blockbusting
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Blockbusting
An unethical business practice in which a real estate agent convinces a homeowner to sell his/her property at a loss because racial and/or ethnic minorities are moving into the area. For example, a company may hire a Latino woman to walk around a neighborhood and act as though she lives there. Blockbusting was done both to profit from the resale of the house and to encourage people to buy homes in new developments. Blockbusting became common after desegregation, and became very controversial after its public exposure in the 1960s. By the 1980s, the practice had largely disappeared.
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blockbusting
An illegal and discriminatory practice in which someone stampedes another into selling or granting a listing contract by trading on fears the neighborhood is changing with respect to race, sex, religion, color, disability, family status, or ancestry of the inhabitants. (For more detailed information,visit the U.S.Housing and Urban Development Web site at www.hud.gov and search on the term “blockbusting.”) See panic peddling.
The Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia by Denise L. Evans, JD & O. William Evans, JD. Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.