TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County court records suggest a South Florida real estate company has tried to collect thousands of dollars in fees despite a judge’s September order against the company.
An email chain filed in court by the Florida Office of the Attorney General details MV Realty’s attempt to collect more than $9,000 in early termination fees from a Cape Coral resident just days after Judge Darren Farfante’s order called the company’s controversial 40-year contracts “unconscionable and thereby unenforceable.”
In 2022, Attorney General Ashley Moody filed suit against MV Realty, accusing the company of “engaging in a complex and deceptive scheme that attempts to skirt existing Florida law with the goal of swindling consumers out of their home equity.”
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Through its Homeowner Benefit Program, MV Realty pays homeowners up to a few thousand dollars in cash if they sign over exclusive listing rights. The contracts are recorded in government records and can cloud titles and operate like liens, the attorney general’s office says.
The agreements also last 40 years. MV Realty sues homeowners for 3 percent of the home’s value if they break the contract.
After multiple hearings and homeowner testimonies, Judge Darren Farfante ruled last month against MV Realty, saying in the order that the Homeowner Benefit Program, HBA, and memoranda are unconscionable “as a matter of law.”
“Defendants hid, downplayed—or altogether omitted—the burdensome terms that made the HBA a virtually inescapable obligation to ultimately pay MV Realty at least 3% of the property’s value knowing homeowners would be ‘held over a barrel’ at closing,” the order reads.
RELATED: Hillsborough County judge rules against MV Realty, calls 40-year contracts ‘unconscionable’
In a subsequent hearing, an attorney for MV Realty said he believed the judge made a mistake on the ruling. Another attorney for the company has previously said that while people might not like the consequences of the contract, it doesn’t make them invalid.
MV Realty has asked the courts for reconsideration of the order. The next hearing for the case is in November.
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. Like her on Facebook and follow her on X. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com