Dream Home Raffles Essay

615 Words2 Pages

You've heard of "dream home giveaway" fundraisers. A charity or non-profit organization raffles off a home and raises hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well, many homeowners would like to do this with their homes in order to solve their financial problems. However, individuals cannot hold these types of fundraisers unless they partner with a registered nonprofit organization. This article explains why this is happening and how it can be done.
In the past year home values, along with home sales, have declined. At the same time many homeowners who had adjustable rate mortgages saw their monthly mortgage payments dramatically increase. This has created financial hardships for homeowners who are both unable to pay their increased mortgage payments …show more content…

In times like these people are looking for ways to solve their financial problems. Desperate homeowners have been the target of scammers claiming home raffles are an easy way out. Homeowners have been told that they can easily raffle off their home and raise enough money to pay off their house and donate the rest to charity.
This may sound like a great idea, however, there are legal issues involved in this that homeowners need to investigate before considering a home raffle. There is a difference between an individual raffling off their home and a licensed charity holding a "dream home" raffle. In most states it is considered illegal gambling for an individual to raffle off their own home.
There is a way for an individual to raffle off their home and that is to find a qualified nonprofit organization that is willing to be a partner and handle the raffle. In most states it is legal for a nonprofit organization to hold a raffle for charity fund-raising. Homes that are raffled by charities are usually new or in extremely good condition. A charity is not going to raffle off a run down fixer-upper. The charity will sell a certain amount of tickets at a price of, for example, $150 per ticket with 10,000 tickets being sold. The charity will bring in $1.5 million if all the tickets are

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