In 1974, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was passed into law to keep settlement costs down by targeting unlawful unearned fees, divides of costs, referral costs and kickbacks.

Minor modifications were made in 1976. The change to extend coverage to regulated organization arrangements was passed in 1983 and carried out in 1992. In 1990, Section 6 mortgage maintenance requirements were added.

Other modifications made in 1992 included a modification to extend RESPA to all domestic mortgage loans with a lien, as it had formerly just used to purchase cash loans under the 1974 guideline. The guideline was also modified to allow realty companies to affiliate with allied services, such as a mortgage lender and a title insurance provider, and provide discount rates to consumers who use the package of services. Such organization affiliations had to be completely disclosed in composing to buyers before they're referred from one business to another affiliated business. The 1992 RESPA rule likewise sanctioned using computer system loan originations by genuine estate brokers to assist purchasers choose and make an application for a mortgage.

In June 1996, HUD issued a final RESPA guideline that reversed a 1992 HUD regulation allowing compensation of employees by employers for marketing settlement services of an associated company.

In addition, the revised RESPA guideline:

- Introduced more narrow exemptions for a company's payments to its managerial staff members and to staff members who don't perform settlement services in any transaction