A prominent Maryland real estate team and its affiliates face a class action lawsuit in Baltimore County, alleging that they participated in a kickback scheme in 2024 affecting more than 100 homebuyers and borrowers.

Joshua and Jacqueline Kladifko, of Randallstown, and Shawn Gaines, of Gambrills, filed the suit in Baltimore County Circuit Court against The Bob and Ronna Group, Bay Capital Mortgage Corp. and Elite Home Title LLC, as well as several executives for the businesses.

The plaintiffs claim that the three businesses based in Ellicott City and Annapolis violated the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, also known as RESPA, which aims to protect consumers by requiring certain cost disclosures and prohibiting kickbacks in real estate transactions. RESPA complaints carry a one-year statute of limitations.

The suit takes aim at one of the top real estate duos in Maryland. The Bob and Ronna Group’s website boasts that the Ellicott City-based firm has handled billions in sales since it was founded in 2002 and consistently ranks in the top 1% of Realtors nationwide.

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The complaint describes a kickback scheme in which The Bob and Ronna Group allegedly received several thousand dollars each month solely to assign and refer clients to Bay Capital for residential mortgage loans and to Elite Home Title for title and settlement services.

Bay Capital and Elite Home Title earned service fees while The Bob and Ronna Group used the kickbacks to purchase leads from Zillow’s flex program and to generate leads on consumers in the market to purchase or sell real estate, the suit states.

Attorneys for the defendants say the claims in the suit filed in December against their clients are false. They have since filed a joint motion to dismiss the suit as well as separate requests for summary judgement.

Bill Sinclair, of Silverman Thompson, is representing The Bob and Ronna Group and its founders, Robert Chew and Ronna Corman-Chew in the litigation. Sinclair said in a statement that the plaintiffs failed to allege that they or anyone else had been harmed in the matter.

“For this and other reasons, we have asked the court to dismiss the matter with prejudice and sanction the plaintiffs and/or their attorneys for filing this lawsuit in the first place,” Sinclair said.

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The attorney for Ellicott City-based Elite Home Title, Brian Moffett of Miles and Stockbridge, called the allegations “demonstrably false” in an email.

G. Russell Donaldson, who represents Annapolis-based Bay Capital Mortgage and its vice president, Daniel Gough, referred to the lawsuit as “baseless” and also said it fails to allege anyone was harmed by the overcharges.

“Federal courts in Maryland have tossed out similar cases in which no harm is alleged, and we have asked the Maryland state court to toss this case out, too,” Donaldson said.

According to the suit, The Bob and Ronna Group allegedly tracked the kickback arrangement with its software. Sales staff who received leads were required to refer home purchasers to Elite Home Title and Bay Capital — even if the purchaser was already working with another lender, the suit states.

Leads were withheld from sales staff who did not comply with the referral arrangement, according to the suit.

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That was the case for the Kladifkos, who said in the suit that a salesperson for The Bob and Ronna Group convinced them around March 2024 to obtain pre-approval for a home loan through Bay Capital instead of their preferred lender, Veterans United Home Loans. Then they were instructed to use Elite Home Title for title and settlement services, the suit states.

The other plaintiff, Gaines, was already working with Veterans United to obtain a loan to finance a purchase, but said a salesperson with The Bob and Ronna Group ignored his request and instead referred Gaines purchase to Bay Capital, and later Elite Home Title, according to the suit.

The complaint goes on to say The Bob and Ronna Group never disclosed the arrangement with Bay Capital and Elite Home Title to buyers. And, the suit states, the real estate group did not disclose that it had an ownership interest in Elite Home Title.

The Chews have denied in legal filings that they ever held an interest in Elite.