By: dmc-admin//June 11, 2001//
“RESPA is the principal federal statute regulating the activities of real estate brokers. The insurance policy at issue is limited to participants in the real estate business and directly addresses potential sources of liability for brokers. Would it not be weird-would it not be deceptive?-to exclude all coverage of RESPA in such a policy without mentioning RESPA by name or direct reference? The policy mentions and explicitly excludes coverage for violations of the antitrust laws, the securities laws, and ERISA, but it does not mention RESPA. Hiding a RESPA exclusion, surely an important element for any real estate dealer purchasing insurance to cover the risks of its business, in a clause captioned ‘Price fixing’ and sounding distinctly like an antitrust exclusion, would hoodwink all but the most suspicious customers. Wisconsin requires exclusions from coverage to be more straightforward, so that careful readers will know what they are buying. St. Paul’s policy therefore must be read to cover unintentional violations of RESPA.”
Reversed and remanded.