FCC: Embattled realty company MV Realty used robocalls to target homeowners

ORLANDO, Fla. — The FCC announced Tuesday that its Robocall Response Team has taken actions to shut down MV Realty’s alleged robocall scam.

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The FCC is the latest government agency to take on MV Realty amid Action 9′s investigation into the company’s deals.

The company would offer homeowners fast cash in exchange for the exclusive rights to sell their homes for 40 years.

Many homeowners said they didn’t know what they were committing to, and when they broke the deal, the company took legal action in many cases.

Read: Senators want consumer protection agencies to investigate exclusive real estate listing agreements

Now, the FCC says it’s ordering companies to make sure robocalls from MV Realty don’t make it to consumers.

The agency said MV Realty used at least two telecommunications companies to “flood homeowners with robocalls with misleading claims about mortgages.”

The FCC ordered phone companies to mitigate illegal calls from the platform PhoneBurner, which MV Realty uses for its robocalls.

Read: Attorney General takes action against real estate company Action 9 first investigated last year

The agency also demanded that the service provider Twilio stop carrying the illegal calls from PhoneBurner. Twilio is the largest voice service provider to receive a cease-and-desist letter from the FCC, the agency said.

MV Reality used misleading robocalls to “scam” and “swindle” residents into mortgaging their homes in exchange for cash, according to lawsuits from the attorney generals of Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Action 9 and Channel 9′s sister stations have been following the investigations into MV Realty for months.

Read: ‘I felt trapped’: Home-selling offer left families nationwide facing legal troubles

“Mortgage scams are some of the most pernicious types of robocalls we see,” FCC Chairwomen Jessica Rosenworcel said. “Sending these junk calls to financially-stressed homeowners just to offer them deceptive products and services is unconscionable. That’s why we are shutting down these calls right now.”

The FCC said it received around 1,500 complaints in 2022 about unwanted calls from robocalls, telemarketing and spoofers.

Callers prey on people’s fear and anxiety, using real news or public policy to gain trust and seem legitimate.

The FCC advises people who receive suspicious calls to:

1. Not answer from an unknown number.

2. Be aware that calls can appear to be from a local number even if they are a scam.

3. Do not provide personal or financial information to unknown callers.

4. Know that legitimate callers will not normally use pressure tactics or demand a payment.

5. Only contact your bank using the contact info from their website, or bill.

6. Talk to friends and family who may be targets about how to protect themselves.

7. File a complaint with the FCC at www.fcc.gov/complaints.

8. Contact law enforcement if you have been involved in a scam.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau has been targeting robocall scammers with their new actions since 2022, according the FCC. They have stopped a common auto warranty and student loan debt relief robocall scam, which resulted in a 99 percent drop in those types of scam calls, according to RoboKiller. The bureau also proposed a nearly $300 million fine against the auto warranty scammers.

The FCC has also sent cease-and-desist letters to phone companies regarding robocallers and will continue to monitor their efforts, they said.

Channel 9′s sister stations KIRO and WHIO contributed to this report.

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