New York Attorney General Letitia James says First American Financial Corporation, one of the largest title insurance companies, will terminate its existing no-poach agreements and pay New York $4.5 million. This raises the total amount secured by James from title insurance companies for these agreements to $13.75 million.
“First American had secret agreements with competitors that harmed workers’ career opportunities and unfairly kept wages low,” said James. “New York workers should be empowered to grow within their chosen careers, not held back by illegal agreements meant to reduce opportunities for employees. One by one, my office has stopped these harmful and pervasive anti-worker agreements and has held the companies responsible for creating them to account.”
"We’re pleased to have put this matter behind us and look forward to continuing to support the secure and efficient transfer of real estate in New York. First American has been and remains committed to integrity and compliance in its business practices," a First American spokesman said.
According to James, First American issues title insurance policies directly through its agency or independent title insurance agencies. Direct agents and independent agencies are competitors in the labor market and should be able to compete for employees on the basis of salaries, benefits, and career opportunities. However, First American’s no-poach policies with other companies prevented that. The Office of the Attorney General’s investigation concluded that First American entered into no-poach agreements with other title insurance companies, and that these agreements effectively reduced career opportunities and wages for workers.
James has now ended the use of no-poach agreements by the five largest commercial underwriters in the United States, including First American, Fidelity, Old Republic, Stewart, Amtrust, and two of the largest title insurance agencies, First Nationwide and Kensington Vanguard.
