Bulldozing foreclosed homes

[Evil_Conservative]

 

Banks have a new remedy to America's ailing housing market: Bulldozers.
There are nearly 1.7 million homes in the U.S. in some state of foreclosure. Banks already own some of these homes and will soon have repossessed many more. Many housing economists worry that near constant stream of home sales from banks could keep housing prices down for years to come. But what if some of those homes never hit the market.

But what would you do with the land once the houses are demolished??

The land is then going to be donated back to the local government authorities.

What would the government do with the land?

The local governments like these deals because they get free land to develop or use for open space.

Oh okay.  Sounds good. 

http://news.yahoo.com/bulldoze-way-foreclose-102000063.html

[DumbAss Tanker]

Unless the banks totally defraud the IRS on the value of their 'Donation' and try to label a vacant fractional-acre lot as worth their entire loss, this just seems to make no sense for them at all except perhaps in a few extremely limited and special locations. As for the towns, it means taking over property as a revenue-user that used to be a revenue-generator.  I think the author's been hitting the bong.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

... I think the author's been hitting the bong.

A couple fo weeks ago I saw a thread at DU where they were applauding a trial balloon floated by the Podium-pounder-in-Chief wherein he suggested the government take over abandoned homes and rent them.

Maybe it's just me but the tenor the article seemed to have a back-handed whiff of that idea about it as it seems to paint the banks as lacking ingenuity for "better" use of the properties.

[Rugnuts]

i think the banks should take the ~1.7million?? homes and sell them for whatever they can get and deal with the losses. if they cant handle the losses and go belly up themselves, they shouldn't have made the loans in the first place

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

i think the banks should take the ~1.7million?? homes and sell them for whatever they can get and deal with the losses. if they cant handle the losses and go belly up themselves, they shouldn't have made the loans in the first place

They're only allowed to write loans the government regulates for them.

There's too much blame on all sides but alas, there's too much liability for us to cover. Remember: the money banks lose is depositors' money. That's grandma's savings, dad's retirement and sis' college.

Let the government stick to its charter of protecting us from force and fraud but it needs to stop trying to enforce/promote "fairness". Let the banks deal with the properties according to the best devises of their bean counters with a firm understanding htere will be no bailouts. The sooner the properties devalue and get sold at proper market prices the sooner the economy can get a fix on its true position. However, in the urge to protect asset prices at the height of the bubble all the government has done is incentivize banks to maintain a distorted market.

Unfortunately, you'll never get that with the current crop of knuckleheads.

[true_blood]

Thanks for posting that EC.
More people, i.e, the DUmmies, need to see these reports and what is happening right before their very eyes. They still may be too DUmb to fully comprehend, unfortunately.