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John E. Nail was born in 1883. In 1904, he was persuaded by Philip A. Payton to join the Afro-American Realty Company, which was based in Harlem. Nail immediately took advantage of a recession that was lowering real estate prices in Manhattan. Withheld loans and foreclosed mortgages caused landlords to drop rents and accept more diverse tenants as building owners tried to recover their investments. Nail united black renters and white landlords while simultaneously eroding an unwritten “covenant” whereby certain blocks in Harlem blocks were supposed to remain white. Nail and his associates found new black tenants who were willing to pay higher rates for better-quality housing in Harlem, and Afro-American Realty helped thousands move into homes and apartments between Fifth and Seventh avenues despite vocal opposition from the white Property Owners Protective Association of Harlem. Afro-American Realty protected its market by acquiring five-year leases on properties owned by whites and rented them at 10 percent above deflated market prices.