First American v. Edwards
The case concerns the provisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that prohibit the payment or receipt of a kickback for the referral of settlement services business and provide a cause of action for damages equal to three times the amount of any fee paid for a settlement service involving such a kickback, 12 U.S.C. § 2607(a) & (d)(2). The question presented is whether, in the absence of a claim that a kickback affected the price, quality, or other characteristics of a service provided, a consumer is sufficiently injured to establish Art. III standing and sustain a cause of action for damages. The government’s amicus brief argues that the plaintiff’s Article III standing was established by her allegations of a particularized violation of her statutory right to a kickback-free referral.