Press Release  AG Campbell Reaches $2.25 Million Settlement with MV Realty Over Deceptive Business Practices and Predatory Mortgage Agreements

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced a $2.25 million settlement agreement with MV Realty of Massachusetts, LLC -- the Massachusetts subsidiary of Florida-based financial company, MV Realty, as well as the company’s CEO Antony Mitchell and COO David Manchester. The settlement resolves allegations that the company deceptively presented itself as a real estate brokerage, while it aggressively marketed a deceptive loan product to financially struggling homeowners in Massachusetts. 

Under the terms of the agreement, MV Realty and its CEO will pay $2.25 million to the Commonwealth, with $1.85 million suspended, contingent upon the defendants’ compliance with the agreement. The agreement will also prevent MV Realty from enforcing its agreements with consumers and require the final release of its deceptively obtained mortgages, saving Massachusetts residents at least an additional $7 million.

“For most Massachusetts residents, a home is their most valuable asset and an enduring symbol of the American Dream. MV Realty knowingly used malicious marketing practices to take advantage of hundreds of cash-strapped homeowners across Massachusetts, stripping home equity from buyers and owners,” said AG Campbell. “While this settlement agreement cannot undo all the harms caused by MV Realty, it will provide meaningful relief for impacted homeowners and hopefully help them regain a sense of stability.” 

The settlement agreement stems from a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in December 2022, alleging that, through unfair and deceptive marketing and sales tactics, MV Realty concealed the true terms of its contracts, which effectively function as loans and encumber homes through recorded mortgages. MV Realty sold a product called a “Homeowner Benefit Agreement” that offers small dollar cash payments, typically less than $1,500, in exchange for a 40-year exclusive right for MV Realty to act as the listing brokerage when the homeowner decides to sell. The contract also requires the homeowner to pay MV Realty on virtually any other transfer of the home like a death or foreclosure.  

The AGO also alleged that MV Realty targeted consumers searching for information on small loans or public benefits with advertisements that falsely implied that its product was a government program, promotion, or giveaway. The company also targeted vulnerable consumers using search terms like “government home improvement grant” and “help for seniors with home repairs.” Its advertising included phrases like “Remember, because it’s not a loan, there is NO repayment” and “you NEVER repay these funds.” 

According to the AGO’s allegations, once MV Realty obtained a lead, salespeople would harass homeowners with a barrage of phone calls, texts and emails to secure a deal. Salespeople for MV Realty took numerous steps to ensure homeowners did not read through or understand the contracts, including not providing documents in advance for consumers to read, printing documents in size 8.5-point font, not leaving copies after consumers signed the contract and sending mobile notaries who knew nothing about the product to rush homeowners to sign.  

The AGO also alleges that, as a result of these practices, MV Realty customers were unaware of the core terms of the transaction and were unknowingly saddled with a mortgage on their home, tying up what was most likely their most valuable asset, restricting their ability to refinance and preventing them from selling without paying a tenfold penalty to MV Realty.

In March 2023, AG Campbell secured a preliminary injunction, preventing MV Realty from engaging in unfair and deceptive marketing practices, prohibiting the company from obtaining or recording additional mortgages, and requiring the release of existing mortgages. As outlined in the terms of the agreement, once approved by the Court, the terms of the injunction will become permanent. 

This case is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Eric Carnevale, Alda Chan and Daniel Bahls, Senior Trial Counsel Peter Downing, and Paralegals Chiara McNally, Aidan Goldberg, and Sarah Most, all from the AG’s Consumer Protection Division, with assistance from Director Marlee Leo and Investigator Melissa Herriford of the AGO’s Civil Investigations Division.  

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