Baltimore’s latest foreclosure crisis grew out of a loan product that promised real estate investors a faster, easier path to buying homes — and helped two landlords assemble one of the city’s largest privately held portfolios. The landlords acquired more than 700 Baltimore homes and borrowed about $100 million through debt-service coverage ratio, or DSCR, loans. The loans are marketed to investors based largely on a property’s expected rental income rather than the borrower’s personal finances, making them attractive for rapidly expanding portfolios. In Baltimore, that investment brought millions of dollars into some of the city’s most distressed neighborhoods. It also contributed to a growing number of abandoned rowhouses after the landlords stopped maintaining properties and attempted to disappear, according to an investigation into the portfolio. The fallout has spread beyond individual properties. Foreclosures and vacant homes can depress nearby property values, create safety hazards and undermine neighborhood efforts to stabilize blocks that have endured decades of disinvestment. Residents and community organizations have long pushed for vacant houses to be repaired and returned to productive use, rather than accumulated by distant investors seeking quick returns. The Baltimore case is now prompting broader questions about whether private lenders and Wall Street investors repeated the risk-taking that helped fuel the 2008 global financial crisis. Billions of dollars have flowed into DSCR lending in recent years as investors sought new ways to finance rental properties across the country. Investigations tied to the Baltimore portfolio include allegations involving property records, repeated sales of homes and possible fraud. Federal authorities are examining transactions involving dozens of properties, while the city has said it will investigate a New York-based investor group over potential housing discrimination. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating investors linked to the foreclosure wave. The local case matters nationally because DSCR loans are spreading into other cities, particularly older industrial communities where low home prices can make large-scale purchases possible. Supporters view the loans as a way to direct capital toward neglected housing. Critics warn that rapid, lightly scrutinized acquisitions can leave neighborhoods exposed when investors default or abandon their properties. For Baltimore, the immediate challenge is dealing with the homes left behind and determining who is responsible for stabilizing them. The episode underscores how financial decisions made by private lenders and investors can reshape entire blocks — while residents and local governments bear much of the cost when those bets fail.