Private Equity: The New Neighborhood Loan Sharks
Veterans of the Contract Buyers League hit the doors again.
July 11, 2017
While Fannie Mae sold many foreclosed properties to homebuyers looking for a “DIY” fixer-upper, it also disposed of thousands of units in bulk sales to Wall Street private equity firms, some with fingerprints leading back to the original subprime mortgage
This article appears in the Summer 2017 issue of The American Prospect magazine. Subscribe here.
Mike Gallagher double-checks the address on his smartphone and walks up the cement steps of the brick two-story house on Detroit’s west side. He rings the doorbell, and after waiting a minute knocks loudly on the door. A dog barks and a shirtless black man in his mid-thirties cracks open the door.
“Good afternoon. I’m Mike from the Home Savers group. We’re talking to people who have a land contract from Harbour Portfolio. Is that your situation?”