TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s Office of the Attorney General this month filed closing argument court documents after asking a Hillsborough County judge to make MV Realty remove public records that have acted like liens and clouded hundreds of homeowner’s titles across the state.
MV Realty, a South Florida-based company that pays homeowners cash in exchange for exclusive real estate listing rights has been accused of “swindling consumers out of their home equity” in a lawsuit from the attorney general.
10 Investigates has previously reported how homeowners often take the cash not realizing the agreements last 40 years and are recorded on the public record in a way the attorney general says clouds titles like a lien.
RELATED: State lawsuit advances against Florida realty company accused of 'swindling' homeowners with 40-year contracts
If homeowners break the contract, MV Realty sues — often for three percent of the home’s value.
“I’m kind of fearful of what this company can do,” said Gievan Rodriguez, who signed a contract with MV Realty and received $1,200. “They’ve got a powerful…long line of attorneys…”
Rodriguez reached out to 10 Investigates after seeing previous coverage surrounding the attorney general’s lawsuit against the company. He said he hopes there is action before he has to make some tough decisions.
“I’m looking at a potential loss of the home,” he said. “I’m kind of like forced into a game move that’s going to land in their favor.”
RELATED: 'We almost lost our house': 40-year realty contracts tangle 100s of homeowners in court
MV Realty was recently in Hillsborough County Court for a 4-day evidentiary hearing in April where there was testimony about the damaging impacts the company has had on homeowners across the state.
The state made a motion for a temporary injunction against the company and its principals.
“The motion requests that the Court order MV Realty to remove from the public record all of the customer agreements (called the Homeowner Benefit Agreement) that MV has filed on Florida consumers’ residential property,” attorney general spokesperson Kylie Mason said in a statement to 10 Investigates.
In court documents filed in Hillsborough County, MV Realty disputed the attorney general’s arguments.
“Plaintiff’s allegations are not true. They are not true,” MV Realty said in its closing argument. “Plaintiff accuses MV Realty of deceiving consumers into signing the HBA, a substantive and important term of which is MV Realty’s right to file a memorandum in the county records as a public notice of the agreement.”
MV Realty’s closing argument went on to say, “but Plaintiff’s allegations cannot be true because MV Realty repeatedly facilitates its customers' access to equity by cooperating with every request by homeowners to help obtain loans, MV discloses its obligation to do so, and does not charge a termination fee for doing so. To state the obvious, MV Realty cannot be operating a 'scheme' to prevent access to equity for the purpose of unfairly extracting termination fees when it is facilitating access to equity without charging termination fees.”
Vivian Lopez, who first spoke to 10 Investigates last year, testified in court during the 4-day hearing that she had to pay an early termination fee of $14,485.68. "Ms. Lopez ended up losing equity that she planned to use as a down payment on her next house. Instead of being able to buy a new home, she now rents an apartment," court documents say.
RELATED: MV Realty's bankruptcy case delays state effort to remove homeowner liens
MV Realty has already filed for bankruptcy in a South Florida court. There are also several attorneys general across the nation suing the company.
A trial date for this case is expected to be set for later this year in Hillsborough County.
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.