by Matthew Goldstein, NYT
Legislators in three Midwestern states are taking steps to protect consumers who buy cheap and often rundown homes from investors through seller-financed deals or rent-to-own leases.
The legislative initiatives in Ohio, Illinois and Michigan come as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to investigate the activities of some of the larger firms in the seller-financing home business.
Sales of rundown homes on long-term installment contracts — sometimes called contracts for deeds or land contracts — to people who could not qualify for a traditional mortgage are surging in several states, especially in the Midwest.