Understanding Our Advantage

    There is an ongoing trend involving real estate, mortgage and title companies forming affiliated business arrangements having the same principle owners.  Affiliated business arrangements, as defined by RESPA, (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) includes arrangements where a person refers mortage related business to a company in which the person, or an associate of such person, has an ownership interest of more than 1 percent in a provider of settlement services.  An example of this is where a real estate broker or her husband has a direct or beneficial ownership interest of more than 1 percent in a mortgage company.

    When properly disclosed, this can make for a win-win situation. (Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure) Companies can benefit from increased referrals, and clients can have a one-stop-shop scenario that is not only more efficient, but can also be less costly.

    Unfortunately, some of these companies are misleading consumers by not accurately informing their clients of these associations.  There have been situations whereas the affiliated business arrangements have been totally bogus.  This allows companies to take advantage of the consumer in multiple areas of the home purchasing process, many times amounting into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Our Goal

    Total Realty Solution's mission is to educate consumers who are unfamiliar with this growing trend on how to avoid the companies who are out to take advantage of them.  At the same time, we would like to teach them how to profit from these arrangements.  One way of going about this is to refer to a ruling which was finalized December 30, 1997 allowing real estate agents to share sales commissions with consumers. (Florida Administrative Code Rule 61J2-10.028)

    In the late 1990s, after extensively studying this then starting trend, Total Realty Solution President Frank Obregon looked beyond it and took the idea to the next level.  Total Realty Solution is now perhaps the only company in Florida providing real estate, mortgage and title services under the same roof.