Frequently Asked Questions

The Notice explains the Lawsuit and your legal rights. The Court the Court has ruled that the Lawsuit may be maintained as a claim for monetary relief on behalf of the Class and because Genuine Title and Eagle’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 Mary E. Edmondson, et. al. v. Eagle National Bank, et. al., Civil Action No.: 1:16-CV-03938-SAG.

Plaintiffs in the Lawsuit allege that Eagle and Genuine Title participated in an alleged kickback scheme, which Plaintiffs contend violated certain federal laws and negatively impacted those borrowers who were referred by Eagle to Genuine Title. Plaintiffs contend that Eagle should be held responsible for the conduct of allegedly accepting unlawful benefits in exchange for an agreement to refer Eagle borrowers to Genuine Title. Eagle 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. The Court has not yet made any judgment or other determination of the liability of Eagle in the Lawsuit.iability. The Court has not made any judgment or other determination of the liability of Congressional 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 Defendants, will apply in like manner to every member of the class who do not timely elect to be excluded from the class.

The Court has decided that everyone who fits this description is a Class Member: All 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) from, brokered by, originated by Eagle National Bank or Eagle Nationwide Mortgage Company for which Genuine Title provided a settlement service, as identified in Section 1100 on the HUD-1, between January 1, 2007 and January 31, 2011. Exempted from this class is any person who, during the period of January 1, 2007 through January 31, 2011, was an employee, officer, member and/or agent of Defendants Eagle National Bank, Eagle Nationwide Mortgage Company, ESSA Bank & Trust, Genuine Title, LLC, Brandon Glickstein, Inc., and/or Competitive Advantage Media Group, LLC.

The Class is represented by Class Representatives, who are Plaintiffs in the Lawsuit. The court-appointed Class Representative is: Mary Edmondson.

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. Class Counsel may be contacted using the information identified below.

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 wish to remain a member of the class, you do not have to do anything. By remaining a Class member, any claims against Eagle for monetary relief arising from Eagle’s conduct as alleged by the Plaintiffs will be determined in this case and cannot be presented in any other lawsuit. Your participation in any recovery, which may be obtained from Eagle through trial or settlement, will depend on the results of this lawsuit. If no recovery is obtained for the Class, you will be bound by that result also.

You may be required as a condition of participation in any recovery through settlement or trial to present evidence respecting your membership in the Class, and the monetary relief to which you are entitled. You should, therefore, collect and preserve documents related to your mortgage transaction with Eagle. If you have evidence you believe would be helpful to Counsel, you may communicate with Class Counsel regarding that evidence.

You will be entitled to notice of any ruling reducing the size of the Class in which you are a member and also to notice of, and an opportunity to be heard respecting, any proposed settlement or dismissal of the class claims. For this reason, as well as to participate in any recovery, you are requested to notify Class Counsel of any corrections or changes in your name or address.

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

Eagle-Genuine Title Class Action Litigation, The Casey Group, Ltd, PO Box 10037, Towson, MD 21285-0037

An Exclusion Request has been included with this Notice. To be excluded from the Class, the Class Member must complete this Exclusion Request, sign the Exclusion Request, and mail the Exclusion Request to the Notice Administrator no later than the Exclusion Deadline of October 22, 2021. 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 Eagle in an individual capacity.

You will not share in any recovery that might be paid to Class members as a result of trial or settlement of this lawsuit.

You will not be bound by any decision in this lawsuit favorable to Eagle.

You may present any claims you have against Eagle by filing your own lawsuit, or you may seek to intervene in this lawsuit.

If you have questions concerning the Lawsuit, including any corrections or changes of name or address, you should not contact the Court, but should contact, in writing, Class Counsel at:

Class Counsel, Eagle-Genuine Title Class Action Litigation, 600 Washington Avenue, Suite 200, Towson, MD 21204.

If you decide to remain a member of the Class and wish to communicate with Class Counsel as your attorney in this litigation, you may do so by writing or calling the following:

Michael Paul Smith, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Melissa L. English, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, LLC
600 Washington Avenue, Suite 200, Towson, MD 21204
telephone: (410) 821-0070

Timothy F. Maloney, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Veronica B. Nannis, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.
6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 400, Greenbelt, MD 20770
telephone: (301)220-2200