Detroit isn’t the only old industrial city attracting rental landlords at a record clip. Last year, investors accounted for 75 percent of sales in Flint, Michigan, 68 percent in Gary, Indiana, and 51 percent in Memphis, Tennessee. Other cities with comparable rates are vacation communities such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (69 percent) and Honolulu (54 percent). With investors […]
Contract for What? A contract is shorthand for “contract for deed,” also advertised as “rent to buy,” “seller financing,” or “installment land contracts.” These are not inherently predatory, as any northern Midwesterner will tell you. Land contracts are common ways to finance real estate, especially in rural areas without many banks. In 2009, the last […]
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, includes 17 plaintiffs, who say they were misled by Harbour Portfolio and associated companies into thinking they were becoming owners when they signed agreements that effectively made them renters. Harbour targeted black areas with the deals, known as “contracts for deed” or “land contracts,” which gave the plaintiffs […]
“The companies make it difficult for aspiring homeowners to ever achieve the goal of ownership, which is what they think they are doing,” she told the AJC. “None of the people in this lawsuit understood. They believed they were becoming homeowners and they later found out they were functionally renters. Source: Lawsuit: Texas Real […]
“Across the country, people like Mr. Williams have found themselves in similar predicaments. Unable to obtain a traditional mortgage, they have signed a high-interest, seller-financed deal known as a contract for deed that works like an installment plan for housing. For many, these deals can quickly turn into money traps. The deals also have added […]
In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, an Indianapolis housing rights group challenges a local realty company’s rent-to-own practices, alleging predatory lending and civil rights violations. Source: Rent-to-own contracts challenged in federal court
“The nation’s top consumer regulatory agency is seeking to hold a South Carolina housing finance company in contempt for moving too slowly to respond to a judge’s order that it turn over documents and audio recordings. A federal judge on Tuesday referred the matter to a United States magistrate judge for a hearing. The unusual […]
Great list of policy recommendations! http://www.nclc.org/images/pdf/foreclosure_mortgage/predatory_mortgage_lending/ib-land-contracts-policy-recs.pdf
Questions to ask, tips to follow, and pitfalls to avoidIf you’d like to become a homeowner but are unable to obtain a mortgage or pay cash for a home, you’re probably going to have to decide whether or not a land contract is right for you. Land contract buyers have different rights and responsibilities than […]
“Government scrutiny of Harbor Portfolio Advisors of Dallas has contributed more baggage to weigh down a would-be sale of Arkansas’ smallest bank. Two of the three prospective buyers of an 87.3 percent stake in Community State Bank of Bradley (Lafayette County) are affiliated with Harbor Portfolio Advisors: Chad Vose, president of the company, and Farzana […]