Attorney General Josh Shapiro files lawsuit against Florida-based realty company

HARRISBURG (KDKA) – Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro introduced a lawsuit against a Florida-based actual property brokerage company and its founder for deceptive its clients. 

According to AG Shapiro and the lawsuit, MV Realty and its proprietor Amanda Zachman misled Pennsylvania shoppers with its “Homeowner Benefit Program.” 

The company obtained mortgages on shoppers’ houses with out their information and scammed shoppers with a one-time upfront fee in alternate for a chance the place MV Realty would record the patron’s houses available on the market ought to they promote them any time over the following 40 years. 

Then, when these shoppers tried to withdraw from this system, they discovered themselves vulnerable to penalties to be paid to MV Realty or having a lien positioned on their property. 

“Pennsylvania homeowners are falling victim to MV Realty’s calculated deception in hiding the terms of the Homeowner Benefit Program,” mentioned Attorney General Shapiro. “MV Realty is a scam that exploits Pennsylvanians in vulnerable financial situations, and my office isn’t buying it. My office will protect homeowners’ most important asset – the value of their real estate.”

The company’s phone gross sales pitch advised shoppers that this system got here with no threat as a result of the patron paid nothing to MV Realty except the house was bought. Consumers then signed an settlement that contained phrases that have been vastly completely different from what they have been advised over the telephone. 

Most misleadingly, the contract shoppers would signal gave MV Realty permission to acquire a mortgage on the shoppers’ houses with a purpose to implement the phrases of the contract. 

“MV Realty did not represent themselves fairly in their dealings with my wife and me,” mentioned Thomas Halapin, an MV Realty sufferer simply outdoors of Pittsburgh.

AG Shapiro’s workplace is conscious of round 1,000 mortgages which might be tied to MV Realty and believes there are extra all through Pennsylvania. 

The lawsuit alleges that MV Realty are in violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.