Crust to open second shop in Williamstown

By m aTT m arT inez

because “I don’t know what the results of the lawsuit will be.” If the attorney general loses the suit, she said, she worries that the company will start filing HBAs again.

“I felt that this was something that people should be aware of because after this gimmick, there’s going to be another one.”

Brad Gordon, the executive director and staff attorney of the Berkshire Regional Housing Authority, said such financial products as the ones offered by MV Massachusetts LLC were more common in the Berkshires during the Great Recession when the housing bubble burst and homeowners were struggling to make payments.

“We just haven’t seen much of that” recently, Gordon said. “From what I’ve read about the one that the registry identified, it’s a very interesting situation.” of the litigation and requires the company to release existing mortgages. A temporary restraining order had been approved, which prohibited the company from doing business in the state while the legal matters were under consideration.

According to the complaint, the HBA pays homeowners a cash advance, in the median amount of $1,150, for the right to use MV of Massachusetts LLC as their exclusive real estate broker if they sell during that 40-year time period. As presented to consumers, the agreement entitles MV of Massachusetts to a “commission” payment at least 10 times the advance if the homes are sold.

WILLIAMSTOWN — Crust, a pizza restaurant in Pittsfield, will open a second location in Williamstown in the coming months, aiming to cater to its customer base in northern Berkshire County.

The restaurant announced the plans last month via Instagram.

Jim Cervone, co-owner of Crust and Ayelada, a frozen yogurt shop in Pittsfield, said the new location would be set up at 46 Spring St., the space previously occupied by The Red Herring, a tavern that is now closed.

Cervone said that he has been looking to expand to communities north and south of the city because of the pizza restaurant’s heavy traffic from both areas.

“MV Realty has used malicious marketing practices to prey on, lie to and financially exploit hundreds of homeowners across Massachusetts, stripping home equity from cash-strapped consumers,” said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in a statement. “This preliminary injunction will stop MV Realty from further harming our residents and serves as a model for attorneys general offices across the country to fight back against these kinds of predatory practices.”

Harris took matters into her own hands by publishing information about the company’s activities in a January newsletter that the registry regularly sends out to people who use its services.

She is alerting the public, Harris said,

But according to the Attorney General’s complaint, the commission, referred to as an “early termination fee,” occurs on virtually any transfer during that the 40-year time span, including legal transfers such as divorce or foreclosure, “whether or not MV provides any such real estate services.”

“The consideration for the payment appears to be what is essentially a 40-year lien or right to serve as the broker if the property is conveyed during that 40-year period,” Gordon said.

“It is such a hokey and fraught concept,” he said. “They are creating secured instruments or contracts with unsuspecting homeowners.”

MV of Massachusetts’ parent company, MV Realty PBC LLC, operates in 33 states. In court documents filed in answer to the state’s motion asking the court to impose the preliminary injunction, MV of Massachusetts describes the homeowner benefit agreement as a five-page document that “conspicuously and

The Pittsfield location of Crust, 505 East St., opened in September 2020. Cervone said that he’s been looking to expand the business for about a year. The opportunity to move into the space in Williamstown came about four months ago, he said. The owners will work on renovating and remodeling the space, including the business’ entryway. In terms of what customers can expect, the answer is service identical to Pittsfield, with an assembly line for its pizzas and full drink service.

“Our business is going to be very much the same,” Cervone said.

If there are any differences between the two locations, they would be tailored around the new store’s proximity to Williams College. It’s yet to be determined, but Cervone said the new store might have later hours and slightly different offerings, such as coffee, for the students.

Bradley Architects, a Pittsfield-based firm, will be drawing up designs for the building, and Cervone said he hopes for construction on the space to begin around April 15. He hopes to be able to open the new location in early July, but its opening date is not final.