Suits Filed Against 2 Mortgage Insurance Firms

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., part of PMI Group Inc., said it has been named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit for allegedly violating part of a federal real estate settlement law. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Georgia, was brought by G. Craig Baynham and Linnie Baynham and seeks class-action status, San Francisco-based PMI said. PMI said it received information along with the complaint that several other mortgage insurance companies have been named as defendants in suits with similar allegations recently filed in the same federal court. Mortgage insurance company MGIC Investment Corp. said in a separate statement that a lawsuit had been filed against its Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. unit in the Georgia court. That complaint alleged the unit did not price some agreements with lenders properly in exchange for referral of mortgage business, Milwaukee-based MGIC said. Both companies said they would fight the suits in court.