Nevada Consumer Affairs has launched a formal investigation into Florida-based MV Realty after a Las Vegas Review-Journal investigation into the company found approximately 800 people in the state may have been duped into signing 40-year agreements to use the company as the listing agent for their homes.
With the promise of an upfront payment of a few thousand dollars, the bureau is alleging MV Realty entices homeowners to sign a contract that’s really a 40-year agreement to use the company as the listing agency for their home. Homeowners are then forced to pay to cancel the contract and have it removed from the title, which usually costs around 3 percent of the home’s value.
The practice was outlawed in Nevada in 2023, but the law failed to void existing agreements. MV Realty couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Nevada Department of Business and Industry Director Kristopher Sanchez, in conjunction with Nevada Consumer Affairs, recently announced an active investigation into MV Realty PBC, LLC, MV Realty of Nevada, LLC, and certain affiliated entities for alleged deceptive trade practices.
Sanchez said in an email response to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the paper’s investigation into the alleged scam was what spurred them to take action.
“After reading the Review-Journal’s reporting last fall, I asked the Nevada Consumer Affairs Commissioner to review the allegations to determine whether the actions of MV Realty constitute a deceptive trade practice under Nevada law,” he said. “If homeowners were misled or harmed, we want to make sure those concerns are fully investigated and that consumers are aware that there is an office that can assist them.”
Terry Arnold, one of the people allegedly tricked by the scam, said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she feels “duped” and the whole experience has been a incredibly stressful situation since she found out last year.
“I feel like a prisoner in my own home. It’s been a financial nightmare. My credit score has gone down,” she said in a previous interview. “I’m not trying to sell my house. I’m just trying to get a business loan. My frustration level is through the roof, so I would like to bring attention to this company and their tactics. And my goal is to reach those 800 people so they don’t have to go through this nightmare like I have to.”
Nevada Consumer Affairs conducted a preliminary review, according to a news release about the investigation, and said they have reason to believe MV Realty promoted what is called a “Homeowner Benefit Program” through internet and telephone solicitations. Under the program, homeowners were offered cash, sometimes through a local real estate agent connection, somewhere between $500 and $1,500, in exchange for allowing an agent with the Florida-based company to conduct a “market analysis” of their home.
“According to NCA, many homeowners were not adequately informed that participation in the program required them to sign a 40-year exclusive real estate listing agreement,” read the news release. “After obtaining homeowners’ signatures, MV Realty allegedly recorded 40-year liens against the homeowners’ properties, often without their knowledge. Homeowners frequently discover these liens only when attempting to sell their home, refinance, or borrow against their home’s equity. In many cases, homeowners were told the lien could be removed only by paying MV Realty three percent of the home’s value.”
Nevada Consumer Affairs is alleging MV Realty used “deception to procure homeowners’ signatures on the exclusive listing agreements and failed to disclose that the agreements, or memoranda of those agreements, would be recorded as long-term liens against the property.”
Back in 2023, a law was enacted which prohibits so-called “non-title recorded agreements for personal services” (NTRAPS) with terms more than a single year. While this statute applies prospectively to agreements that are entered into after June of 2023, NCA said they believe relief may be available to homeowners in the state who entered into these agreements prior to that date under Nevada’s deceptive trade practices laws.
Multiple states have taken action against MV Realty and its affiliated companies, achieving the termination of thousands of agreements and liens on houses, along with the payment of millions in penalties and restitution in places such as Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Oregon.
Nevada Consumer Affairs is urging impacted homeowners to come forward and homeowners who believe they signed an agreement with MV Realty or who have discovered a lien related to the Homeowner Benefit Program are encouraged to visit NCA’s website (www.consumeraffairs.nv.gov) to learn more and file a complaint online, or to contact them by telephone (1-844-594-7275). Even homeowners who have already paid to have the lien released are encouraged to reach out they said, as their information may assist the investigation.
Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at [email protected].
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