I-TEAM: Senators want answers from troubled realty company barred from making new Ohio agreements

DAYTON — Some United States senators are now pressuring a troubled real estate company for answers.

In less than two weeks, a new law takes effect in Ohio that’ll make new MV Realty deals illegal across the state, but hundreds of Ohioans who already signed with the company are still bound by their existing deals.

>> REALTED: I-TEAM: State budget language curtails MV Realty’s business practices across Ohio

That’s the reason for a new letter by three U.S. Senate Committee chairmen, including Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.

“I sent that letter based on this station’s investigation and based on some other information we were gathering. It’s clear they’ve violated the law. We wanted to weigh in on it,” Brown told the I-Team’s Lead Investigator John Bedell.

In the letter, the senators wrote that even though the company has temporarily suspended new agreement, it continues to advertise the homeowner benefit program on its website.

Senators add that they’re concerned about homeowners already enrolled and the potential for future harm.

>> I-Team: Troubled real estate company ordered to halt business practices, Ohio AG says

Terrie Farr was looking for help for her flood-damaged home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a spot on my Facebook. And I you know, I thought, ‘Oh, this sounds great.’ You know, $300. They helped me get out of my little hole that I was in,” Farr said.

MV Realty sent her a check for $300 but it wasn’t until she went to close on selling her home in July that she learned about the lien the company put on her property.

“It was saying that it was [the] amount of $8,000, almost $9,000 on this lien for 40 years. And I was devastated because that’s going to my grandchildren,” Farr said.

In a series of News Center 7 I-Team investigations over the last year, we’ve reported on MV Realty and its confusing contracts. They give you quick cash up front, but in exchange, if you sell your home, you have to use one of their agents or pay a penalty of three percent of your home’s value.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: I-TEAM: MV Realty halts entering into new agreements to address ‘concerns’ about contracts

Since our I-Team investigations, six state attorneys general, including Ohio, have sued the company. 16 states, including Ohio, have enacted new legislation targeting the company’s business practices.

“For someone to pretty much play on your weakness at a time that you’re weak, naïve, vulnerable. It was very devastating,” Farr said.

Ohio’s law against MV’s business practices goes into effect next month, on Oct. 3.

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