New York Joins The Lengthy List Of States To Ban Right-to-list Agreements

Yet another state has banned right-to-list agreements. On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that bans and makes the agreements unenforceable.

Right-to-list agreements rose to infamy through MV Realty’s “Homeowner Benefit Program.”

In addition to making these agreements unenforceable, the New York law restricts and prohibits the recording of these agreements in property records, creates penalties if they are recorded, and provides for the removal of agreements from existing records. 

Under the terms of MV Realty’s benefit program agreement, a homeowner signs over the right to list their home for up to 40 years in exchange for a nominal, one-time cash payment. 

“The property rights of American homeowners must be safeguarded,” Caroline Cone, director of state government affairs for the American Land Title Association (ALTA), said in a statement. “It is essential to ensure there are no unreasonable restraints on a homeowner’s ability to sell or refinance their home in the future due to unwarranted transaction costs.”

ALTA, along with AARP, were strong proponents of the bill, as well as other similar pieces of legislation across the country. 

“The passage of this bill is a continuation of AARP’s advocacy efforts, undertaken in collaboration with ALTA, to put an end to this harmful practice,” said Samar Jha, AARP’s director of government affairs. “We look forward to working on similar legislative solutions in more states to help protect homeowners against this predatory real estate practice.”

Since 2023, 33 other states have passed legislation preventing the use of these types of programs. In addition, 13 state attorneys general sued MV Realty over its program.

MV Realty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2023 but has since withdrawn the request.