In my non-lawyer layman's opinion, if a company is showing on the HUD that a fee for a title search has been paid on the borrower's behalf when in fact said fee has not been paid, the company would be guilty of fraud.

It's not as much a matter of whether or not value has been added as it is collecting a fee and pocketing the money (OUR money) instead of paying for the service.

Regards,
Scott Perry