MV Realty, a right to list company, is being criticized by another state’s attorney General. On Tuesday, Josh Stein, North Carolina Attorney General, announced that he was suing MV Realty. He claimed that the firm was violating North Carolina’s laws against unfair and deceptive practice, usurious lending practices, abusive telephone solicitation practices and unfair debt collection practices. The firm had tricked homeowners into signing oppressive, 40 year real estate agreements.
MV Realty has been subject to scrutiny in several states for enrolling clients in its Homeowner Benefit Program. This program offers homeowners $300 to $5,000 in cash in exchange for a loan alternative. It also gives them the exclusive right to sell their home in the next 40-years.
Stein stated in a statement that MV Realty was attempting to prey on vulnerable people to get them into long-term, unfair agreements. “My office will take them to court to get them out of business.”
Stein’s office claims that the Department of Justice received more than 20 complaints regarding the company’s business practices.
Stein is the fifth state attorney General to sue MV Realty. In late 2022 and early 20,23, the firm was sued by attorneys general in Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
A court in Massachusetts granted MV Realty a preliminary injunction in March. This injunction prohibits MV Realty’s marketing practices from being unfair and deceptive, prevents the company from obtaining and recording additional mortgages, and requires that the company release any existing mortgages.
Utah was also the first state to adopt legislation banning the use of right to list agreements. The law, which was passed in March, makes right-to-list agreements non-enforceable, prohibits recording these agreements in property records, creates penalties for agreements of this nature that are recorded in property records, and allows for the removal of existing agreements from the property record and the recovery of damages.
“MV Realty is confident that the Homeowner benefit program fully complies to the law and benefits consumers who receive a cash incentive for choosing MV Realty as their agent. “MV Realty has temporarily paused entering into new agreements.” A spokesperson for MV Realty wrote in an email. “We hope that we can work with policymakers in North Carolina to address concerns, and continue this valuable program for homeowners across the state.”
The company announced in February that it would suspend the signing of new Homeowner Benefit Agreements.