Florida-based real estate firm MV Realty sees a potential new legal challenge even after settling another of the numerous lawsuits that accuse it of predatory entrapment in regards to its controversial homeowner benefit agreement program. 

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced her office reached an agreement with the firm, issuing a $2.25 million penalty on the company and its CEO for their actions targeting state homeowners. Of the total amount, $1.85 million was suspended contingent upon compliance with the settlement.

In the lawsuit originally filed in 2022, Massachusetts officials claimed the homeowner benefit product sold by MV Realty constituted non-title recorded agreements for personal services, commonly referred to as NTRAPs, with the company offering small cash gifts in exchange for a 40-year binding contract to serve as the property's exclusive broker. Massachusetts was one of several states accusing the company of using unfair and deceptive marketing, including hiding terms in the contract which, unknown to the homeowner, could add MV Realty to the title and cheat homeowners out of their savings.

"MV Realty knowingly used malicious marketing practices to take advantage of hundreds of cash-strapped homeowners across Massachusetts, stripping home equity from buyers and owners," Campbell said in a press release. 

Charges were first brought by Campbell's predecessor Maura Healy, who now serves as the state's governor. Charged alongside MV Realty were CEO Antony Mitchell and chief operating officer David Manchester.

"While this settlement agreement cannot undo all the harms caused by MV Realty, it will provide meaningful relief for impacted homeowners and hopefully help them regain a sense of stability," said Campbell.

Settlement terms also eliminate MV Realty's rights to enforce previously signed homeowner benefit contracts and require the company to release mortgages it had obtained through them, saving state residents at least $7 million, the attorney general said. 

NTRAPs, which have drawn the ire of the title industry, typically target older homeowners, and  Massachusetts claimed MV Realty falsely implied its product was a government program, promotion or giveaway. After obtaining leads, its sales team would "harass" homeowners with calls, texts and emails and made efforts to ensure that clients did not read the contracts thoroughly, according to state officials. 

In late 2025, MV Realty agreed to resolve similar cases in Idaho and New Jersey. National Mortgage News reached out to the real estate firm's email set up for legal inquiries but did not receive a response prior to publication. 

Both the American Land Title Association and AARP are leading efforts to enact NTRAP bans, which currently are in force in 33 states. New York was the most recent to join the list after formalizing the rules in its books last December. 

A potential Nevada lawsuit in sight

The Massachusetts development comes just weeks after the close of a Nevada investigation into MV Realty that could land the real estate firm into more legal hot water.

Following media reports about the company's practices, the state's department of business and industry along with affiliate Nevada Consumer Affairs began its probe in late 2025. After hearing from dozens of homeowners and securing copies of recorded documents over ensuing months, the department decided to send the matter to the Nevada attorney general.

A formal referral to the attorney general's office "is the appropriate next step for enforcement and potential legal action," the department and NCA said in a statement in late February. 

While Nevada enacted an NTRAP ban in 2023, the law did not nullify previous MV Realty agreements signed by homeowners.

MV Realty also resolved the Massachusetts settlement just weeks after suffering a legal setback in North Carolina. A summary judgment permanently voided homeowner benefit agreements belonging to the company and barred their enforcement in the Tar Heel State, which signed its own NTRAPs ban in 2023.