A former SoCal marketing rep for First American Title Co. has cost their parent company a pretty penny for improper business practices.
According to Inman, First American has agreed to pay a $1.185 million penalty after state regulators alleged Eugene Bleecker provided illegal perks to real estate agents in the networking group he managed, the Advisory Group Real Estate Network. Investigators claim Bleecker had “unilateral power” to add or remove members, and that half of the group’s members sent their title insurance business to him.
Bleecker reportedly scratched their preverbal backs by including video marketing of their listings with big social media pushes, provided bus caravans to promote listings and even offered sales coaching.
The problem, of course, is that California prohibits title agents from providing “things of value” to real estate agents or lenders as a means of securing business.
“While Bleecker stated that group members did not have to use his services, he spent significant effort to encourage, or even guilt them, into doing so,” the accusation claimed, citing emails from Bleecker to members, as reported by Inman.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said the case should “serve as a warning to companies that they are accountable for their employees’ actions that harm consumers.”
“By looking the other way while one of its employees marketed its products in violation of state laws, First American Title Company failed to protect real estate consumers from conflicts of interest that can inflate the cost of title insurance,” Lara said.