The state insurance commissioner has subpoenaed Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes Inc., along with several other homebuilders, in a probe into whether title insurers paid kickbacks for business referrals.
Commissioner John Garamendi said in a statement he also subpoenaed Shea Financial Services, a unit of Walnut-based J.F. Shea Co.; Los Angeles-based KB Home; Greenwood, Colo.-based Re/Max International Inc.; United Home Mortgage Corp.; and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a unit of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co.
The subpoenas were issued last week.
Garamendi is working with officials in Washington and Colorado in a joint investigation.
They allege title insurers have shared premiums from title insurance policies with homebuilders, lenders and real estate agents who set up reinsurance companies.
These companies were said to share risk, but were in reality a sham, according to government officials.
