Vision Property Management: Lawsuits, Settlements, and Bans

Vision Property Management, a Columbia, South Carolina company that sold dilapidated homes to low-income buyers under rent-to-own contracts, has faced lawsuits from the New York and Pennsylvania attorneys general, a federal class action in Michigan, and a civil suit brought by the City of Chicago. Those cases have produced deed transfers on hundreds of homes, several million dollars in consumer restitution, and bans on the company’s executives from residential real estate in multiple states. Some matters remain active in 2025.

The Conduct the Lawsuits Challenged

Vision bought distressed properties cheaply and offered them to renters under “lease with option to purchase” agreements that, on paper, allowed a tenant to buy the home after seven years of payments. Regulators found the contracts were structured to benefit the company. All repair and maintenance costs fell to the renter, even though the homes were often uninhabitable at move-in. Tenants spent thousands on repairs and then lost the homes when they could not keep up. New York and Pennsylvania officials called the arrangements unlicensed mortgage lending disguised as leases.¹

The company operated through a web of limited liability companies, with CEO Alexander Szkaradek and his associate Antonio Szkaradek identified by Pennsylvania prosecutors as the people behind the operation.² Vision’s operations were bankrolled by Atalaya Capital Management, a New York hedge fund managing roughly $5 billion in assets. Atalaya’s subsidiary ACM Vision V LLC jointly owned properties with Alexander Szkaradek and entered contracts directly with consumers.³

New York: Suits Against Atalaya and Vision

The New York Attorney General and the Department of Financial Services opened the enforcement wave in 2019. On August 27, 2019, Atalaya settled, agreeing to pay $2.4 million in restitution covering more than 100 New York properties, with an additional $240,000 held in escrow for consumers identified later. Atalaya also paid a $250,000 civil penalty and transferred titles on two remaining properties to the consumers living in them. The hedge fund neither admitted nor denied the findings but was permanently barred from predatory or deceptive practices and required to cooperate with ongoing litigation against Vision.³⁴

New York regulators then sued Vision and Alexander Szkaradek directly, alleging an illegal unlicensed mortgage lending operation.⁵ By January 2020, Vision reached a tentative settlement requiring the company to provide clean titles to renters in 58 New York homes and pay $600,000 in cash restitution. The agreement also barred any business in which Vision’s executives held a controlling interest from residential real estate in the state.¹

Pennsylvania: Deeds Transferred and a Case Still Open

Pennsylvania produced the largest volume of relief. In 2021 and 2022, the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas ordered roughly 250 consumers deeded their homes. More than 250 additional Pennsylvania residents received a combined $800,000 in restitution checks after a consent decree and a settlement with Archway Community Properties, a company connected to the scheme. Those payments went to consumers who had not already received their deeds.²

As of December 2024, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s lawsuit remained active against Alexander Szkaradek, Antonio Szkaradek, and ACM Vision V, with the Commonwealth seeking additional restitution and civil penalties.⁶ In June 2025, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a separate settlement with ACM Vision V LLC for $992,000 in consumer restitution. That deal also prohibits ACM Vision V from any commercial transactions involving residential real estate in Pennsylvania.⁷

Michigan Class Action: Henderson v. Vision Property Management

In September 2020, the ACLU of Michigan, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the National Consumer Law Center, and the Michigan Poverty Law Program filed a federal class action on behalf of low-income and Black Michigan consumers. The case, Henderson v. Vision Property Management, alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and Michigan state laws, and named both Vision and Atalaya as defendants.⁸

The case settled in October 2024, and the court granted final approval on February 27, 2025. Current occupants could choose to purchase their home and receive the deed, sell the home and keep the proceeds, or move out within six months. They also received a $2,000 credit and had missed payments waived through the end of February 2025. Former occupants who had been evicted or left their homes were entitled to a share of a $325,000 settlement fund. Class representatives received $10,000 each. Settlement checks were scheduled to begin mailing around July 2, 2025, with any unclaimed money going to Michigan Legal Services.⁹

City of Chicago Lawsuit

In July 2023, the City of Chicago filed a civil lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Vision Property Management, FTE Networks, US Home Rentals, and affiliated entities. The city alleged the defendants used deceptive and unfair practices in rent-to-own agreements targeting residents of the South Side, including obscuring financial terms, failing to disclose property conditions, shifting all maintenance costs to buyers while treating them as tenants, and failing to remit property tax payments consumers had made. Chicago sought restitution, fines under its municipal code, and a permanent injunction barring the defendants from selling or leasing residential property in the city.¹⁰ No resolution of that case has been publicly reported.

What Happened to Vision as a Company

In December 2019, FTE Networks acquired Vision and its affiliated assets in a deal valued at $350 million and designated a subsidiary called US Home Rentals to service the existing contracts. FTE said it had “begun the process to exit the lease-to-own model.”¹¹ In May 2020, the New York Stock Exchange delisted FTE. Chicago’s 2023 complaint alleged that FTE and US Home Rentals kept collecting payments on the existing Vision contracts and bore liability for the practices Vision had put in place. VPM Holdings, the South Carolina entity that had served as managing member for many of Vision’s affiliated LLCs, was dissolved in January 2022.¹²

Where Things Stand for Consumers

Vision bought more than 1,000 properties in Michigan alone and ran similar programs across at least half a dozen states.⁸ Consumer relief has arrived in stages:

In New York, Atalaya paid up to $2.77 million in restitution, and Vision agreed to provide $600,000 plus clean titles to 58 homes.
In Pennsylvania, roughly 250 consumers were deeded their homes, another 250-plus received $800,000 in restitution, and ACM Vision V settled for an additional $992,000 in June 2025.
In Michigan, the Henderson class settlement gave current occupants the right to purchase or sell their homes and created a $325,000 fund for former occupants.
In Chicago, the city’s lawsuit seeking restitution and injunctive relief is still pending.

No criminal charges have been publicly reported against Alexander Szkaradek. The civil enforcement actions against him and Antonio Szkaradek in Pennsylvania were still active as of mid-2025, with regulators continuing to pursue additional penalties.

1
The New York Times. Rent-to-Own Homes: A Win-Win for Landlords, a Risk for Struggling Tenants
2
WGAL. Pennsylvania Consumers Receive Restitution Checks From Vision Property Management Settlement
3
New York Department of Financial Services. DFS and AG Announce Settlement With Atalaya Capital Management
4
The New York Times. Hedge Fund Settles Charges Over Predatory Rent-to-Own Homes
5
HousingWire. New York Sues Rent-to-Own Operator Vision Property Management for Predatory Lending
6
PennWatch. Attorney General Distributes More Than $800,000 to Victims of Vision Property Management
7
State Affairs. Pennsylvania AG Sunday Settles With Company Involved in Misleading Rent-to-Own Homeowners
8
ACLU of Michigan. Home Purchase Scheme Targeting Black Homebuyers
9
Vision Settlement. Henderson v. Vision Property Management Settlement FAQ
10
City of Chicago. Suit Against Vision Property Management Predatory Home Sales
11
PBS. Quest for Home Ownership Turns Dreams Into Nightmares
12
City of Chicago. Vision Property Management Complaint With Exhibits