Real estate company barred from ever offering its services in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A realty company is no longer allowed to offer its services in North Carolina. This is the latest development in a Troubleshooter investigation involving MV Realty.
The legal counsel for the North Carolina Real Estate Commission said the group just ruled to permanently revoke MV Realty's offering of its brokerage services in the Tar Heel state.
The ruling comes after a lengthy two-day hearing where MV Realty fought to keep its presence in the state. During the hearing, an attorney for MV Realty said, "We are here to try to retain the license to engage in vanilla brokerage activities. I hope it is evident there is an intent to comply with the law."
The NC Real Estate Commission heard the case against MV Realty, and Darryl Cook, the broker in charge of MV Realty of North Carolina. The Real Estate Commission alleges MV Realty violated state license laws and rules.
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During the hearing, an investigator with the commission detailed the complaints of customers from MV Realty.
"They wouldn't answer phone calls or emails, had issues with the process that his property was listed it wasn't showing on all the typical websites you'd typically see," said Nick Smith a former investigator with the NC Real Estate Commission.
In 2022, Troubleshooter Diane Wilson first told you about MV Realty and how the company offered the Homeowner Benefit Program.
It's a program in which, in exchange for quick cash, homeowners give the company the exclusive right to sell their home for 40 years. Wilson talked to several homeowners who admitted to signing the agreement but claimed they didn't know it meant that long-term listing on their home. When they sold their home, even though MV Realty didn't have anything to do with selling it, the company still collected thousands due to the agreement signed.
MV Realty stopped offering the Homeowner Benefit Program, and long-term listing agreements are now illegal in the state, but MV Realty wanted to still offer its brokerage services here in the state.
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However, after two days of testimony, the commission ruled against the company and issued permanent revocations for MV Realty and Darryl Cook. According to legal counsel for the Commission, MV Realty has 120 days to wrap up old business in North Carolina but cannot offer any new brokerage services.
When asked how this ruling impacts homeowners who previously signed MV Realty's Homeowner Benefit Program agreements and have the 40-year memorandum attached to their deed, Janet Thoren with the Commission stated, "The Commission's order has no impact on the legality of the memorandums. However, without a broker license, MV Realty cannot perform brokerage services as contemplated under the terms of the memorandums."
MV Realty can appeal this decision. During the hearing, attorneys for MV Realty argued while yes they had complaints from some customers, they had many satisfied customers. Besides this case, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein also has a lawsuit pending against MV Realty.
