Fighting Foreclosures With Eminent Domain

Brad Miller writes about a way for cities to rescue underwater mortgages from the banks.

The fight over using eminent domain to prevent foreclosures is on again. Wall Street banks crushed an effort earlier this year by California’s San Bernardino County supervisors—in a community devastated by foreclosures and collapsing home values—with threats of ruinously expensive litigation and a lending boycott.

Despite the bullying, the anti-foreclosure idea has been explored by a number of cities, including North Las Vegas and El Monte, a suburb of Los Angeles. The tactic is simple: Municipalities buy mortgages that are likely to end up in foreclosure and negotiate new mortgages that homeowners can afford.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Wall Street Journal. Click here to view the full article.

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