hard · National Real Estate Exam disclosures

Which statement most precisely captures why this arrangement violates RESPA Section 8 even though a written agreement and an invoice exist?

1. It violates Section 8 because any payment that flows between a residential mortgage lender and a real-estate brokerage in the very same closing is treated as a per se illegal kickback, since both are settlement-service providers participating in that transaction.
2. It is permissible under the Section 8(c)(2) safe harbor because a bona fide written marketing-services agreement and a corresponding paid invoice were duly executed, which conclusively documents that the payment compensates services actually rendered by the brokerage.
3. It violates Section 8 because the payment is consideration for the referral of settlement-service business rather than reasonable compensation for goods or services actually furnished, and the (c)(2) safe harbor protects only payments commensurate with services of real value.
4. It is permissible because RESPA Section 8 governs only payments made on the borrower's side of the closing table; fees flowing to the buyer's agent therefore fall outside the statute's reach, since that agent is never a 'settlement service provider' to the lender in this context.

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