‘Big Brother’ Star Amanda Zuckerman Charged with ‘Swindling’ Thousands of Homeowners

Big Brother 15 houseguest Amanda Zuckerman is in hot water with the state of Florida (and possibly other states), accused of “a complex and deceptive scheme” with the aim of “swindling consumers” according to a lawsuit filed by the state’s Attorney General.

Here’s what a huge consumer investigation found that prompted a potentially massive civil suit against Amanda and her business partners.

Amanda Zuckerman of Big Brother 15 Enjoyed Pizza Boy Showmance

Do you remember the name Amanda Zuckerman?

If you watched Big Brother 15, you may recall she was in a showmance with pizza boy McCrae Olson. She was in the 3 AM alliance with Aaryn Gries, Andy Herren and her boy toy McCrae.

They ran the BB15 house for quite a while until the alliance fell apart.

In the end, Amanda Zuckerman was nominated next to her lover McCrae, but he won the Power of Veto and used the PoV to take himself off the block leaving her vulnerable.

 

Her ally Andy flipped on her, resulting in a tie, throwing it to Head of Household GinaMarie Zimmerman who cast the tiebreaking vote to evict Amanda Zuckerman in 7th place. She then served as the fifth member of the Big Brother jury.

Among the BB fandom, Amanda is considered a villain, known for confrontations and fights. As an aggressive gameplayer she ran the house but was considered quite controversial. But the BB15 controversy is nothing next to her legal woes she’s now facing.

Zuckerman & Partners Accused of “Skirting” the Law to “Swindle” Consumers

On November 29, 2022, Ashley Moody, Attorney General for the state of Florida, filed a lawsuit against MV Realty. Amanda Zuckerman Zachman (her married name), founded MV Realty in 2014 as an LLC, listing co-defendant Anthony Mitchell as her CEO.

She listed herself as manager and resident agent when the Big Brother alum set up the company. The State of Florida alleges that Amanda, Anthony, and business partner David Manchester engaged in “a complex and deceptive scheme”.

The AG’s case said they had “the goal of swindling consumers out of their home equity.” According to the civil suit, they relied on “aggressive marketing” and “high-pressure sale tactics” to convince homeowners to accept small sums with onerous terms.

MV Realty emphasized the payment to homeowners are a “loan alternative”. Payments ranged from $300-$5,000. In exchange for this sum, they tied the homeowner into a “misleading and confusing” agreement that ties them to the company for a whopping 40 years.

What Charges Does Big Brother Alum Amanda Zuckerman Face?

Big Brother alum Amanda’s company, MV Realty, paid homeowners a small sum in exchange for the promise to be their exclusive realtor for four decades. If the consumer used another broker to sell their home, they must pay MV Realty 3% of the home’s value.

And the value is determined not by the sale or market — but by Amanda Zuckerman’s company. To ensure they get their 3%, the company placed a 40-year lien on the consumer’s property. This barred them from refinancing their home or taking out a HELOC.

It gets worse from there, if the house owner dies, the lien rolls forward to their heirs, forcing them to pay up or else. They’re quick to say it’s not a loan. And in fact, consumers can’t pay back the amount they were given to get out of the contract.

Why didn’t the Big Brother star just call these transactions a loan? Consider if you own a $100k house. And MV Realty gives you $500 (a typical amount paid). If you sold your house with another broker, or you died, or your home is foreclosed on, you’d owe them $3,000 (100k x 3%).

From a $500 payment to a $3,000 payback is a simple interest rate of 600%. Under any state’s law, that’s considered usurious (illegal lending at unreasonably high-interest rates).

