ATLANTA — A new Georgia law just needs the governor’s signature to outlaw a key part of controversial real estate contracts we exposed in a series of Channel 2 Action News investigations.
Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray first reported on the concerns with MV Realty nearly two years ago and has been tracking this ever since.
Now those stories have led to a change in state law.
It took mere minutes to approve on the Senate floor and had already overwhelmingly passed in the House.
With the governor’s signature, a new Georgia law will ban a key part of MV Realty’s 40-year real estate contracts that we’ve been investigating for months now.
“It’s really going to help thousands of vulnerable Georgians in the future,” Atlanta Legal Aid Attorney Dina Franch said.
MV Realty agrees to give you a small check now, but a big penalty later: 3% of the value of your home if you don’t use them to sell your house.
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The soon-to-be Georgia law does not ban the 40-year contracts but does prevent the liens MV uses to enforce them.
Last November, we introduced you to Ira Dorin. MV Realty placed a lien on the sale of his Cobb County home and sued him to block the sale.
“He served me papers right there in front of my kids,” Dorin said. “I had to pay MV Realty over $9,000.”
The new Georgia law will outlaw liens like the one that forced Dorin to pay out thousands of dollars.
Franch told Gray that will make it difficult and expensive for MV Realty to take legal action against homeowners going forward.
“They would actually have to file a lawsuit and argue their case in front of a judge and then be awarded a fee, and I don’t think any judge would do that,” Franch said.
With the help of our sister stations across the country, Channel 2 Action News uncovered this is also happening in multiple other states.
Since our investigation, five state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against MV Realty.
Now, Georgia is one of the very first states in the country to change the law.
“The way you coordinate with your colleagues across the country to tell the stories of people who have been harmed, it seems like the legislators listened to that,” Franch said.
The bill just needs the governor’s signature to become law.
Once in effect, the law will impact future contracts but not current contracts.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr continues to investigate MV Realty.
It would take legal action from his office to help people who have already signed the 40-year deals.
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