A Florida-based company is permanently prohibited from conducting business in Georgia after a court order secured by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
MV Realty is barred from doing business or collecting any additional money from Georgia consumers. As part of the order, MV Realty has paid $1 million toward consumer restitution. According to the Attorney General’s Office, this represents the largest up-front restitution payment received by any state that has settled with MV Realty to date, bringing the total savings for Georgia homeowners to $25.6 million.
The Consent Judgment stems from a lawsuit filed by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office in January 2024 and provides relief to more than 3,300 homeowners who entered into contracts with the Florida-based real estate brokerage company. Approximately 1,000 of those consumers are age 60 or older, and more than 400 Georgians paid MV Realty’s early termination fee. Those consumers will be eligible to receive payments from the restitution fund, which will be administered by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division. The division said affected consumers have already been identified and will be contacted directly.
In a statement, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office said MV Realty exploited homeowners who were already facing financial challenges by using deceptive practices that put their home equity and life savings at risk. The office said the outcome returns money to affected consumers while sending a clear message that predatory business practices will not be tolerated in Georgia.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, MV Realty marketed its “Homeowner Benefit Program” through websites, social media, and telemarketing, advertising it as a way for homeowners to receive cash without borrowing money. Consumers were offered a small upfront payment in exchange for agreeing to use MV Realty’s services in the future.
The Attorney General’s Office alleged the company failed to clearly disclose that participants were entering into a 40-year agreement that required them—or their heirs—to pay at least 3 percent of the home’s value if the property was sold without using MV Realty as the listing agent, transferred to another person, or entered foreclosure before the agreement expired.
More than 3,300 Georgia homeowners signed Homeowner Benefit Agreements, and MV Realty recorded memorandums in county real estate records tied to those agreements. According to the Attorney General’s Office, those memorandums effectively acted as clouds on property titles, interfering with homeowners’ ability to sell, refinance, or obtain reverse mortgages. As part of the litigation, all of those memorandums have now been terminated.
MV Realty customers with questions about how the Consent Judgment affects them are encouraged to review the Attorney General’s Office’s frequently asked questions and contact the Consumer Protection Division for additional assistance.
The Attorney General’s Office also noted that the Georgia General Assembly enacted legislation, effective Jan. 1, 2024, establishing new prohibitions and requirements governing unsolicited real estate brokerage solicitations in an effort to prevent similar practices in the future.
