No, this is not a right-wing screed railing against the invisible hordes, this is a concrete plan to keep towns afloat and keep a roof over people's heads.
It has a side effect of helping the economy, and it does so in a most delicious way.
I think you will like it...
Every empty house represents lost revenue for the town. Even if someone is paying the property tax for the house, it creates expenses for the town. They may be called on to perform the evictions, they may have to perform basic services such as mowing the lawn, and there are problems with crime.
Many have heard about the Cook County sheriff who is refusing to evict people from homes they do not own.
I thinks towns could run with that theme and take it even further. If a home has sat unsold for a year, then the town should offer to allow anyone to move in to the house if they can pre-pay the property tax for one year. The tax payment would come with a promise not to evict in the event the property is sold until the contract is up.
Since the town is the only ones who can legally perform the eviction, it would tie the hands of the banks.
I'm not sure what kind of law suit a bank could launch against a town unwilling to carry out an eviction, but a town could notify the bank that it has entered into a contract with an occupant for the duration of 1 year. At the end of the year, the town will offer another 1 year extension unless the bank shows proof that it has sold the property to someone who will reside in the house, and has notified the town at least 2 months prior to the contract termination date.
In other words, the bank should be prepared to add terms for any sale of the property to include the one-year current resident contract. If the banks get snippy, then the town could hint that an eminent domain filing could be in the works using a very low assessment.
The town could also encourage the bank and the resident to get together to see if something could be worked out between them, as long as the bank knew that the resident had the support of the militia sheriff in the event of threats by the bank.
This might make banks think twice about foreclosing. The foreclosures are what is killing the banks anyway. If towns forced the issue, it could actually put a floor under the housing market, which could stop the free-fall of MBS loss the banks are currently experiencing.
Leave it to the banks to hate an idea that could help them. They like the idea of just taking our money and loaning it back to us.
That is what makes this feel sweet.