Press Releases
03/07/2024
Attorney General Tong Announces Investigation into EasyKnock Over Deceptive Home Sale-Leaseback Deals
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today announced he has launched an investigation into EasyKnock, Inc. over potentially deceptive home sale-leaseback deals. The Office of the Attorney General is aware of at least three such agreements in Connecticut and urges anyone who may have entered into an agreement with EasyKnock to contact the office.EasyKnock is a New York-based business that purchases homes at under market prices, and then leases the homes back to the seller, turning homeowners into renters. The company may be deceiving homeowners by marketing these sale-leaseback deals to homeowners searching for traditional home equity loans, using marketing language like “convert your equity into cash.” Once homeowners become renters with EasyKnock, they may be subject to steep and unexpected rent increases, effectively forcing them out of their homes.
A civil investigative demand sent today by the Office of the Attorney General asks the company to disclose all Connecticut customers and documentation related to their transactions and marketing materials.
Any consumer with has entered into an agreement with EasyKnock is urged to file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General here: https://ct.gov/agcomplaints
This is the latest investigation undertaken by Attorney General Tong involving real estate deceptive companies preying on Connecticut homeowners. The Office of the Attorney General is actively investigating MV Realty, a Florida-based company that targets lower-income homeowners, offering residential exclusive listing agreements called “Homeowner Benefit Agreements.” MV Realty provides a small cash payment of a few hundred dollars in exchange for the exclusive right to list their homes for sale for a period of 40 years. If a homeowner chooses to sell their home during that period, MV merely posts the home to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). They do not serve as a real estate agent. If the homeowner seeks to cancel the exclusive listing agreement or lists their home without using MV, they are subject to a draconian penalty of three percent of the market price of their home—often worth several thousand dollars. Moreover, the exclusive listing agreements are entered on the land records as a lien. The Office of the Attorney General’s investigation has uncovered nearly 400 such deceptive real estate deals in Connecticut. Attorney General Tong has proposed legislation to ban multi-year predatory listing deals and nullify existing unfair contracts.
“Predatory companies like EasyKnock and MV Realty prey on low-income homeowners in the worst way possible-- destabilizing families and draining generational wealth. These are not home equity loans, and I urge homeowners to read the fine print and stay away from these companies. Our investigation seeks to identify every Connecticut homeowner who may have been taken advantage of by EasyKnock so that we can see exactly what these people were told and what they understood. If any Connecticut homeowner was deceived into giving up their home, we will not hesitate to take the strongest possible enforcement action,” said Attorney General Tong.
Assistant Attorneys General Addison Keilty and Joe Gasser and Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Wertheimer are assisting the Attorney General in this matter.
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
- Facebook: CT Attorney General
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov