A Hennepin County jury on Monday, June 22, 2026, found Twin Cities real estate broker Chadwick Banken liable for discrimination and for multiple deceptive home-sale practices tied to seller-financed deals. The civil verdict could open the door to restitution for buyers and court orders limiting Banken’s business operations once a judge sets remedies at a follow-up hearing.
Jurors unanimously found Banken liable for violations of federal and state consumer-protection laws, including the Consumer Financial Protection Act, Minnesota’s Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act and the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as for discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, according to Sahan Journal. The decision came after two weeks of testimony and more than seven hours of deliberation.
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office sued Banken in 2024, alleging he used a so-called “slow flip” strategy that required large down payments, sharply inflated prices and short contracts with six-figure balloon payments, then canceled contracts when buyers missed payments, per the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. The complaint also alleges Banken targeted Muslim homebuyers by marketing contracts as sharia-compliant while concealing finance charges. Those allegations echo a 2022 investigation by ProPublica and Sahan Journal that first spotlighted the trade and helped prompt legislative and federal scrutiny.
How contracts for deed trap buyers
Under a contract for deed, the seller keeps legal title until the buyer finishes payments. In the meantime, buyers typically shoulder repairs, property taxes and the risk of eviction, without the protections that come with a conventional mortgage. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned in a 2024 report that these deals can be structured to obscure finance charges, inflate prices and let sellers repeatedly “churn” the same properties, concentrating harm in underserved communities…