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
Income reporting to the Internal Revenue Service using form 1099 stating income earned. For example, An employing real estate broker uses form 1099 to report commissions earned by a real ...
The definition of a testator in real estate is an individual who makes or leaves a valid will detailing how their possessions are to be divided or distributed among their heirs. The ...
Accelerated method in which a fixed percentage factor of two times the straight-line rate is multiplied each year by the declining balance of the fixed assets book value. ...
Transfer of both real and personal property. An example is the sale of a home with personal belongings. Putting together a group of property to be sold together, perhaps at a discount ...
The American Society of Appraisers, also referred to as ASA, is the largest voluntary membership, a multi-discipline trade association that stands for and promotes its appraiser members. ...
Falsify financial records and statements to misrepresent the financial position and operating results of the business. ...
A style of architecture originating in Europe in the 1920s. The international architecture design was very functional and emphasized buildings constructed of steel, reinforced concrete, and ...
Loss arising from the partial or complete destruction of property resulting from circumstances of a sudden, unanticipated or unusual nature. For example, fires, storms and floods to real ...
Large room at the entrance to a building designed for people to converse or move about freely. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.