[00:00:39] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
I’m your host, Bob Sullivan.
But we begin our story in the City of Brotherly Love.
[00:01:15] Bob: You’re a retired builder, is that right?
[00:01:17] Timothy Calhoun: That’s correct.
[00:01:19] Bob: Tell me some of the stuff that you worked on.
[00:01:21] Timothy Calhoun: Um, I actually just do complete renovations of houses.
That was my whole career.
[00:01:36] Bob: Do you do everything?
[00:01:38] Timothy Calhoun: Everything.
[00:01:43] Timothy Calhoun: I’m pretty good with a hammer and screwdriver.
[00:01:55] Timothy Calhoun: The one that I’m sitting in right now, my house.
I built this house.
[00:02:06] Timothy Calhoun: I did that.
And it’s going to be standing way after I’m gone.
[00:02:11] Bob: Timothy built the house with his own hands and paid off the house.
But now, the retired builder isn’t quite sure that he still owns the house.
After all, when his mail comes, it often says, “MV Realty” on it.
[00:02:30] Bob: Wow.
[00:02:31] Timothy Calhoun: It spooks me out.
[00:02:32] Bob: I can’t imagine what that’s like.
[00:02:34] Timothy Calhoun: It’s spooky (chuckles).
It’s very spooky.
[00:02:38] Bob: Why does it say, “MV Realty” on Timothy’s mail?
Who or what is MV Realty?
Well that’s the heart of our story.
It starts in the middle of last year.
[00:02:49] Bob: So when was the first indication that something was wrong?
[00:02:52] Timothy Calhoun: When City Hall called me.
They called me on the phone and said, you gotta get to City Hall.
So, and they said it was about my mortgage.
And I, I’m like, I don’t have a mortgage.
This house is paid off.
And the lady when, when she told me I’m not the only one.
She didn’t get into how many other people have been notified just like me.
But she said I’m not the only one.
[00:03:20] Bob: So she knew something was wrong.
[00:03:22] Timothy Calhoun: She knew something was wrong.
They said, you know, “Somebody’s attached to your mortgage.
Go get a lawyer.”
So I knew it was a real problem.
[00:03:30] Bob: Timothy follows that advice right away.
I got with Kerry Smith.
[00:03:54] Kerry Smith: I’m an attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, CLS.
And CLS provides free civil legal services to low-income Philadelphians on a range of matters.
[00:04:26] Bob: So, how long have you been there?
[00:04:28] Kerry Smith: I’ve been at CLS for 17 years.
That whole time in our Homeownership and Consumer Rights unit.
At first, she has no idea what’s happening.
They thought someone was trying to steal the title to their home.
And Timothy explains to Kerry the first time he heard that name, as he later explained to me.
[00:05:34] Timothy Calhoun: Well this has been going on two years now.
“Free money, and you allow us to maybe sell for your house in the future.
[00:06:19] Bob: It’s a story Kerry has heard already.
And it’s a super-fast process.
[00:07:50] Bob: And that’s essentially what happened to Timothy.
How did that work?
[00:08:07] Bob: Hmm.
[00:08:18] Timothy Calhoun: No, it didn’t take nowhere near none of that.
It was probably 4 or 5 days at the most.
He’s going out the door.
[00:08:36] Bob: The homeowners, like Timothy, do receive the cash.
In his case, $640.
But then they get what Kerry alleges is a big surprise.
And any money that is due under that agreement is secured by a mortgage on their home.
And that’s how Timothy found himself at City Hall that day connecting with others in the same fix.
[00:11:02] Bob: Until he paid $6000.
[00:11:04] Timothy Calhoun: Until he pays $6000.
And I said, I figured 6000 is their lucky number, they like that number.
What they do is, any move that you make with your property, they’re entitled to.
So if I was to refinance, they would take 6000 off the top.
[00:11:22] Bob: Hmm.
He says he thought the contract bound him to MV Realty for a much shorter time span.
[00:11:38] Bob: But let me, let me just go back over a few things.
So that, that makes sense to you, right?
[00:11:55] Timothy Calhoun: It made sense to me.
[00:12:02] Timothy Calhoun: That’s, that’s correct.
I wouldn’t get in bed with them for 40 years.
Who would do that?
(chuckle) Knowingly, you know what I’m saying?
Who would knowingly get in bed with these people for 40 years?
Somebody you met over the internet.
Now we’re going to be in business for 40 years together?
[00:12:35] Bob: Happy birthday.
[00:12:36] Felicia Pierce: Thank you.
[00:12:37] Bob: You were a retired collections office manager, is that right?
[00:12:40] Felicia Pierce: That’s correct.
[00:12:42] Bob: Well tell, tell me what that job entails.
[00:13:15] Bob: She is very proud of the home she purchased many, many years ago.
[00:13:19] Bob: When did you move into the house?
[00:13:21] Felicia Pierce: ‘98 or ‘99.
I think it may be like 25 years.
Now my kids don’t even want the house.
So I need to just sell the house.
[00:13:49] Bob: And now she has a more pressing need to sell her home.
So I had to sleep on my couch for a whole month.
But, she doesn’t have the cash.
That’s when she hears about MV Realty.
They don’t give you that, there’s no money in there for repairs for your house.
It was going up and down the steps was hurting me so bad.
[00:15:26] Bob: So she reaches out to MV Realty, and they respond immediately.
An agent there gets an agreement ready that day.
[00:15:34] Felicia Pierce: She sent the people out the next day.
And she, she sent that to my bank account through Zelle; everything was quick.
It was, it was very quick.
But it, it was so scary, I called my bank to see to it.
I still had the banker system that I had in that I owned that house.
That’s how scary it was.
She doesn’t like the agent and she doesn’t agree with the agent’s advice.
And that’s when there’s a big surprise, she claims.
They have you locked in.”
Nowhere in that contract did I ever see 40-year contract.
I would have never agreed to that for $465.
I could have borrowed that, a loan or a credit card to do it.
[00:17:55] Bob: Well, where are you staying right now?
I was blessed to be able to come over here with her, but this is her house.
I still want my own.
The people at City Hall’s Department of Public Records have heard these complaints too.
[00:19:12] Bob: 500 MV Realty mortgages?
Just in the city of Philadelphia?
Officials there say at least 1,000 mortgages have been recorded against properties all around Pennsylvania.
And, it’s not just Pennsylvania.
[00:20:00] Bob: That’s Elizabeth Blosser from the American Land Title Association.
Her organization became very concerned very quickly about these agreements.
[00:21:08] Elizabeth Blosser: So these types of agreements are recorded as different things in different states.
So in some states they have been recorded as an actual mortgage.
But Pennsylvania Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, doesn’t wait.
In December, he announces he’s suing MV Realty for allegedly misleading consumers.
The lawsuit demands that the agreements be nullified.
But MV Realty says what it’s doing is perfectly legal.
So what happens to Tim and Felicia’s homes?
To the other homeowners in contracts with MV Realty?
What are state lawmakers around the country racing to do in response?
And what is MV Realty doing in response?
Just who is MV Realty anyway, and what is the company’s connection to a reality TV star?
Well that’s all next week on The Perfect Scam.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch web connection Helpline at 877-908-3360.
Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
