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 return by owners of a property investment usually through a depreciation allowance. a clause in a contract permitting the prior owner of real estate to recover under certain ...
Agreement between a lending institution and borrower where the borrower agrees to extend or spread the collateral of a loan to additional properties beyond the original mortgaged property. ...
Material used for covering the surfaces of walls or ceilings. Plaster used to be made from plaster of paris, but is now primarily made from cement mixed with sand and water. After plaster ...
(1) Judgment against a defendant who does not respond to the plaintiffs lawsuit or fails to appear in court at the hearing or trial date. (2) Judgment issued by the court against the ...
Provision in a lease agreement in which the lessee is given the right to buy the property at the end of lease term. In many cases, the option price is attractive to encourage acquisition. ...
A public foreclosure sale where public notice is given anyone is allowed to participate. Normally, a public sale occurs because of the property owner's failure to pay taxes. ...
Uncertainties associated with real property including lack of insurance coverage in the event of fire or injury, high crime area, and environmental problems. This risk may be reduced ...
Appraisal by summation is an Alias for Replacement Cost A.K.A. Cost Approach, which is one of the approaches an Appraiser can go through in order to assign a Market Value to a ...
Money payments to be delayed for a future date or extended over a period of time. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.