Contract Buyers League

The Contract Buyers League (CBL) was a grassroots organization formed in 1968 by residents of North Lawndale, a Chicago, Illinois community. The CBL was founded in order to address the exploitative practices of predatory land contracts in African American communities. The organization played a significant role in raising awareness about the issue and advocating for fair and affordable housing rights. Assisted by Jack Macnamara, a Jesuit seminarian, and twelve white college students based at Presentation Catholic Church, led by Msgr. John "Jack" Egan, the CBL fought the discriminatory real estate practice known as “contract selling.”