Millions of homeowners, through no fault of their own have seen their home values plummet 40% in three years. They want to know what can be done about this sorry state of affairs and why isn't somebody in Wall Street in jail.

An idea has popped up. What are the pros and cons of using the power of eminent domain  to seize property from wall street, stop the foreclosures and and sell the homes back to their owners at market price.

The cites and states get the tax base reestablished, neighborhood blight in the form of foreclosured properties which the banks don't bother to maintain could be stopped.

What do you think.

First here is some background. Then we discuss tomorow.

First the postive people who like the idea


http://news.blogs.wlu.edu/2012/08/16/eminent-domain-and-the-housing-crisis/
http://www.wbez.org/blogs/bez/2012-08/chicago-considers-eminent-domain-curb-foreclosures-101805

Then the one's who don't like the idea.

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Eminent-domain-risky-for-mortgage-relief-3764468.php

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120808-713739.html

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1091-housing/244289-wall-street-warns-against-using-eminent-domain-to-seize-underwater-mortgages

Is there a legal question?

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/17/3766967/questions-of-legality-dog-plans.html
 

Who is behind this idea?
http://www.loansafe.org/mortgage-resolution-partners-executive-defends-eminent-domain-proposal

What do the counties and cities say about this?


 http://sanbernardino.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=19&clip_id=2472

 http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/mortgage-banking-update-august-23-201-34998/

 http://raven.urljet.com/~rotwnews/2012/08/19/use-of-eminent-domain-on-underwater-mortgages-debated/

 What happens if you walk away from the mortgage?

http://www.candofinance.com/mortgages/what-happens-if-you-walk-away-from-your-mortgage/

8/28/12

What about underwater homeowners and who is blocking progress toward helping them and why?

 http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/246035-could-underwater-homeowners-swing-this-election

 http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/245701-principal-reduction-a-lifeline-for-underwater-homeowners

 8/31/12
What is happening with foreclosures this last quarter?

http://www.zacks.com/pr/82073/the-zacks-analyst-blog-highlights-jpmorgan-chase-bank-of-america-citigroup-wells-fargo-and-eli-lilly

 http://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-announces-final-components-california-homeowner

 9/25/12

Eminent domain--a weapon against wall street. Does it have a chance legally?

"Gideon Kanner, a prominent authority on eminent domain law and professor of law emeritus at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that while he thinks MRP’s proposal is terrible public policy with unpredictable legal consequences, there’s a good chance the courts will rule in favor of the eminent domain argument."

http://en.ria.ru/business/20120925/176203114.html

 "Some 22 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage—totaling 10.8 million homes—in the U.S. are underwater, according to data released this month by the business analytics company CoreLogic. Not all of these would be eligible for MRP’s plan, which would only target so-called “private label” mortgages—loans that are not backed up by the federal government—and would require the homeowner’s consent before moving forward, Gluckstern said."