10 months ago
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Right-to-list agreement firm MV Realty is no longer allowed to offer brokerage services in North Carolina. The ban was the result of a two-day hearing, during which the embattled real estate firm fought to maintain its ability to conduct business in the state.
In the end, the court agreed with the state’s Real Estate Commission, finding that MV Realty had violated state license laws and rules.
The story was first reported by WTVD Channel 11.
MV Realty first came under fire in the state in March 2023, when it was sued by Attorney General Josh Stein, who claimed the firm was violating state laws “prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices, usurious lending, abusive telephone solicitation practices, and unfair debt collection practices by tricking homeowners into signing oppressive, 40-year real estate agreements.”
Under MV Realty’s Homeowner Benefit Agreement, the homeowner signs over the right to list their home for the next 40 years to MV Realty in exchange for a cash payment ranging from $300 to $5,000. This means that if a homeowner decides to sell their house sometime in the next 40 years, the company is entitled to list the home for a 3% commission, which is separate from the commission earned by the buy-side agent.
If the homeowner breaks the agreement or decides to terminate it early, they must pay the firm 6% of the appraised value of the home.
Since starting the program in August 2020, MV Realty says it has enrolled more than 35,000 homeowners in 33 states and has paid homeowners nearly $40 million.
The firm announced it was pausing its right to list agreement program in late February 2023, after it had been sued by attorneys general in several states beginning with Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in late 2022. In Sept. 2023, MV Realty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the 33 states it operates in.
Despite pausing its right to list agreement program, MV Realty was hoping to continue operating as a traditional brokerage in North Carolina, but the ruling from the Real Estate Commission makes that impossible. The court gave the firm 120 days to wrap up its remaining business in the state.
MV Realty did not return a request for comment.
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