BERYL Satter knew something like this was bound to happen. Or, rather, to happen again.

The Rutgers historian wrote the book on an obscure form of predatory lending from the mid-20th century that victimised black home buyers when banks would not lend them mortgages. Her book, Family Properties, came out in 2009, on the heels of the housing crash. And as she travelled the US talking about it - about families defrauded from the homes that they thought they owned; about sellers who promised home ownership but collected deposits and evictions instead - people kept approaching her. "Pretty much everywhere I go, people say 'I've been hearing about this,'" Ms Satter said. "Contract" selling is making a comeback.

In this model, buyers shut out from conventional lending are offered an alternative: They can make monthly payments on a home directly to the seller, instead of a bank, with the promise of receiving the deed only when the property is entirely paid off, 20 or 30 years down the road. In the meantime, they have few of the legal protections of a typical home buyer but all of the responsibilities of one. They do not build equity with time. They can be easily evicted. And if that happens, they lose all their investment.