Update on MV Realty

Remember the company that was filing ‘Memorandum of Homeowner Benefit Agreements” to encumber real estate for 40 years? 

After several lawsuits, criminal investigations, and states passing laws banning the practice, MV Realty has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In Georgia, after January 1, 2024, the Memorandums will have no effect on title and can be ignored in a title search. 

It’s not clear what will happen to the existing claims that MV Realty has on thousands of individual homes as a result of the bankruptcy filing. 

A Chapter 11 filing allows a company to continue doing business as it restructures its debts. This does not mean that MV Realty is completely out of the picture, though. 


John C. Bennett is a real estate closing attorney and owner of Origin Title and Escrow, Inc.. Since 2003, Origin Title has handled real estate transactions – purchases, refinances, reverse mortgages – quickly and professionally. There will be no surprises, nothing misunderstood. Title searches are thorough and well-reasoned, to avoid unpleasant surprises later down the road. Calculate your closing costs in Georgia or Florida using our calculator or contact Origin Title using this form.

MV Realty News

Has anyone seen the news about MV Realty and the ‘liens’ they have filed against thousands of homeowners in Georgia?  We have run across these filings on a couple closings in our office. 

MV Realty will contact a homeowner, usually elderly, and pay them $500 to $2,000 in exchange to agree to have MV Realty be the listing real estate agent on the house, if the owner ever sells it.  

What is not made clear to the homeowner is that they are signing a Memorandum of Homeowner Benefit Agreement, which is a document giving MV Realty a ‘covenant running with the land’ for the amount of any commission they may have earned for a term of 40 years. 

MV Realty will then only release their claim for $10,000 or $20,000, depending on what they think they may have earned in commission.  

Lien laws are not supposed to protect someone from getting what they think they may get in the future on a sale. So the Georgia legislature passed a law this year making the Memorandum of Homeowner Benefit Agreement not enforceable as a lien on the property.  The vote in the state senate was 52 to 1. These agreements were so bad, they cut across any political lines.  

Never agree to anything for 40 years. It’s better not to agree to anything unless you have talked to an attorney. If you know a real estate agent with questions about liens and agreements, Origin Title and Escrow can help.


John C. Bennett is a real estate closing attorney and owner of Origin Title and Escrow, Inc.. Since 2003, Origin Title has handled real estate transactions – purchases, refinances, reverse mortgages – quickly and professionally. There will be no surprises, nothing misunderstood. Title searches are thorough and well-reasoned, to avoid unpleasant surprises later down the road. Calculate your closing costs in Georgia or Florida using our calculator or contact Origin Title using this form.

FANS Free Title Monitoring 

Maybe you have seen or heard the commercials for services that charge a monthly fee to monitor real estate records. These monitoring services are expensive and vague as to the solutions they provide if anything is ever found.  

Fulton and Dekalb counties have been offering real estate monitoring services for a few years, but now monitoring has become available in every county, thanks to the Georgia Superior Court Clerk’s Cooperative Authority (“GSCCCA”).

Under their new Georgia Filing Activity Notification System (FANS), an owner may sign up to receive an electronic notification via text or email about filings that match the criteria set by the owner.  The most common criteria would be the person’s name and county.  The service is free and can give homeowners quick notice of any fraudulent filings being submitted under their name.  

You will only need a mobile phone number or an email address to sign up.  Here is the link to get started: https://fans.gsccca.org/ . 

Please note that registering is not enough to start generating notifications. As you register, continue to the next step and create a name notification request to activate the search. 

Notification requests expire after one year, so you may need to mark your calendar to reactivate it annually.


John C. Bennett is a real estate closing attorney and owner of Origin Title and Escrow, Inc.. Since 2003, Origin Title has handled real estate transactions – purchases, refinances, reverse mortgages – quickly and professionally. There will be no surprises, nothing misunderstood. Title searches are thorough and well-reasoned, to avoid unpleasant surprises later down the road. Calculate your closing costs in Georgia or Florida using our calculator or contact Origin Title using this form.

About Origin Title

Since 2003, Origin Title and Escrow has performed thousands of closings. Our team understands the concerns and the interests of every party at the closing table. 

Real estate agents and buyers alike want to know that when they contact a closing attorney, they will reach someone who can answer their questions. That’s who we are at Origin Title, we are a centralized system with information and answers. Our office is made up of two attorneys, a paralegal and an office administrator. We also have longstanding relationships with title underwriters to get issues resolved sooner. 

Working with Origin Title, there will be no surprises, nothing misunderstood. The work we do is thorough and well-reasoned, to avoid unpleasant surprises later on. 

