Curbio, a home renovation startup that specializes in pre-sale work, has agreed to settle fraud allegations made by the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. As part of the settlement, Curbio agreed to pay $7.5 million.
The company denied wrongdoing and said in a statement that it agreed to the settlement because “the time and money we would spend over the next two years to clear our good name would be better spent doing what we do best.”
DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb accused Curbio of defrauding homeowners by luring them into contracts that allowed the company to pilfer their home equity over minor violations. The AG also accused the company of acting as an unlicensed lender and performing subpar renovations.
Under the settlement agreement, Curbio has agreed to increase its disclosures, remove misleading statements in marketing materials and remove restrictive covenants in contracts with consumers, among other things.
In a statement to HousingWire, Curbio said it had implemented many of the changes required in the settlement before the lawsuit was filed in November 2023, thus deeming the lawsuit “unnecessary.”
The $7.5 million settlement payment will be divided among three groups — $2.58 million to those who were Curbio customers prior to the lawsuit, $920,000 to customers who have current balances with the company, and $4 million to the District of Columbia.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) partnered with Curbio earlier this year for its NAR Realtor Benefits program, which provides discounts to Realtors on a wide variety of goods and services. The partnership was announced in February, three months after the lawsuit was filed.
The partnership makes it easier for Realtors to steer home sellers to Curbio’s services, and an investigation by Inman News in March revealed how problematic the partnership could be. Customers who believe they were wronged ultimately blamed their real estate agent for introducing them to Curbio.
Despite the lawsuit and accusations, Curbio said its partnership with NAR not been impacted and remains in place. NAR declined to comment on the situation. Curbio also has partnerships with HomeSmart, eXp Realty and RE/MAX Gold.
Inman’s investigation also levied similar accusations against Curbio in cities across the country, not just in Washington, D.C.
