Kelly trial implcates escrow and finance companies
Washington State Auditor Troy Kelley is on trial for pocketing real estate closing fees that prosecutors say should have been refunded to homeowners. But emails introduced into evidence Thursday call into question whether his company was the only real estate services firm that failed to issue consumer refunds during the housing bubble of the 2000s.
“One of the rumors going around is that RSI is not returning funds to customers,” cautioned a 2006 email from a quality assurance manager at Old Republic Title in Washington, referring to a now defunct firm called Reconveyance Services Inc.
Old Republic subsequently stopped doing business with RSI. The owner of RSI, Judy Caton, has previously said that she consistently issued refunds until her business imploded due to embezzlement and she ran out of money.
http://www.kplu.org/post/defense-puts-industry-trial-court-case-against-washington-state-auditor