San Bernardino County eminent domain mortgage ripoff

June 29, 2012

By John Seiler

Our colleague Steven Greenhut has a column up on Bloomberg on as scam in San Bernardino County:

“Officials in San Bernardino County, California, believe they have figured out a clever way to solve the county’s, and possibly the nation’s, housing problems.

“Detailed by a Cornell University professor, and pitched by influential San Francisco investors who stand to make a fortune from it, this new idea is based on one of the oldest concepts: the taking of other people’s property.

“County officials, joined by the cities of Ontario and Fontana, are considering using an expansive interpretation of eminent domain — typically used to acquire real property to build public works — to seize the mortgages, not the real property, of those homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth.”

Read the rest here.

And Greenhut’s book on eminent domain, “Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain,” is available on Amazon.com.