in federal district court against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The suit is claiming conflicts between the government’s regulations requiring appraiser independence and its enforcement actions seeking to hold lenders liable for the conduct of independent licensed appraisers.

Read on for more details surrounding this legal action.

As expected, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted final approval of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement agreement related to its cooperative compensation rule.

Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Justice Department (DOJ) took action to end Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.’s mortgage lending discrimination against majority-Black neighborhoods in the greater Birmingham, Ala. area.

The CFPB and DOJ allege Fairway illegally redlined Black neighborhoods, including through its marketing and sales actions.

Read on for all of the details surrounding this matter.