"Poor people have a lot of ingenuity."

Apparently this is how slum lords are justifying their business:

"Mr. Barnes says he's giving such buyers what may be their only shots at home ownership. Low-income people, he says, generally know how to recognize and fix flaws. "Poor people know how to install a hot-water heater and they know how to paint" and even how to fix a foundation, he says. "Poor people have a lot of ingenuity."

Last September, Ola Gorby, a 35-year-old mother of four who works evenings cleaning offices, put $500 down and agreed to pay $400 a month for 15 years -- about $34,000, before interest -- for a home in Martins Ferry, Ohio. Public records show the house previously sold, in October 2003, for $44,000, then went into foreclosure in 2006 before being acquired by one of Mr. Barnes's investors for $7,875.

Ms. Gorby says she used to pay $470 a month for a three-bedroom apartment, and that banks had told her she didn't have a strong enough credit record to qualify for a home loan.

Her new place needs work. Duct tape covers a hole where a front-door lock was removed. Ms. Gorby had to replace some water pipes that had been stolen, and a bedroom wall needs patching. But she says she's happy with the home, which she figures is generally in good shape."