The Notice explains the Lawsuit and your legal rights. The Court has ruled that the Lawsuit may be maintained as a claim for monetary relief on behalf of the Class and because First Mariner’s records show that you are a potential member of the Class described below. The Notice is intended to generally describe the nature of the Lawsuit and your legal rights and obligations.

The Court in charge of the Lawsuit is the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the Lawsuit is known as Brasko, et al. v. First National Bank of Pennsylvania, Civil Action No.: SAG-20-3489.

The Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Richard and Lori Brasko and Eric Rubintein. The Plaintiffs in the Lawsuit allege that between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016, All Star Title provided certain unlawful benefits to First Mariner Bank (hereinafter “First Mariner”) employees and/or agents in exchange for their agreement to refer borrowers to All Star Title for the settlement of their residential mortgage loans with First Mariner. Plaintiffs allege that First Mariner’s conduct violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), 12 U.S.C. §2601, et. seq. and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et. seq. They seek to recover statutory money damages for each borrower affected by First Mariner’s alleged conduct pursuant to 12 U.S.C. §2607(d)(2) and 18 U.S.C. §1964(c).

First Mariner Bank merged into Howard Bank in 2018, and Howard Bank merged into First National Bank of Pennsylvania (“FNB”) in 2022. First Mariner, Howard Bank, and FNB deny the allegations in the Lawsuit and deny that they are or may be liable for any of the claims asserted or for the conduct of those employees and/or agents who allegedly accepted benefits from All Star Title.

The Court has not yet made any judgment or other determination of the liability of First Mariner, Howard Bank and/or FNB in the Lawsuit.

On March 29, 2022, the Court issued an Order that the Lawsuit may proceed as a class action and certified the criteria for membership in the class. The Court revised and amended the criteria for membership in the class on January 5, 2024.

In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called Plaintiffs sue on behalf of others who may have similar claims. For a case to proceed as a class action, a court must certify a class. That is what has happened in this case. This ruling by the Court of a class action does not mean that any monetary relief will be obtained for the class members because these are contested issues that have not been decided. Rather, the ruling means that the final outcome of this lawsuit, whether favorable to Plaintiffs of Defendant, will apply in like manner to every member of the class who do not timely elect to be excluded from the class.

The Court has decided that everyone who fits this description is a Class Member: All individuals in the United States who were borrowers on a mortgage loan (a) obtained from First Mariner Bank for a home in Maryland, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, or California; (b) for which All Star Title, Inc. provided a settlement service, as identified in Section 1100 on the HUD-1, between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016; and (c) for which the overall charges for title services exceeded $500 plus the cost of title insurance. Exempted from this class is any person who, during the period of January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2016, was an employee, officer, member and/or agent of First Mariner Bank, Howard Bank, or All Star Title, Inc.

If the Updated Notice was addressed to you, then certain loan records indicate that you are likely a member of the Class.

The Class is represented by Class Representatives, who are Plaintiffs in the Lawsuit. The court-appointed Class Representatives are: Richard and Lori Brasko and Eric Rubinstein.

The Court has also appointed Plaintiffs’ Counsel to serve as Class Counsel for the Class. Class Counsel for the Class are: Michael Paul Smith and Melissa L. English of the law firm, Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, LLC, and Timothy F. Maloney and Veronica B. Nannis of the law firm, Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A. Class Counsel.

If you desire, you may also appear by your own attorney at your own expense. You may also seek to intervene individually and may advise the Court if at any time you consider that you are not being fairly and adequately represented by Plaintiffs and Class Counsel.

If you want to remain a member of the Class, you are not required to do anything at this time. By remaining a Class member, your claims against First Mariner for monetary relief arising from First Mariner’s conduct as alleged by the Plaintiffs will be determined in this case and cannot be presented in any other lawsuit. This relief sought is three times the amount by which your overall charges for title services, typically recorded in Section 1100 of your HUD-1 settlement statement, exceeded $500 plus the cost of title insurance.

