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A beleaguered real estate brokerage has been barred from operating in North Carolina after it became the subject of media and state investigations that found its services amounted to fraud and deception.
According to WTVD Channel 11, a state real estate commission has stripped MV Realty of its ability to conduct business in the state.
The firm violated North Carolina laws and rules around real estate licensing when it offered homeowners in financial distress cash in exchange for the right to list their home for the next 40 years.
Attorney General Josh Stein sued MV Realty last year, accusing the firm of unfair practices.
“We allege that MV Realty is preying on vulnerable people to trick them into unfair, long-term agreements,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “My office is taking them to court to put them out of business.”
Stein said at the time that MV Realty gained 2,100 customers in North Carolina since opening up shop in the state in 2020, and 32,000 nationwide.
He said the company targeted homeowners who were in financial distress but didn’t tell them they would be locked into exclusive 40-year listing agreements that Stein said could survive their deaths.
The company enforced its agreements by placing liens on its customers’ properties, Stein said, “even though it claims in its advertising that it doesn’t place liens.”
Stein’s lawsuit sought a permanent injunction barring MV Realty from operating in the state, plus monetary damages.
A judge overseeing the case issued a temporary injunction before the real estate commission permanently revoked MV Realty’s ability to do business in the state.
After an investigative report by WTVD Channel 11, legislators also enacted a law that bars exclusive listing agreements from being longer than one year.
