In the s the bustling community of North Lawndale on Chicago rsquo s West Side was a pilot community for interracial living A handful of middle-class African Americans bought homes there on ldquo contract rdquo mdash that combined the responsibilities of home ownership with the disadvantages of renting In a contract sale the buyer accrued no equity and if he missed a single payment he would immediately lose his down payment all his monthly payments and the property itself Unscrupulous sellers sold at inflated prices then the families were evicted when they missed a payment Another family would buy on [... more]