The loan at the heart of a new foreclosure crisis

There is a new type of loan that is sweeping through the country right now. It’s advertised as a super quick and super easy way to get a mortgage to buy a home. In recent years, Wall Street has been funneling billions of dollars into these loans.

But these loans are also raising questions. Are they a financial innovation that’s helping the housing market? Or ... a sign that Wall Street might be forgetting the mistakes that led to the Global Financial Crisis?

On today’s show, we head to Baltimore, where abandoned rowhomes have become a familiar sight. Reporters Hallie Miller, Jack Bologna and Sahana Jayaraman from The Baltimore Banner have been following this new loan as it’s been bringing millions of dollars into some of Baltimore's most distressed neighborhoods.

But, a few years ago, two local landlords quickly and quietly amassed what might be one of the largest private real estate portfolios in Baltimore: Over 700 homes and $100 million dollars in borrowed cash. Using this hot new loan. And then they tried to disappear. We talk with the Banner reporters about what they found at the heart of this mystery, and why it might have implications for the rest of the country.

Read the Banner’s reporting:

The housing hustle igniting a foreclosure crisis in Baltimore

Before mass foreclosures, DSCR loans looked good for Baltimore

Could a few 'bad actors' upend Baltimore's housing hopes?

Baltimore will investigate New York investor group for housing discrimination

Baltimore is striking fear into private lenders across the country

From $3.7M to $9.9M: Federal probe focuses on 42 Baltimore homes sold again and again

The FBI is investigating the New York investors behind Baltimore’s foreclosure wave