During the late nineteenth century the rapidly expanding urban population of the United States created an increased demand for housing. At the same time, mortgage money for the finance of home purchases was in short supply because of the availability of more lucrative investment opportunities elsewhere and because there were legal restrictions on the power of banks to lend money on real estate . Recent literature has emphasized the importance of property ownership among different components of the population, including immigrant groups. Little attention has been paid to the process of property acquisition or to the patterns of land tenure which resulted. An immigrant population, handicapped in numerous ways, was likely to have limited access to available mortgage financing, thereby limiting its ability to purchase property. Yet, the literature suggests that immigrants actively acquired property. This study examines some preliminary ideas about tenure patterns and home mortgages within immigrant residential areas, using a sample of Baltimore's Germans as a case study. The argument presented is that housing acquisition was facilitated by the activities of the immigrants themselves. In view of the restrictions on the supply of mortgage money, financing for property purchases had to come from sources independent of the city's major financial institutions, and the immigrants had to generate their own sources of capital. It was expected that tenants and landlords would have common national origins, another reflection of the immigrants' reliance on members of their own group for housing. Another expectation of the study was that Germans of different origins in Germany would exhibit different tenure patterns. Arguing that the term "German" was an imprecise indicator of national origins, and that the residential patterns of immigrants from different parts of Germany were distinct, it was expected that this diversity would also find expression in tenure patterns. The selection of the sample areas in the study was, therefore, conditioned by the need to isolate areas inhabited by Germans of diverse origins. Land tenure, property ownership, and relationships between landlords and tenants were analyzed. The hoped for differences in rates of property ownership did not materialize, and home ownership was not systematically related to age, income, or family employment. The findings do indicate, however, that home ownership was within the grasp of people with relatively low income. The mechanism which enabled home purchasers to obtain mortgages was the building and loan associations which were organized and directed by men whose origins, occupations, and residences reflected those of the associations' clientele. Thus, the hypothesis that immigrants generated their own mortgage funds was confirmed. The findings of the study concerning landlords and tenants further substantiate the argument that the provision of housing was accomplished by the immigrants themselves. Landlords' residences were close to the properties they rented, and there was a marked tendency for tenants to rent from landlords who shared their German origins.