JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey last week sued a Florida real estate company that has drawn complaints and lawsuits around the country for what critics call "deceptive" real estate contracts that offer homeowners upfront cash in exchange for thousands of dollars in future brokerage fees.

The lawsuit accuses companies affiliated with MV Realty of using high-pressure sales tactics and deceptive marketing to induce homeowners into signing up for the company's so-called Homeowner Benefit Agreement product. That product offered cash to convince homeowners to sign an agreement pledging to use the company's brokers if they ever sold their house.

The agreement was enforced by a 40-year lien on customer homes and included provisions such as an early termination fee of 3% of the home's value — as determined by MV Realty — that could be triggered if the home was transferred to the owners' heirs.

Nonprofit consumer advocacy law firm Legal Services of Eastern Missouri spent months investigating MV Realty's practices in the region and forwarded many of the complaints to Bailey's office.

"Legal Services applauds the attorney general's office for taking action against this egregious scam," said Rob Swearingen, an attorney with the nonprofit who worked with homeowners targeted by MV Realty. "It's one of the most high-pressure scams I've seen in my 40 years as a consumer rights lawyer."

Homeowners who signed the agreement told the Post-Dispatch in 2022 they were cold-called by MV representatives and did not realize the agreement placed a 40-year lien on their house.

Legal Services "interviewed dozens of people, and every single one of them told us they never heard the word lien," Swearingen said.

The Missouri lawsuit says beginning in 2021, MV Realty convinced 380 people to enter into its agreements in Missouri. Those homeowners received $579 on average in upfront cash and owed an average of $6,673 in brokerage fees if they were to sell their house, according to the lawsuit.

MV Realty made over 42,000 calls to numbers on Missouri's Do Not Call List and used "spoofing" to make the numbers appear to come from state area codes, the attorney general's office said.

The lawsuit seeks $212 million for violations of the state's do-not-call law, the removal of all liens from MV Realty on homes in Missouri and an injunction blocking the company from doing business in the state. It also asks the court to invalidate the contracts and order MV Realty to repay all fees collected from Missouri consumers.

"As Attorney General, I will enforce the laws as written and defend innocent Missourians from being ripped off," Bailey said in a statement. "I'm proud of the work done by our Consumer Protection Unit to obtain justice for victims in this case. The Attorney General's Office will continue to do everything in our power to protect Missourians from deceptive business practices."

Bailey's lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, names as defendants MV Realty companies incorporated in Missouri and the executives of the Florida parent company: director and Chief Sales Officer Amanda Zachman, CEO Antony Mitchell, Senior Vice President Steven Scott and Chief Operating Officer David Manchester.

The Missouri attorney general's legal action is one of at least seven lawsuits from other state attorneys general against MV Realty. Members of Congress have also asked regulators to look into the company.

MV Realty and its affiliated companies last year filed for bankruptcy protection, potentially complicating efforts to recover any money from the company.

A spokesperson for MV Realty did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. MV Realty told the Post-Dispatch in December 2022 that "new and innovative business models ... can sometimes draw questions from critics or outright hostility from those whose existing business model is threatened." It denied engaging in deceptive business practices.

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