Laurie Thompson admits she needed to sell her townhouse in Smithville, Ont., fast.
The pandemic had done a number on her finances — the bar where she worked had shut down, twice — and rising interest rates meant her monthly mortgage payments of $2,000 were going to almost double last January. Thompson was facing foreclosure.
"I was desperate," she told Go Public.
Thompson had seen street signs and posters in her neighbourhood — companies offering to pay quick cash for houses. She'd even received what appeared to be a hand-written flyer in the mail, advertising a hassle-free cash sale — no renovating, open houses, or Realtor commissions.
She hit the internet and found a company with positive reviews and attractive promises called Honest Home Buyers Incorporated (HHBI), based in nearby Hamilton.
This is somewhat evocative of that thing in The Big Short where I believe a stripper or waitress of some kind has like 7 houses and has to roll the "moment" the subprime crisis kicks in for her particular use-case
Edit: there doesn't seem to be any evidence in the article itself that supports the claim she was a multiple-property owner. I think the use of various buzzwords may have led to a misunderstanding. Maybe lower our pitchforks a teensy bit and defer judgement until the story expands or some eagle finds said deets
I think you're correct, I quickly parsed through it and can't find it, I misspoke, although I honestly wouldn't put it past CBC to omit or obfuscate that kind of relevant detail that would tank the story the moment it (that lede) became apparent.
I like some of their consumer protection coverage but they also get sucked into some truly shadenfreude-inducing real estate stories on the regular by the absolute scummiest of bottom-feeders.