U.S. Judge Certifies Class in Illegal Doc Prep Fee Case
October 8, 2001
A federal appeals court in Texas is considering a request by Countrywide Home Loans to decertify a class action lawsuit accusing the lender of illegally charging and splitting fees paid for preparing mortgage loan documents. U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner in late August granted class certification to thousands of Texans, which allows them to collectively sue Countrywide for violation of the fee-splitting and anti-kickback prohibitions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the