Multiple States Demand Paybacks From Company That Paid Deed Holders to Use Its Brokerage in the Future

States have come down hard on listing agreements that bind deed holders to one brokerage to sell their homes in the future. 

Now, under a settlement agreement, MV Realty must pay restitution for the harm done to Massachusetts deed holders for contracts that bound customers for 40-year periods. If MV Realty complies with the agreement, it will owe the state $400K. If not, it will owe $2.25 million.

The settlement directs MV Realty to void out the contracts deed holders signed. This means MV Realty must release customers from its liens. These releases will spare the deed holders of Massachusetts from continuing to pay this company. In this aspect, the settlement is worth $7 million or more.

Breach of the Agreement Made Deed Holders Responsible for 10X What They First Got

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced the $2.25 million settlement agreement with MV Realty of Massachusetts LLC (the Massachusetts subsidiary of Florida-based MV Realty), and two of its leaders. The settlement resolves claims that the company aggressively marketed a deceptive loan product to homeowners. 

“MV Realty knowingly used malicious marketing practices,” said the Attorney General. The company exploited cash-strapped homeowners, taking home equity away from home buyers and deed holders.

The Attorney General first sued the company in December 2022, alleging that MV Realty sold agreements that typically paid customers less than $1,500.  In return, for 40 years, the customers would have no right to use the agents of their choice. They would have to let MV Realty act as the brokerage whenever they wanted to sell.

Massachusetts also alleged:

• MV Realty falsely suggested its products were government benefits, such as “help for seniors with home repairs.”

• MV Realty targeted people who searched for “small loans” or “public benefits” online.  The advertising included phrases like “you NEVER repay these funds.”

• The company would harass potential customers by email, phone, and text.

• The company used fine print in order to hide the terms of its contract, and deliberately withheld advance copies and did not leave copies with customers who signed on.

• The company sent out mobile notaries unfamiliar with the product, to rush deed holders into signing agreements.

All this meant customers didn’t understand how their contracts worked. They might not have known that a lien had been placed on their properties. They might not have known the lien would limit their refinancing options. Or that selling their homes without using MV Realty as the broker could make them responsible for a penalty of at least ten times the amount they got in the beginning. MV Realty would also charge fees if the deed was transferred in any way, including foreclosure. 

The Attorney General’s office first filed its case in late 2022. In early 2023, Massachusetts obtained a temporary halt on the deceptive practices, and required MV Realty to release its liens on Massachusetts properties. The settlement makes the halt permanent.

Massachusetts Joins a List of States That Have Acted, Including Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Colorado

In Florida, 9,000+ deed holders signed 40-year listing agreements with MV Realty. A judge called the contracts unconscionable, and they were voided statewide.

Pennsylvania has sued MV Realty as well. Its governor, Josh Shapiro, has called this company’s method “a scam.”

And recently Colorado has reached its own settlement with MV Realty company. The settlement will:

• Bar MV Realty from acting as a real estate broker in Colorado.

• Direct the company to pay $600K in restitution for harm done, so that customers should recoup at least some of their losses.

• Nullify the company’s long-term real estate agreements.

There are about 600 existing agreements with Colorado deed holders. According to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office, voiding them out is worth some $8.4 million.

Steve Staeger of Colorado’s investigative news program Steve On Your Side (for KUSA-TV in Denver) first publicized the issue in 2023. Staeger pointed to the lack of clear explanations from MV Realty. Many deed holders did not know the contract would bind them for 40 years. They didn’t know there’d be a lien on the title, restricting their control over their deeds.

Steve On Your Side interviewed Laura W., who said no one from MV Realty was available to represent her when she wanted to sell. Nevertheless, the company charged her $20K+ after the sale.

Colorado sued the company in 2025. Allegations included deceptive marketing and high-pressure tactics.

Then There’s New Jersey…And a Whole Lot More

MV settled for $2.8 million for violations of New Jersey’s consumer protection laws. New Jersey first filed the civil suit in 2023. The end results? A $1.5 million civil penalty. And a demand for well over a million dollars to repay deed holders who paid fees to get out of the contracts.

New Jersey claimed that MV Realty:

• Stuck struggling deed holders with “unconscionable” contracts to use MV Realty as their future real estate agents in return for small amounts of cash up front.

• Lacked the necessary registration to engage in telemarketing, yet routinely behaved as telemarketers.

• Called people aggressively, ignoring New Jersey’s do-not-call regulations.

• Exploited people who struggled with finances during the pandemic. 

• Advertised upfront payments of between $300 and $5,000 as “more than stimulus,” while slapping long-term liens on their titles.

• Didn’t tell customers that the agreements became high-interest mortgage loans, were binding for 40 years, and that even after the deed holder’s death, the heirs would be bound.

• Acted in violation of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act as well as general advertising rules. 

• Foreclosed on the liens when deed holders listed their homes on the market with some other real estate broker or agent, transferred the deed to a family member, or attempted to get out of the agreement.

More than 1,200 New Jersey residents signed these “benefit agreements” and some have ended up paying tens of thousands of dollars to shake off the liens.

MV Realty and its New Jersey subsidiary has agreed to halt their brokerage business in New Jersey and to release existing customers from the liens and penalties for alleged contract breaches.

More stories of unfair listing contracts are unfolding all the time. And MV Realty has been sued for predatory tactics in a number of other states as well, including Ohio, California, Texas, Michigan, and North Carolina. Gratitude to those who are demanding justice for our heroes: the deed holders.