RENT TO OWN/LAND CONTRACTS/CONTRACT FOR DEED
Below are various resources on rent to own, land contracts, and/or contract for deed transactions. This is an area where it is very important that you do your research and review your contract before entering into a transaction. The FHCCI recommends visiting with a real estate professional, legal services organization, or housing counseling agency before entering into any contract in this area.
FHCCI Publications:
- FHCCI Brochure – Land Contracts/Alternative Financing to Purchase a Home (English/Spanish)
- FHCCI Land Contracts – What You Need to Know Fact Sheet:
- The State of Fair Housing in Indiana Report – Land Contracts: The Promise and Perils of Alternative Home Financing, Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, June 30, 2024
FHCCI Videos of Interest:
- History of Redlining
- History of Real Estate Sales Discrimination in Indianapolis
- Reverse Redlining 101
Federal Guidance:
- CFPB Takes Action to Stop Contract-for-Deed Investors from Setting Borrowers Up to Fail, August 13, 2024
- CFPB Field Hearing on Contracts for Deed, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, August 13, 2024
Reports of Interest:
- When Mortgages Are Unavailable, Potential Homebuyers Turn to Lease-Purchase Agreements, Pew, August 4, 2025
- Alternative Financing Survey Toplines and Methodology, Pew, July 18, 2024
- The State of Fair Housing in Indiana Report – Land Contracts: The Promise and Perils of Alternative Home Financing, Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, June 30, 2024
- Exploring a Decade of Contract for Deed Sales in the Midwest/The American Dream or Just an Illusion? Understanding Land Contract Trends in the Midwest Pre- and Post-Crisis, Ann Carpenter, Taz George and Lisa Nelson, August 2019
- The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago: New Findings on the Lasting Toll of Predatory Housing Contracts, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, May 2019
- Portfolio solutions, bulk sales of bank-owned properties, and the reemergence of racially exploitative land contracts, ScienceDirect, January 24, 2019
- Old Wine in Private Equity Bottles? The Resurgence of Contract-for-Deed Home Sales in US Urban Neighborhoods, Dan Immergluck, 2018.
- Land Installment Contracts: The Newest Wave of Predatory Home Lending Threatening Communities of Color, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Spring 2017
- The Housing Trap, New York Times: In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap. Series of several stories from 2017.
- Toxic Transactions: How Land Installment Contracts Once Again Threaten Communities of Color, National Consumer Law Center, July 2016
- Rent-to-own: Court case sheds light on business practice, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 26, 2016
- Contract for deed can be house of horror for buyers, Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 5, 2013
Books of Interest:
- Family Properties: How the Struggle Over Race and Real Estate Transformed Chicago and Urban America, Beryl Satter
- The Foreclosure Echo: How the Hardest Hit Have Been Left Out of the Economic Recovery, Linda E. Fisher and Judith Fox
Cases of Interest:
- Demarkus R. Horne and Jackie Brown v. Harbour Portfolio VII, LP, CWAM II, LLC and Harbour Portfolio VI, LP (March 2017):
- FHCCI, et al v. Rainbow Realty Group, Empire Holding Corp., and James R. Hotka (April 2017):
- Complaint
- Note: Additional info on the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) cases may be found on our Enforcement Page
- Cincinnati sues company over ‘predatory’ land sale contracts & blighted properties, WCPO, April 14, 2017 – ‘Predatory’ property investors agree to pay Cincinnati, change practices to settle lawsuit, WCPO, March 28, 2018
- Wisconsin Department of Justice v. Vision Property Management (June 2017)
- FHCCI, et al v. Casas Baratas Aqui, et al (May 2018):
- Complaint
- Note: Additional info on the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) cases may be found on our Enforcement Page
- James, Day, Austin v. Detroit Property Exchange, Homes of Detroit, et al (November 2018):
- State of New York v. Vision Property Management (Filed August 2019/Settled August 2019):
- Katrina Carter and Quentin Lintner v. Rainbow Realty Group:
- Indiana Supreme Court Ruling (September 2019)
State Laws of Interest:
To learn about other lending transactions, visit our Lending Page.
June 30, 2024: The State of Fair Housing in Indiana Report – Land Contracts: The Promise and Perils of Alternative Home Financing: Download the press release here or review the full report.
Since the 1950s, predatory land contracts have targeted Black homeowners. Sonja Bonnett became a housing activist after a land contract led to a foreclosure.
This investigation by CBS4 Indy focused on allegations of violations of law by an area rent-to-own housing provider.
