December 22, 2021 – LOS ANGELES — Title advertising and marketing consultant Eugene “Gene” Bleecker has agreed to give up his certificates of registration to market title insurance coverage and settle for a everlasting ban on ever in search of one other license from the California Department of Insurance to resolve the accusation the Department issued towards him. In April 2021, the Department alleged that Bleecker, a former worker of First American Title Company, constantly violated anti-inducement legal guidelines by way of his improper affect over a networking group that supplied advantages to actual property brokers.
Earlier this yr, First American Title Company agreed to pay the Department over $1 million for its function in failing to supervise Bleecker’s involvement with the networking group.
“This motion towards one of the vital well-known title advertising and marketing representatives within the business ought to function a warning to anybody partaking in practices that violate California legal guidelines and can drive up costs for shoppers,” mentioned Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “My Department is dedicated to vigorously investigating allegations of unlawful inducements for referral of title enterprise that undermine honest competitors.”
The Department’s investigation discovered that Bleecker was inappropriately enmeshed in an roughly 600-member sturdy actual property networking group referred to as the Advisory Group Real Estate Network, with chapters within the Santa Clarita, Antelope, and San Fernando Valleys. Bleecker was the one title advertising and marketing consultant within the group, determined when and the place to begin new chapters, and supplied course on all the things from who would converse at conferences to what occasions the group would maintain.
The investigation additionally discovered that group members acquired advantages together with customized video advertising and marketing, a tour bus caravan to view and promote listings, social media coaching, and gross sales teaching. These advantages created the potential for a quid-pro-quo relationship with Bleecker due to his affect over the group. State legislation protects shoppers from conflicts of curiosity in title insurance coverage referrals that may inflate the price of actual property transactions.
As a part of the give up of his license, which takes impact on April 1, 2022, Bleecker didn’t admit to the allegations within the accusation.Notes:
https://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/information/california/35601-southern-california-title-marketing-representative-agrees-to-give-up-license-and-accept-lifetime-ban-following-accusation-and-1-million-penalty-against-his-former-employer-first-american-title-company