Plaintiffs have asserted potential claims that borrowers may have been overcharged by an amount determined by measures other than the $500 benchmark, including that (a) some borrowers were overcharged for title insurance premiums, (b) some borrowers ­ whose loans were originated through the First Mariner Branch managed by Tom Bowen – were overcharged by the amount that their charges for title services and title insurance exceeded $1,400.00, and (c) some borrowers were overcharged by the amount that their charges for title, abstract, search, and/or examination services exceeded the 80th percentile cost in their state according to the then-applicable Wells Fargo Chart, a copy of which may be viewed at the website identified in the “Additional Information” Section of this Notice. Defendant disputes these measures of overcharge. The Court has determined that these measures will NOT be presented at the Class trial. Therefore, if you wish to bring a claim seeking damages based on such measures, you must pursue such a claim individually and must seek exclusion from the Class to do so.

If you choose to remain in the Class, the sole available damages, if your case is proven, will be those described in Paragraph 1 above and you will forego claims for damages based on (a) any alleged title insurance overcharge, (b) the overcharge measurements related to the Bowen First Mariner Branch, and (c) the Wells Fargo Chart.

Any member of the Class shall have the right to opt-out or exclude themselves from the Class by sending a written Request for Exclusion from the Class to the Notice Administrator at the following address:

Notice Administrator
First Mariner – All Star Class Action Litigation
The Casey Group, Ltd
PO Box 201
Lightfoot, VA 23090-0201

To be excluded from the Class, the Class Member must complete an Exclusion Request, sign the Exclusion Request, and mail the Exclusion Request to the Notice Administrator no later than the Exclusion Deadline of March 25, 2024. A separate request for exclusion should be completed and timely mailed for each person or entity electing to be excluded from the Class. Co-borrowers on a loan must both submit a valid, timely request for exclusion to be excluded from the Class.

If you submit a timely and valid Request for Exclusion from the Class, you will not be a part of the Class, will not be eligible to participate in the Lawsuit, will not be bound by any result obtained from this Lawsuit whether or not obtained in favor of Plaintiffs, and will not be precluded from legally pursuing First Mariner, Howard Bank, or FNB in an individual capacity.

You will not share in any recovery that might be paid to Class members as a result of trial or settlement of this lawsuit;

You will not be bound by any decision in this lawsuit favorable to First Mariner; and

You may present any claims you have against First Mariner by filing your own lawsuit, or you may seek to intervene in this lawsuit.

If you have questions concerning the Lawsuit, including any corrections or changes of name or address, you should not contact the Court, but should contact, in writing, Class Counsel at:

Class Counsel
First Mariner – All Star Class Action Litigation
600 Washington Avenue, Suite 200
Towson, MD 21204.

If you decide to remain a member of the Class and wish to communicate with Class Counsel as your attorney in this litigation, you may do so by writing or calling the following:

Michael Paul Smith, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Melissa L. English, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, LLC
600 Washington Avenue, Suite 200, Towson, MD 21204
telephone: (410) 821-0070

Timothy F. Maloney, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Veronica B. Nannis, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.
6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 400, Greenbelt, MD 20770
telephone: (301)220-2200

On March 29, 2022, the Court issued an Order that the Lawsuit may proceed as a class action and certified the criteria for membership in the class. The Court revised and amended the criteria for membership in the class on January 5, 2024.

If you received a NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION AND YOUR REMOVAL FROM THE CLASS, the Court has ruled that you are no longer a member of the class. You will not participate in any recovery obtained in this action, nor will you be bound by any rulings in this case.

Although the Court has ruled that you are no longer a member of the Class, it did not find in favor of First Mariner with respect to your mortgage loan transaction. You may have a valid claim that First Mariner violated RESPA with respect to your mortgage loan transaction, and you may be entitled to monetary damages for such violation.

If you wish to pursue claims against First Mariner Bank or its successors for violations of RESPA in connection with your First Mariner mortgage loan transaction, you must file a lawsuit within one year of receiving this Notice. If you do not file a lawsuit within that time, you may be forever barred from seeking damages from First Mariner or its successors for any RESPA violation associated with your First Mariner mortgage loan transaction.

Any questions you have regarding this Notice should not be directed to the Court, but, instead, to the following court-appointed Class Counsel:

Michael Paul Smith, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Melissa L. English, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, LLC
600 Washington Avenue, Suite 200, Towson, MD 21204
telephone: (410) 821-0070

Timothy F. Maloney, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Veronica B. Nannis, Esq. (Email: [email protected])
Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.
6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 400, Greenbelt, MD 20770
telephone: (301)220-2200

You may also seek the advice and guidance of your own attorney if you desire and at your own expense.