The US DOJ has filed a suit against two big real-estate brokerage firms, accusing them of receiving illegal kickbacks for steering home sellers to a provider of hazard reports.

The suit was filed in federal court for the central district of California and seeks to recover “illegitimate profits” generated by “sham” joint ventures formerly operated by Realogy Corp., the owner of the Coldwell Banker and Century 21 chains; a unit of Prudential Financial Inc., and and Property I.D. Corp. of Los Angeles.

According to media reports, Property I.D. Corp., which provides home sellers with information for their disclosures about such hazards as earthquake and flood risks, improperly funneled payments of $25 per report — a quarter of the fee paid by home sellers — back to the brokers in exchange for their referrals of business.

Commentary: While it is admirable that DOJ wants to root our all illegal arrangements, this really seems like small potatoes compared to appraisal fraud and other potential priorities to focus on. Perhaps they are just using this as an entry point to bigger information and cases. Or perhaps they are wasting time and resources.