Steven Greenhut on the Eminent Domain Mortgage Grab

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2012/06/steven-greenhut-on-the-eminent-domain-mortgage

Steven Greenhut has a Bloomberg View column explaining why the eminent domain mortgage grab moving ahead in San Bernardino County, California is a bad idea:

Grabbing private mortgages could lead to a widespread reluctance by private firms to lend money in the county -- or at least an increase in the cost of lending in that area. That would be a particular problem given that an obstacle to a revived housing market, especially in low-income, high-unemployment areas, is the inability of homebuyers to qualify for mortgages....Rather than advancing a public good, the main beneficiary of this idea would be those private interests most adept at manipulating the government. Policy makers should reject this abuse of property rights and allow the housing market to do what it already is doing -- recover on its own.

by Editor  |  Jun 29, 2012 at 3:20 pm Related Topics:  Housing receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list