patrick.net

curious2 says

"Richmond threatened last month to become the first city in the country to invoke eminent domain for underwater mortgages when it sent letters to 32 banks and other entities asking to purchase 624 home loans at a discount to current property values. If the institutions declined, the city said it would consider forcibly acquiring the mortgages through eminent domain. It would then help the homeowners refinance into smaller, more-affordable loans.

Why shouldn't renters get right of first refusal on the modified principle? If the principle on the house is going to be lowered, it should be lowered for the whole public, not just the greedy speculator who broke his contract to pay for the house.

Of course this is a mute issue because there is no way a municipality is going to be able to use eminent domain against big banks. Eminent domain is designed only to fuck over the little man, not the ruling class. The banks would just have the federal government step in and stop this and then the banks would punish the municipality by never loaning in that municipality again.

Dan8267 says

Why shouldn't renters get right of first refusal

It's about motivated constituencies and making everyone pay as much as possible. Renters don't borrow and spend enough, and are insufficiently motivated to organize, so they don't matter at all, and therefore they get nothing. Responsible borrowers can be required to repay their entire balance, so they don't get any bailouts. Irresponsible borrowers who borrowed and spent more than they could afford to repay are highly motivated, and they might default, which might reduce the property values of nearby owners, who are also highly motivated, so they get bailed out.

If the goal were to promote "home ownership" and if tenants mattered as a constituency, then the eminent domain plan would buy all the rental properties and sell them to the tenants with PITI based on what the property had been renting for. That doesn't happen, because "home ownership" is a slogan not a goal, and owners are a more powerful constituency than tenants.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

This is a serious abuse of eminent domain. The banks will challenge this and win. No one wants to behead and stump-fuck the banks more than me, but this isn't the way to do it.

The whole concept of Eminent Domain is really just expropriation of private property. I've never heard of them using it for public good, usually expropriation to hand over to some well connected jerk.

The whole country is just a mess lately.