It's not just San Bernardino anymore. Chicago is the latest government to explore using its power of eminent domain to take mortgages away from their owners and give them to new investors attracted by the prospect of using government force to buy the mortgages at below-market prices. The Chicago City Council reportedly heard a resolution on July 25 "that the Corporation Counsel, the Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Economic Development, the Chief Financial Officer, and representatives from the residential mortgage industry are hereby invited to appear before the Joint Committee of the Committee on Finance and Committee on Housing and Real Estate to testify at a hearing concerning the implementation of a program under which the City of Chicago would, acquire underwater mortgages through eminent domain."
If Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Chicago pulls this off, it's only a matter of time before President Obama tries this bad idea on a nationwide level.
