Frequently Asked Questions

You received this Notice because the Court has ruled that the Lawsuit may be maintained as a class action for monetary relief and because Genuine Title’s records show that you are a potential member of the Class described below. This Notice is intended to generally describe the nature of the Lawsuit and your legal rights and obligations.

The Court in charge of the Lawsuit is the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the Lawsuit is known as Bezek, et al. v. First Mariner Bank, Civil Action No: 1:17-cv-02902-SAG.

The Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Jill Bezek and Michelle Harris. These Plaintiffs allege that between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2014, Genuine Title provided certain unlawful benefits to Defendant First Mariner Bank (hereinafter “First Mariner”) employees and/or agents in exchange for their agreement to refer borrowers to Genuine Title for the settlement of their residential mortgage loans with First Mariner. Plaintiffs seek to recover statutory money damages for each borrower affected by First Mariner’s alleged conduct pursuant to 12 U.S.C. §2607(d)(2).

First Mariner denies the allegations in the Lawsuit and denies that it is or may be liable for any of the claims asserted or for the conduct of those employees and/or agents who allegedly accepted benefits from Genuine Title.

On October 2, 2020, the Court issued an Order that the Lawsuit may proceed as a class action and certified the criteria for membership in the class. The Court revised and amended the criteria for membership in the class on December 13, 2023. The Court has not yet made any judgment or other determination of the liability of First Mariner in the Lawsuit.

In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called Plaintiffs sue on behalf of others who may have similar claims. For a case to proceed as a class action, a court must certify a class. That is what has happened in this case. This ruling by the Court of a class action does not mean that any monetary relief will be obtained for the class members because these are contested issues that have not been decided. Rather, the ruling means that the final outcome of this lawsuit, whether favorable to Plaintiffs or Defendant(s), will apply in like manner to every member of the class who does not timely elect to be excluded from the class.

The Court has decided that everyone who fits this description is a Class Member: Individuals in the United States who were borrowers on a federally related mortgage loan (as defined under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. § 2602) originated or brokered by First Mariner Bank for which Genuine Title provided a settlement service, as identified in Section 1100 on the HUD-1, between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2014, and whose HUD-1 reflects the payment of title, abstract, search and/or examination services exceeding the 80th percentile cost in their state according to the then-applicable Wells Fargo Chart. Exempted from this class is any person who, during the period of January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2014, was an employee, officer, member and/or agent of First Mariner Bank, Genuine Title LLC and/or Competitive Advantage Media Group, LLC. If you received the Updated Notice, then your loan documents indicate that you meet the Class definition.

The Class is represented by Class Representatives, who are Plaintiffs in the Lawsuit. The court-appointed Class Representatives are: Jill Bezek and Michelle Harris

The Court has also appointed Plaintiffs’ Counsel to serve as Class Counsel for the Class. Class Counsel for the Class are: Michael Paul Smith and Melissa L. English of the law firm, Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, LLC, and Timothy F. Maloney and Veronica B. Nannis of the law firm, Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.

If you desire, you may also appear by your own attorney at your own expense. You may also seek to intervene individually and may advise the Court if at any time you consider that you are not being fairly and adequately represented by Plaintiffs and Class Counsel.

If you want to remain a member of the Class, you are not required to do anything at this time. By remaining a Class member, your claims against First Mariner for monetary relief arising from First Mariner’s conduct as alleged by the Plaintiffs will be determined in this case and cannot be presented in any other lawsuit. This relief sought is three times the amount by which your charges for title, abstract, search and/or examination services exceeded the applicable Wells Fargo 80th percentile cost in your State. A copy of the applicable Wells Fargo Chart may be viewed at the website identified in the “Additional Information” Section of this Notice.

Evidence has been presented that, for borrowers whose loans were processed through the First Mariner Plaintiffs have asserted potential claims that borrowers may have been overcharged by an amount determined by measures other than the Wells Fargo 80th percentile cost, including that (a) some borrowers were overcharged for title insurance premiums, and (b) some borrowers – whose loans were processed through the First Mariner Branch managed by Angela Pobletts – were overcharged by the amount charged for title and settlement services, less $500 to $600, divided by two. Defendant disputes these measures of overcharge. The Court has determined that these measures will NOT be presented at the Class trial. Therefore, if you wish to bring a claim seeking damages based on such measures, you must pursue such a claim individually and must seek exclusion from the Class to do so.

If you choose to remain in the Class, the sole available damages, if your case is proven, will be those described in Paragraph 1 above and you will forego claims for damages based on (a) any alleged title insurance overcharge and (b) the overcharge formula related to the Pobletts First Mariner Branch.

Any member of the Class has the right to opt-out or exclude themselves from the Class by sending a written Request for Exclusion from the Class to the Notice Administrator at the following address:

Notice Administrator
First Mariner – Genuine Title Class Action Litigation
The Casey Group, Ltd
PO Box 201
Lightfoot, VA 23090-0201

To be excluded from the Class, the Class Member must complete an Exclusion Request, sign the Exclusion Request, and mail the Exclusion Request to the Notice Administrator no later than the Exclusion Deadline of March 23, 2024. A separate request for exclusion should be completed and timely mailed for each person or entity electing to be excluded from the Class. Co-borrowers on a loan must both submit a valid, timely request for exclusion to be excluded from the Class.

If you submit a timely and valid Request for Exclusion from the Class, you will not be a part of the Class, will not be eligible to participate in the Lawsuit, will not be bound by any result obtained from this Lawsuit whether or not obtained in favor of Plaintiffs, and will not be precluded from legally pursuing First Mariner in an individual capacity.