The loan at the heart of a new foreclosure crisis
Summary
Baltimore reporters Jack Bologna and Hallie Miller uncover a $100 million real estate scheme involving two investors who amassed 700 homes using DSCR loans, a mortgage product that requires no income verification. The episode explains how Wall Street capital fueled this "no income, no job" lending model, which mirrors pre-2008 risks, and details the reporters' investigation into suspected fraudulent valuations and a potential FBI probe. It also explores the tension between the need for investment in distressed housing and the dangers of unregulated, high-risk lending.
Topics discussed
Sponsor: Whole Foods Market
Jack Bologna receives tip on investor foreclosures
Jack and Hallie Miller investigate the mystery
Discovery of a $100 million debt portfolio
Show intro and DSCR loan overview
Promo: Fresh Air with Gloria Steinem
Baltimore row homes and the rise of DSCR loans
How DSCR loans work without income verification
Eric Abramovich and the post-crisis loan exception
Connecting Wall Street money to fix-and-flip investors
The shift to 30-year DSCR loans for landlords
DSCR loan mechanics and rapid market growth
Tracing the Baltimore loans to private lenders
Foreclosures and suspicious purchasing patterns
Identifying Eleazer Gold and the failed interview
Promos: Tariffs, Politics, Through Line, Fresh Air
Confronting Eleazer Gold and finding Benjamin Idles
Linking Gold and Idles through phone records
The theory of a fraudulent valuation scheme
FBI investigation and lender blacklists
Eric Abramovich defends DSCR loans and risk
Visiting the abandoned and burned row homes
Outro and Lisa Revlon coincidence
Promos: Life Kit and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me
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