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
The profit or loss from selling an investment that is held one year or less. Short-term gains are ordinary income, while short-term losses are deducted from current income. Short-term gains ...
An anticipatory breach of contract is the action that occurs when one party in the contract shows their intention to not fulfill their contractual obligations to the other party. The ...
Money and nonmonetary consideration given to employees for work performed. The reward will typically be increased the better the job is done. Salary and fringe benefits are a major cost of ...
The definition of involuntary alienation in real estate is the loss of property through attachment, condemnation, foreclosure, sale for taxes or other involuntary transfer of title. ...
Bank modifies the borrower's mortgage obligation, such as when the bank approves the homeowner's request for an extension of time to pay because of illness or loss of a job. One's ...
Transfer of title based on a preceding title transfer of conveyance. A derivative conveyance increases, ratifies, moderates, renews or transfers the stake created by the original ...
Homes with division of ownership or use of a resort unit on the basis of time periods. For example, a resort home may be divided into 25 time shares of two weeks each, with two weeks left ...
Any permanent development that has been made to a parcel of land. Improved land features include whether the land has fruit bearing trees or crops producer by labor, landscaping, or ...
Also known as “cap rate” or “income yield”, Capitalization Rate is a useful way to compute the rate of return on a real estate investment. It is commonly used in the ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.