New York Secures $13.75M From Title Insurer for Illegal No-Poach Agreements

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced an agreement with one of the nation’s largest title insurance companies to end its poaching agreements with competitors. The insurer, First American Financial Corp., will also pay a $4.5 million fine.

The agreement follows an investigation by the office of the attorney general (OAG) that discovered that First American and its competitors entered into illegal no-poach agreements where they would not solicit each other’s employees, reducing competition and therefore negatively impacting wages and opportunities for workers.

As a result of the agreement, the OAG said First American will terminate any existing no-poach agreements, pay the state $4.5 million, and cooperate with OAG’s ongoing investigations in the industry.

“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.”

This agreement raises the total amount secured by the attorney general from title insurance companies for illegal no-poach agreements to $13.75 million. James has now ended the use of no-poach agreements by the five largest commercial underwriters including First American, Fidelity, Old Republic, Stewart, Amtrust, and two of the largest title insurance agencies, First Nationwide and Kensington Vanguard.

In March 2019, Attorney General James and a coalition of attorneys general entered into an agreement with four national fast food franchisors — Dunkin’, Arby’s, Five Guys, and Little Caesars — that ended their use of no-poach agreements.

First American issues title insurance policies either directly through its own agency or through independent title insurance agencies.

Source: New York Attorney General’s Office