Blockbusting
Definition of "Blockbusting"
Blockbusting is a despicable and illegal racist business practice.
Here’s how Blockbusting happens: a real estate agent, or someone posing as one, comes to a homeowner and instills him (or her) with fear of racial minorities, saying and showing bogus stats that a large number of whatever minority the homeowner prejudicially feared was moving into their neighborhood in large numbers. Because of that, the homeowner would sell the property for a lower market price, and, in turn, the alleged real estate agent would sell at a higher market price to the exact minority the original owner feared.
The practice of blockbusting has been done to White, Black, Jews, and Foreign people, but the most notorious blockbusting practices were done with White and Black, after 1910 when over a million African American from the rural southern states of the United States of America moved north to industrialized cities in need of workers due to the World War I, which recruited many workers to serve in the US Army. The scars of Civil War and Slavery were still open, so profiteers would take advantage of that, and even hire “actors” to create a sense of overwhelming presence of black people in traditionally white neighborhoods.
Blockbusting practices were nationally exposed in the 1960’s with the civil rights movement. Because of it, stricter federal real estate laws were conceived, which made blockbusting harder. For instance: door-to-door real estate solicitation got restricted in several states to avoid blockbusting. The most important measure against blockbusting, however, was 1968’s Fair Housing Act which made (by law) religion, race, and ethnicity of a neighborhood’s inhabitants part of what a real estate agent can’t tell a home buyer client when showing a house.
Work only with credible real estate agents! Find one at The OFFICIAL Real Estate Agent Directory®.
Popular Real Estate Terms
A building having one house hold on the first floor and a second household on the second floor. ...
Tax term describing current and necessary business expenses. Ordinary and necessary business expenses do not include long-term capital losses. For example, the XYZ stationary store deducts ...
Site where mobile homes are located. Mobile home parks are often mandated by municipal zoning laws. They provide necessary utilities to the mobile homes often including recreational ...
A lease requiring tenants to pay all utilities, insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs. ...
The first mortgage on property when other mortgages exist as well, as in the case of a wraparound loan. For example, the total amount financed might be %200,000 of which the first lien is ...
Glass containing wire support to make it stronger. There is less chance of glass being broken into pieces and hurting people. ...
Additional tax liability that the IRS deems to be owed by a taxpayer. A taxpayer can argue the correctness of a deficiency with the IRS. There can be an appeal to the Tax Court without ...
Clause in a mortgage that allows the borrower to pay more than the monthly amount and to retire the loan early without a penalty. ...
Body o law relating directly to condominiums and cooperative developments. Most property law provides vertical ownership of property in the sense that property owners own mineral rights as ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.