Operator of rent-to-own homes draws some scrutiny
executive, Alex Szkaradek, has responded to the three-page letter, according to a person who was briefed on the matter but was not authorized to speak publicly because the matter is still pending. This person said a representative for Vision had indicated that it intended to comply with the document request by week’s end.
Vision is being represented by lawyers from Buckley Sandler in Washington, including a former Maryland attorney general, Douglas F. Gansler. Valerie L. Hletko, a partner at the firm, said in an email that Vision was cooperating with Cummings’ inquiry.
The company, she added, “looks forward to putting the matter behind it and returning its focus to providing affordable homeownership opportunities for customers who either do not want or do not qualify for a mortgage.”
Legislators and regulators are examining whether seller-financing firms are taking advantage of lower-income residents by selling them homes in need of major renovation and repairs in deals lacking basic consumer protections.
Vision, which owns more than 6,000 homes in two dozen states, is one of the largest operators of rent-to-own homes in the nation. In December, The Times detailed how two children living in a Vision home in Baltimore had tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood.
Lead poisoning is a problem in older, poorly maintained homes that were built when lead paint was widely used.
In recent years, seller-financed home sales have grown in popularity in poorer neighborhoods as lower-income Americans have had more difficulty obtaining mortgages from banks and as private investment firms have stepped in to offer alternative financing. New firms peddling such homes continue to crop up on online.
Companies like Vision have collectively bought tens of thousands of formerly foreclosed homes, many sold cheaply by Fannie Mae, one of the two giant government-backed mortgage finance firms.
Like many companies in this corner of the housing market, Vision markets its homes on a website, with most of the transactions taking place either over the phone or by email. Sometimes the photos of the properties are several years old and do not reflect what they actually look like.
Cummings, who also sent a letter to Fannie Mae inquiring about its home sales, is not the only elected official from Maryland to target the rent-to-own business.
In February, a Maryland state delegate introduced a bill to require rent-to-own landlords to provide the Maryland attorney general’s office with copies of all leases signed in the state and post a performance bond to guarantee that tenants do not incur losses making repairs on a home while it is being rented.
The delegate, Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Democrat from Baltimore, said the measure was intended to prevent rent-to-own landlords from “selling damaged goods” and “taking advantage of people who have limited resources.” Rosenberg said he introduced the measure after reading about Vision’s business practices in Maryland in The Times.
Kendra Harrell, a single mother with two young children who moved into a Vision home in Baltimore in 2014, had testified at a Feb. 28 hearing on the bill that Vision had been unwilling to help her make repairs to a badly damaged roof. She said it would cost $13,000 to repair the roof — money she does not have.
“The ceiling is falling down,” Harrell, a Home Depot cashier, told the legislative committee. “Water just runs right through the floor into the basement.”.