A Hunterbrook investigation found LGI buyers were 4X more likely to lose their homes than FHA borrowers
LGI Homes built its business around a simple pitch: turn renters into homeowners with monthly payments that appear no higher than a lease. But a Hunterbrook investigation found that the Texas-based builder, now the nation’s 10th largest homebuilder, often left buyers with mortgages they could not afford and a foreclosure rate that dwarfs national averages.
According to the report, authored by Jenny Ahn, Matthew Termine, and Michelle Cera, LGI sales representatives advertised deceptively low monthly payments that excluded property taxes, insurance, and fees. Once those costs were added in, the true payments were typically 30% to 70% higher than the numbers pitched in model homes and marketing flyers. Many of the buyers, first-time homeowners targeted from rental communities, only discovered the difference after closing…