Georgia’s Attorney General is taking legal action against a real estate company that has been accused of locking homeowners into unfair 40-year listing agreements.
Those agreements, called the Homeowner Benefit Program, have been the focus of a series of Channel 2 Action News investigations over the past 3 years.
In a new lawsuit, Chris Carr said those agreements and the penalties MV Realty collects are illegal in Georgia.
The suit alleges that “the Homeowner Benefit Program is a predatory business model.”
Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray’s reporting is cited in the lawsuit.
Gray has learned that MV Realty is still enforcing the listing agreements.
A Georgia homeowner called Gray this week about the lien blocking the sale of her house unless she pays a big penalty.
This lawsuit from Carr alleges those penalties violate the law.
“The complaint is alleging essentially deception here,” said Sarah Mancini from the National Consumer Law Center.
Gray has reported in a series of Channel 2 Action News investigations about MV Realty’s homeowner benefit program. You get a small check now, but a big penalty later – 3% of the value of your house — if you don’t use them to sell your house.