TAMPA, Fla. — After a nearly two-year legal battle, a Hillsborough County judge ruled against a Florida-based real estate company accused of “swindling consumers out of their home equity,” calling MV Realty’s 40-year Homeowner Benefit Agreements “unconscionable.”
The ruling comes out of a 2022 lawsuit from the Florida Office of the Attorney General, which also accuses the company of “engaging in a complex and deceptive scheme that attempts to skirt existing Florida law.”
Court documents show more than 9,000 Florida homeowners between 2018 and 2022 found themselves stuck in decades-long contracts with MV Realty after accepting anywhere from $300 to $5,000 cash in exchange for exclusive real estate listing rights.
The attorney general’s office says notices of those contracts were recorded in official public records like liens. Additionally, if a homeowner violated their contract, MV Realty would sue for three percent of the home’s value.
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“I never knew that there was a company that could hold you hostage, because that's what they did,” Celine Davidson told 10 Investigates prior to the ruling. “They held me hostage to where I could only do business with them.”
According to presiding Judge Darren Farfante’s September ruling, MV Realty made more than $18.4 million in early termination fees from consumers. He said that made up 41 percent of MV Realty’s total revenue.
Judge Farfante also said the company “preyed on homeowners” and “hid, downplayed — or altogether omitted” terms of the agreement and obligation to pay three percent of the property’s value when sold.
During a Tuesday court hearing, MV Realty attorney John Gekas told Judge Farfante he got the ruling wrong.
“As a practicing attorney, it is never a comfortable position to be in when you appear before a court that that you respect and have to state that a mistake has been made,” he said. “But that’s exactly the position I find myself in this morning, your honor.”
The attorney general’s office is seeking restitution for homeowners in the form of financial payments and also wants the court to order MV Realty to remove recordings of the Homeowner Benefit Agreement from official public records so homeowners’ titles are clear.
The court is expected to soon decide what penalties MV Realty will face.
This comes as California's attorney general celebrates a preliminary injunction against MV Realty requiring MV Realty to remove current liens and to stop recording new ones. At least nine attorneys general have files suit against MV Realty and its business practices.
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. Like her on Facebook and follow her onX. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com