How can you give agents a referral fee?
--A

Yeah- That seems like it would get the RESPA police all ticked off.

Originally posted by Colleen Hawkins:
I have been offering agents a 20% referral fee for any buyers that need a purchase loan and have developed wonderful relationships with many new agents.

Colleen Hawkins
Vice President- Allegiant Mortgage and Realty

Maybe you and your new agents can get adjoining cells.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/res/respamor.cfm#HT

"Section 8: kickbacks, fee-splitting, unearned fees

Section 8 of RESPA prohibits anyone from giving or accepting a fee, kickback or any thing of value in exchange for referrals of settlement service business involving a federally related mortgage loan. In addition, RESPA prohibits fee splitting and receiving unearned fees for services not actually performed.

Violations of Section 8's anti-kickback, referral fees and unearned fees provisions of RESPA are subject to criminal and civil penalties. In a criminal case a person who violates Section 8 may be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned up to one year. In a private law suit a person who violates Section 8 may be liable to the person charged for the settlement service an amount equal to three times the amount of the charge paid for the service."

Your mortgage broker would probably want you to check with them before making additional posts. RESPA violations are serious business and your broker can face stiff penalties.

There are many ways to lose our licenses and/or go to jail, so it's good to be aware of them. I'm sure there are ethics courses in your area that will be helpful.

"Thanks for the info don't want to get into trouble"?????
What do you have to learn to be licensed as a loan officer let alone vice president?
--A

Scary.

I know Colleen has removed her posts. But these are the types of people who do damage to the industry; those who have a severe lack of ethics. In addition to the kick-back, she claims to be a CRS, ABR and Realtor...she's not listed as a member of any of them.

Violations on every level then.

Hehehe...she's removed the ABR and CRS designations from her About page. But, they still have the CRS, Realtor, CRB and NARPM logos on their website and they're not members of any of those groups. And, their testimonials are fake, too. Funny, lots of iHouse sites have the exact same testimonials; they just inserted their name. Just rather pathetic and funny at the same time.

Yeah it's pathetically hilarious!!! First off...OK I get it I screwed up without thinking. The referral thing was moronic and I could have gotten into alot of trouble for my ignorance. I get that!!! I'm am not TRYING to be unethical. I have more to learn and I plan to take the proper steps to get that knowledge.
Secondly, my brother and I started this company recently...we are young and have much to learn in this business.
In regards to the website I do not design the website so when I read the above post I took a look at it and reported to take off that template Abr/CRS...etc. and just put what I have. The website like ourselves is a work in progress. We didn't insert our name in the testimonials. That is ridiculous!!!! It is a template they create when you buy your website and like most of them on our site we haven't gotten around to changing it yet because we have been so dang busy. So although I appreciate the feedback on all of the things I've done wrong, I still have a lot to learn and came to this site hoping to become a part of the community. I guess my ignorance proved me as an outcast and don't feel like being laughed at or or put down. Which is fine, it's my fault so I just wanted to thank those people who sent me a discreet and helpful email on the right way to do things. I really do appreciate your guidance. Don't bother posting anything else rude for me to see this is my last time on this site. Thanks again to those of you who directed me in a proper manner.

Bravo Colleen! I believe you. We all screw up sometimes, but very few will own up to it. Come on back, let's wipe the slate clean and start over like it never happened.

Wow...someone who cares Thanks for the kind words. I really would like to be part of this wonderful site of useful information. I'm sure in the future I can ASK for advice from all of the knowledge people like yourself on this site before popping off with a post before I know the facts. I'm sure I can learn so much from everyone here. Thanks MDHomes2Go you made me feel welcome.

Colleen, my hat's off to you. You have shown a lot of character by sticking around. I think you'll find out that most of us on here are, well, just human. And thanks, MDHomes, for speaking up for her. Darlene