Answer:
The guidance on Section 8 practices, from HUD in the past and from the CFPB currently, is not particularly helpful. Section 1024.14(b) states, "No person shall give and no person shall accept any fee, kickback or other thing of value pursuant to any agreement or understanding, oral or otherwise, that business incident to or part of a settlement service involving a federally related mortgage loan shall be referred to any party."
When a realtor places bank contact information on a open house flyer the bank is receiving a "thing of value." The question is whether the bank provided any referrals to the realtor.
The other side of the same issue is did the bank pay to obtain "preferred lender" status. If so, the bank provided a fee to the realtor and appears to be receiving referrals in return. That practice might catch the eye of regulators.
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