WASHINGTON - A class-action lawsuit is focusing fresh attention on a long-festering consumer issue in real estate: alleged steering of home buyers to affiliated title, settlement and mortgage companies by large realty brokers — sometimes costing consumers hundreds of dollars compared with fees and services offered by non-affiliated competitors.

Two buyers in Minnesota filed suit Feb. 21 against Coldwell Banker Burnet Realty, one of the largest realty firms in the state, charging that it breached its fiduciary duties under state law when it steered the buyers to its own title and settlement affiliate, Burnet Title, despite knowing that the affiliate’s fees were significantly higher than those available from non-affiliated firms.

WASHINGTON - Federal bank regulators, worried about a surge in defaults on high-risk home mortgages, on Friday called on lenders to exercise caution in making subprime loans and closely evaluate borrowers’ ability to repay them.

The proposed guidance issued by the Federal Reserve and the other four federal agencies that regulate banks, thrifts and credit unions, comes in an increasingly troubled market for subprime mortgage loans. Home-mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are spiking, especially for people who took out subprime mortgages — higher-interest loans for those with blemished credit records or low incomes who are considered a higher risk — during the sizzling housing boom that waned in the second half of 2005.