Bank to Face Racketeering Claim in Postage Stamp Kickback Case

West Town Bank & Trust must face racketeering but not antitrust claims for allegedly taking kickbacks—paid in postage stamps—from a title company it sent residential mortgage holders to, a Maryland federal judge ruled.

The proposed class action accuses West Town of accepting the referral payments from nonparty All Star Title Inc., a Baltimore mortgage settlement company.

The scheme violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Sherman Antitrust Act, the lawsuit said.

It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by mortgagors who say they paid inflated ...