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- Cheap Business Phone Service - Make phone calls anywhere for free or darn close to it.
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My Favorite Credit Resources
- Consolidate Your Debt - One monthly payment. Stop collection calls.
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- Credit Report / Credit Score - This consolidated report is better than most.
- Credit Cards - Find the best card for you for low rates, balance transfer, credit rebuilding and rewards.

Jan

2008

Banks Held Accountable For Community Damage From Abandoned Homes

Posted by Steve Rhode as Banking, Cool Things

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Business Week online has an excellent article worth a visit that looks at the lender responsibility for damage done to homes and communities as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.

With more home sitting empty, the tumble on impact is not only blighted some communities but in the case of places like Buffalo, New York with an estimated 7,500 abandoned and empty homes, the city is without tax revenue with neglected and abandoned homes on their hands. In a reasonable and unique approach the city is holding lenders, that are now in control of these abandoned houses, financially responsible for their upkeep and repairs.

It is a very interesting point. Abandoned houses can lead to the running down of a neighborhood, loss of property values and loss of tax income. If the lenders had not been so reckless in their lending the rate of defaults would not be as high. If abandoned houses are the result of the banks lending practices, hold the banks financially responsible.

The mortgage crisis has blighted the landscape with boarded-up houses. Now a few cities are holding giant lenders accountable for what foreclosure leaves behind.

“On Dec. 17 in a windowless Buffalo courtroom, Cindy T. Cooper, a prosecutor for the city, buzzes among a dozen men in suits, cutting deals. “You’ve got to unboard [the house], go in, and clean it out,” she tells one. “If all the repairs are done quickly, I wouldn’t ask for any fines.” To another, she says, “the gutters weren’t done right,” and asks to see receipts for the work. It’s “Bank Day” in Judge Henry J. Nowak’s housing courtroom, more typically a venue where landlords and tenants duke it out over evictions and back rent. Instead, Cooper is asking lawyers for CitiFinancial, JPMorgan Chase, and Countrywide Financial to fix problems like peeling paint, broken masonry, and overgrown or trash-filled yards at houses the city says the banks are responsible for maintaining.

It may be surprising to find these financial-services giants hauled before this obscure local tribunal. In fact, Cooper and Nowak are at the forefront of a pioneering effort to deal with a vexing problem: the surging number of vacant and abandoned homes resulting from the mortgage market meltdown.” - Excerpt. Read full article here.