Remote Closings in Georgia

Due to the pandemic, closings and signings have been facilitated via video. Georgia has put two separate emergency orders in to place to accomplish this.

Georgia is an “attorney state”, meaning that an attorney is required to be present when signing legal documents such as a deed.  The emergency order issued by the Supreme Court of Georgia allows an attorney to be legally present via video.  This was not the case pre-pandemic. 

The second emergency order is from the Governor that allows an attorney to watch a person sign via video and notarize that document once the original is received.  Georgia does not have remote notary laws yet, so without the Governor’s order, the attorney cannot legally witness and notarize a document unless they are physically present during the signing. 

Origin Title & Escrow always keeps the best interest of our clients in mind.  We will continue to adjust our processes to match the orders issued by the state.

Notarization during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Real estate transactions typically involve the execution and delivery of written documents that must be notarized in order to be recorded. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states have put in place emergency measures to assist notaries in carrying out their duties. Georgia’s emergency order has been extended through July 12, which means Origin Title and Escrow can assist in notarizing and witnessing documents via video conferencing. 

During this process, documents are physically sent to the buyer or seller, they sign during the video conference and then send the documents back for the notary to stamp and witness. Keep in mind that a borrower or seller should not leave Georgia during the transaction because a notary public’s power is confined to a specific state.

Origin Title’s Video Conferencing Resources

During the state of emergency, Origin Title and Escrow, Inc can provide notaries, witnesses, and be the closing attorney via video conferencing.  As a buyer or seller, you can sign your closing documents with the notary, witness, and attorney present via video conferencing. Normally, the closing attorney also acts as the notary or witness. 

You will need an internet connection, web camera, and microphone. Most phones and tablets have everything necessary. 

Signors will receive the documents via FedEx or hand delivery before the scheduled signing time. We use Zoom pro and we share our screen to go over each document.  We will send the Zoom invitation the day of closing.  Please do not sign any documents before the video conference. 

Origin Title will provide blue pens and a return FedEx envelope and label to return the completed documents.  You will need to find the nearest FedEx drop box to deliver the completed signed documents.  Once we receive the documents, we will sign as the notary, witness, and closing attorney. 

Everything is still done with ink signatures, so this is not a true e-signing with electronic signatures. 

Virtual Meetings

Who likes going to office meetings?  Frequent meeting attendees hope there’s a spread of food and drinks; if there’s not, then they’d prefer the conversation be conducted via email.

Real estate brokerages are shifting to virtual office spaces where there are no in-person meetings to attend.  Some brokerages even have avatars for their agents to meet with clients or attend meetings. 

Agents with virtual offices need a closing attorney with their own conference room to complete their closings and that’s where Origin Title & Escrow comes in. And yes, we will have a basket of candy on the conference table. 

Online Shopping for a Closing Attorney?

97% of home-buyers begin their search for a house online.  74% of people looking for a mortgage now find it online.  Less than 1% of people shop for their closing attorney online. 

This 1% is the main reason it’s important for closing attorneys to have a strong network of real estate agents that assist buyers. It’s also a big reason why home-buyers may not know what a company like Origin Title & Escrow actually does. 

Our website has plenty of information to educate buyers and sellers, but it also provides closing costs, allows people to request title and to schedule a closing.  We also have real live people clients can call with questions!  

Are Remote Closings Possible?

The Supreme Court order that was issued on March 27 concerning closing real estate transactions via video has been misinterpreted by some, so here are the facts.

As of March 27, closing via video conference is possible where the attorney and the signing party can see and hear each other, and the signing party is in the same room with a witness and a notary public. The original signed, witnessed and notarized documents would have to be overnighted to the closing attorney.  This order provides for the attorney and the signing party to be in two separate locations, but does not comply with the social distancing order, since the witness and the notary public must be at the table with the signing party.

Governor Kemp is expected to sign an executive order making closing via video one step simpler. We expect that it will allow the signing party,  the witness and the attorney (who will be the notary for the transaction) to be able to see and hear each other and witness the signing. Then the signing party will have to overnight the signed documents to the closing attorney to be notarized and witnessed. This does support the social distancing order, since all parties are in separate locations. 

“E-signing,” “e-witnessing” and “e-notarizing” are not allowed in Georgia, and will still not be allowed, even if the Governor signs the emergency order mentioned above. If Georgia adopts a Remote Online Notary (RON) act and amends the recording statutes, then fully remote closings would be possible, but that can’t happen in time to help with COVID-19 isolation.