COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Litigation

The Company is involved in claims, legal proceedings, alternative dispute resolution and governmental inquiries related to alleged contract disputes, business practices, intellectual property and other commercial, employment, regulatory and tax matters. Examples of such matters include but are not limited to allegations:


•	that the Company is vicariously liable for the acts of franchisees under theories of actual or apparent agency;


•	by current or former franchisees that franchise agreements were breached including improper terminations;


•	concerning claims for alleged RESPA or state real estate law violations including but not limited to claims challenging the validity of sales agent indemnification, and administrative fees;

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that residential real estate sales agents engaged by NRT—under certain state or federal laws—are potentially employees instead of independent contractors, and they or regulators therefore may bring claims against NRT for breach of contract, wage and hour classification claims, wrongful discharge, unemployment and workers' compensation and could seek benefits, back wages, overtime, indemnification, penalties related to classification practices and expense reimbursement available to employees;


•	concerning other employment law matters, including wage and hour claims;


•	concerning claims generally against the company owned brokerage operations for negligence, misrepresentation or breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the performance of real estate brokerage or other professional services as well as other brokerage claims associated with listing information and property history;


•	related to copyright law, including infringement actions alleging improper use of copyrighted photographs on websites or in marketing materials without consent of the copyright holder;


•	concerning claims generally against the title company contending that, as the escrow company, the company knew or should have known that a transaction was fraudulent or concerning other title defects or settlement errors;


•	concerning information security and cyber-crime, including claims related to the diversion of homesale transaction closing funds and/or the protection of the privacy and personally identifiable information of our customers and employees;


•	concerning anti-trust and anti-competition matters; and


•	those related to general fraud claims.

Real Estate Business Litigation

Dodge, et al. v. PHH Corporation, et al., formerly captioned Strader, et al. and Hall v. PHH Corporation, et al. (U.S. District Court for the Central District of California). This is a purported class action brought by four California residents against 15 defendants, including Realogy and certain of its subsidiaries, PHH Corporation and PHH Home Loans, LLC (a joint venture between Realogy and PHH), alleging violations of Section 8(a) of RESPA. On May 19, 2017, the parties held a mediation session, at which they agreed in principle to a settlement of the action, pursuant to which the Company would pay approximately $8 million (or one-half of the settlement). In settling the matter, the Company specifically denied any wrongdoing with respect to the claims asserted in the case. As a result of the settlement, the Company accrued $8 million in the second quarter of 2017 and the liability is included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. On January 29, 2018, the Court issued an order granting preliminary approval of the settlement, directed class notices to be sent by February 2018 and set the hearing on final approval of the settlement for August 16, 2018. Class notices were sent in February 2018.

The Company is involved in certain other claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of our business. Such litigation, regulatory actions and other proceedings may include, but are not limited to, actions relating to intellectual property, commercial arrangements, franchising arrangements, actions against our title company alleging it knew or should have known that others were committing mortgage fraud, standard brokerage disputes like the failure to disclose accurate square footage or hidden defects in the property such as mold, vicarious liability based upon conduct of individuals or entities outside of our control, including franchisees and independent sales agents, antitrust and anti-competition claims, general fraud claims, employment law claims, including claims challenging the classification of our sales agents as independent contractors, wage and hour classification claims and claims alleging violations of RESPA or state consumer fraud statutes. While the results of such claims and legal actions cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe based on information currently available to us that the final outcome of current proceedings against the Company will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Cendant Corporate Litigation

Realogy Group (then Realogy Corporation) separated from Cendant on July 31, 2006 (the "Separation"), pursuant to a plan by Cendant (now known as Avis Budget Group, Inc.) to separate into four independent companies—one for each of Cendant's business units—real estate services (Realogy Group), travel distribution services ("Travelport"), hospitality services, including timeshare resorts ("Wyndham Worldwide"), and vehicle rental ("Avis Budget Group"). Pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement dated as of July 27, 2006 among Cendant, Realogy Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Travelport (the "Separation and Distribution Agreement"), each of Realogy Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Travelport have assumed certain contingent and other corporate liabilities (and related costs and expenses), which are primarily related to each of their respective businesses. In addition, Realogy Group has assumed 62.5% and Wyndham Worldwide has assumed 37.5% of certain contingent and other corporate liabilities (and related costs and expenses) of Cendant or its subsidiaries, which are not primarily related to any of the respective businesses of Realogy Group, Wyndham Worldwide, Travelport and/or Cendant’s vehicle rental operations, in each case incurred or allegedly incurred on or prior to the date of the separation of Travelport from Cendant.

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The Company believes that it has adequately accrued for legal matters as appropriate. The Company records litigation accruals for legal matters which are both probable and estimable.

Litigation and other disputes are inherently unpredictable and subject to substantial uncertainties and unfavorable resolutions could occur. In addition, class action lawsuits can be costly to defend and, depending on the class size and claims, could be costly to settle. As such, the Company could incur judgments or enter into settlements of claims with liability that are materially in excess of amounts accrued and these settlements could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in any particular period.

Cendant Corporate Liabilities and Guarantees to Cendant and Affiliates

In 2006, Realogy Group entered into certain guarantee commitments with Cendant (pursuant to the assumption of certain liabilities and the obligation to indemnify Cendant, Wyndham Worldwide and Travelport for such liabilities). These guarantee arrangements primarily relate to certain contingent litigation liabilities, contingent tax liabilities, and other corporate liabilities, of which Realogy Group assumed and is generally responsible for 62.5%.

The due to former parent balance was $18 million at both March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. The due to former parent balance was comprised of the Company’s portion of the following: (i) Cendant’s remaining state and foreign contingent tax liabilities, (ii) accrued interest on contingent tax liabilities, (iii) potential liabilities related to Cendant’s terminated or divested businesses, and (iv) potential liabilities related to the residual portion of accruals for Cendant operations.

Tax Matters

The Company is subject to income taxes in the United States and several foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining the worldwide provision for income taxes and recording related assets and liabilities. In the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. The Company is regularly under audit by tax authorities whereby the outcome of the audits is uncertain. The Company believes there is appropriate support for positions taken on its tax returns. The liabilities that have been recorded represent the best estimates of the probable loss on certain positions and are adequate for all open years based on an assessment of many factors including past experience and interpretations of tax law applied to the facts of each matter. However, the outcomes of tax audits are inherently uncertain.

Escrow and Trust Deposits

As a service to its customers, the Company administers escrow and trust deposits which represent undisbursed amounts received for the settlement of real estate transactions. Deposits at FDIC-insured institutions are insured up to $250 thousand. These escrow and trust deposits totaled $548 million at March 31, 2018 and $469 million at December 31, 2017. These escrow and trust deposits are not assets of the Company and, therefore, are excluded from the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. However, the Company remains contingently liable for the disposition of these deposits.