MV Realty banned in several states following $1M settlement; How are Ohioans impacted?

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By Steve Mehaffie, WHIO.com and John Bedell

There are new developments involving a real estate company accused of trapping customers into decades-long contracts.

Georgia’s attorney general said hundreds of homeowners will be getting money back because the state won a million-dollar settlement against MV Realty.

The state of Georgia sued MV Realty after our years-long News Center 7 I-Team investigation into the company’s confusing contracts.

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The I-Team’s John Bedell dug into what Ohio has already done and the future of MV Realty in the state.

Shawn Cunroy, Communications Coordinator for Georgia’s Attorney General’s Office, said, “Do business in Georgia and do it fairly.”

MV Realty can no longer do business in the state of Georgia.

“Consumers were approached with an offer that was deceptive,” Cunroy said.

That’s why the Florida-based company was ordered to pay the state of Georgia $1 million in consumer restitution.

“This is cash in the bank. And so, we’re very pleased with the result of this suit that AG Carr filed in 2024,” Cunroy said. He said MV Realty marketed its Homeowner Benefit Program as an easy way to get cash without taking out a loan.

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In a series of News Center 7 I-Team investigations since 2022, we’ve reported on MV Realty and its confusing contracts. Their program gives consumers quick cash up front.

In exchange, if you sell your home, you must use one of their agents or pay a penalty of 3% of the value of your home. And, the length of the deal is 40 years, secured with a lien on the property.

Homeowners across the country, such as Julia Henry, told the I-Team they had no idea what they were signing up for. She said she thought she’d signed up for a grant to get $500 for home improvements.

“She said, sign right there. Sign right there, sign there. And I just kept signing. She didn’t tell me this is what you’re signing for,” Henry said.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr sued the Florida-based brokerage in January 2024, accusing it of deceptive and unfair business practices. Under a new consent judgment, MV Realty is permanently banned from doing business in Georgia.

Following our I-Team investigations, at least 12 state attorneys general, including Ohio, have sued MV Realty over its business practices.

And at least 32 states, again including Ohio, have passed new laws to ban or limit the company’s operations.

In 2023, Ohio lawmakers put language in the state’s two-year budget making new MV Realty contracts illegal. Then, in February, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office settled its lawsuit against MV Realty.

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It opened a 90-day window for hundreds of Ohio homeowners to cancel the decades-long deals they signed with MV Realty.

The only cost, a $75 recording fee to record the paperwork that cancelled the MV contract at their local county recorder’s office.

“Consumers do not need to reach out to the state. There is not a form to fill out. We have identified the consumers that will receive restitution, and we will be contacting them,” Cunroy said.

“They done stole a lot of people’s houses probably, because ain’t nobody doing nothing about it. They just out there doing what they want to do,” Henry said.

The Georgia settlement also eliminates the liens MV Realty filed on homeowners’ properties to record their contracts.

Those documents interfered with selling, refinancing, or getting reverse mortgages. Aside from Ohio and Georgia, Massachusetts and Florida have also ordered homeowners to be released from MV Realty contracts.

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