The Laundry List of Accusations Against Big Brother Alumnus

The list of charges against her company include:

• “the use of deceptive or unfair business practices to prey upon consumers looking for small loans;
• failing to timely disclose the 40-year term… on MV Realty’s website and its marketing materials or sales pitches,
• and failing to clearly and conspicuously disclose,,, a lien against the consumer’s property’
• failing to disclose or misleading consumers about how [the agreement] will likely slow down, hamper or prevent a consumer from being able to refinance their home or otherwise liquidate home equity;
• plus failing to disclose or misleading consumers about how the promotion fee would never have to be paid back until a consumer ‘sells’ the home, when in reality, the early termination fee could be invoked by title transfer, refinancing, or the consumer’s death;
• having consumers sign an unfair and unconscionable 40-year exclusive right… and has the consumer agree to services that may never be rendered or even agreed upon;
• having some consumers sign an agreement that did not contain a Three Day Right to Cancel… using language that is confusing and does not clearly convey a consumer’s right to cancel;
• requiring usurious payments from consumers to pay back money…
• charging consumers the exorbitant cost of 3% of the value of their home… to exit the program… whether MV Realty ever provides any real estate services or not… constitutes an unfair penalty…

Zuckerman’s Company Accused of Preying on the Elderly and Mentally Incompetent

According to the suit against the Big Brother celeb, the contract MV Realty had homeowners sign is “unfair and unconscionable.” Most homeowners contacted in the investigation had no idea that the contract would last 40 years. Nor did they know there was a lien placed on their home.

The suit also alleges that Amanda’s company didn’t tell their alleged victims that they had three days to negate the contract. The case says consumers weren’t given copies of the paperwork nor were proper disclosures made.

Although Florida is the first to file, Amanda and MV Realty may face similar suits as they carry out their practices in more than 30 states. Eight TV stations across many states where MV Realty practices investigated the company and found shocking details.

In Georgia, Atlanta Legal Aid researched Amanda Zuckerman’s company after receiving many consumer complaints. They mapped the area targeted by MV Realty and found that 71% of deals signed were in majority-black neighborhoods.

The suit alleges that MV Realty targeted “vulnerable or mentally incompetent individuals” who didn’t understand what they were signing.

And the Atlanta research group alleges that many who signed the deals are elderly with “cognitive or mental issues that limit their understanding” of what they’re signing.

You can see in the screenshots below from their website that they recently changed the language.

Prior to this change, according to our research, the three day reversal wasn’t listed. Nor was the 40-year premium.

Their site also says no credit check required. But the AG’s suit also claims they ran hard credit pulls despite this notice.

What Penalties Could Amanda from Big Brother Face?

The state of Florida says they used “deceptive and abusive telemarketing,” to sell this deal. That included allegations they call consumers on the national Do Not Call registry. The suit says MV Realty, Amanda Zuckerman’s business, is “harming consumers in Florida and at least 32 other states”.

The state wants to shut down their operation and block them enforcing any of these contracts. They also seek to block them from engaging in this sort of business in the future.

And they want them to “return the money… wrongfully taken from homeowners”. The AG’s case also seeks civil penalties to the tune of $10,000 per infraction. It would up to $15,000 per infraction if the victim was “a senior citizen or person with a disability”.

The AG filed her case in Tampa’s Hillsborough County court. They specifically name Big Brother‘s Amanda in the lawsuit. She’s listed as a manager of the company. And also someone who signed the consumer contracts in question.

The state of Florida limits real estate broker agreements to a max of one-year. Yet MV Realty was inking 40-year effective deals that last a decade longer than the length of a standard mortgage.

They also stand accused of hiding that a lien would attach to the home. Instead, they refer to it as a “memorandum”. How much could Florida force Amanda and her partners to repay? MV Realty holds 6,000 liens in seven states — allegedly.

Should they be found guilty of the lowest level of culpability (the $10k fine) for each of these 6,000 lines, it would total $60 million in civil penalties (or more).

Amanda’s Court Date

There is no pending court date yet, but on December 1, summons were issued to Amanda Zuckerman and her co-defendants. We’ll update you when have more news on this Big Brother legal matter.

And look to Soap Dirt for all your Big Brother news and updates.