Lien No Longer, Incentivizing the Long (Transmission #306)

Reaching and converting sellers is an expensive, competitive proposition, with everyone in the industry already spending big dollars against them.

So, why not convert the sellers of tomorrow, today?

That prospect got harder with now that California has “won a legal victory against MV Realty, a company known for its 40-year homeseller contracts,” according to Inman. This injunction means that MV Realty has “to remove liens it has recorded against homes in California, to stop issuing new liens, and to stop enforcing its “homeowner benefit agreements” while litigation plays out.” Paying homeowners upfront for the right to be their transaction broker for four decades is predatory at best and slimy at worst. Especially since exiting these icky contracts requires “a penalty of 3 percent of the home’s value” and not being able to refinance due to a clouded title with a lien. 

Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Ohio are among the other states that have taken legal action against MV Realty. Beyond that, “the Federal Communications Commission also issued a warning to the company…[which] filed for bankruptcy in September 2023.”

Let’s be clear. MV Realty is not only a failed model, but a scam that was rightly outed.

Yet, securing long-term homeowner relationships doesn’t have to be predatory. Rather than place liens and pay them for the right to deliver services decades down the line, offer a value proposition that homeowners benefit from today. It’s all part of the “homeowners-under-management” line of thinking that’s coming to the industry.

BIDDING FOR THE RIGHT