The Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office on Thursday joined California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a lawsuit filed against Florida-based company MV Realty. The company allegedly lured more than 1,500 homeowners into signing contracts, including residents of Santa Barbara and Napa counties, according to the complaint. He entered into a fraudulent 40-year exclusive listing agreement and placed an illegal lien on his home.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court after a joint investigation by the California Department of Justice and the Santa Barbara-Napa District Attorney’s Office, requires MV Realty to pay cash ranging from a few hundred dollars to up to $5,000 to persuade He is said to have proposed. Homeowners must sign a “Homeowner Benefits Agreement,” which the company describes as an informal memorandum in which they agree to work with MV Realty if they decide to sell their home in the future. expressed. But the complaint says the contract was “misrepresented,” unknowingly placing homeowners with illegal liens on their homes and charging illegal fees to anyone who tries to break the contract. It is said that they tied
“MV Realty is a financial predator,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Through one-sided agreements, the company lined its pockets at the expense of California’s vulnerable homeowners and held their most valuable assets hostage. To this day, the company continues to hold homeowners accountable for these They refuse to release us from the agreement. MV Realty’s actions require accountability, which is why we filed the lawsuit.”
This isn’t the first time the company has faced lawsuits or investigations over exclusive listing agreements. MV Realty faces lawsuits in Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, and North Carolina, and multiple courts have ruled against the company for “unlawful liens and other “We ordered them to stop interfering with homeowners’ homes with illegal documents.” ”
MV Realty’s homeowner benefits program increased from 7,778 contracts in 2021 to more than 32,000 contracts in the first eight months of 2022, according to the company’s website. Company founder Amanda Zachman boasted that in 2022, MV Realty will be signing an average of 3,480 new deals each month. Within 12 months he was scheduled to reach 100,000. MV Realty claimed to have more than 500 agents in 33 states and a value of more than $400 million by the end of 2022.
In September 2023, MV Realty filed for bankruptcy after three state senators spoke out against the company and it faced multiple lawsuits.
The California lawsuit alleges the company operated illegally in the state. In fact, according to the complaint, the company does not maintain a distinct place of business in the state, and none of its homeowner benefit agreements were signed by a California broker designated by MV Realty. Instead, they were signed by individuals who were not licensed to practice real estate in California,” making all contracts legally “void and unenforceable.”
Additionally, the company is alleged to have violated other California real estate laws, the state’s Do Not Call Act, and the Truth in Lending Act. The agreement also violates a new law that goes into effect on January 1 that imposes a two-year limit on exclusive listing agreements.
The complaint does not detail how many homeowners in Santa Barbara may have contracted with MV Realty, but court documents say individuals harmed by the company include: Interest, money, and other illegally acquired property will be compensated.
“Homeowners in Santa Barbara County and across the state deserve protection from fraudulent schemes that defraud them of unfair, one-sided, decades-long obligations,” said Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savnock. Stated. “We look forward to working with the California Attorney General’s Office and the Napa County District Attorney’s Office to pursue justice in this case.”