The latest foreclosure horror: the zombie title

The Kellers are caught up in a little-known horror of the U.S. housing bust: the zombie title. Six years in, thousands of homeowners are finding themselves legally liable for houses they didn't know they still owned after banks decided it wasn't worth their while to complete foreclosures on them. With impunity, banks have been walking away from foreclosures much the way some homeowners walked away from their mortgages when the housing market first crashed.

[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Jan 11, 2013 - 36 comments

After the 2005 Kelo (previously) decision, granting the city of New London, CT the right to seize dozens of homes to make way for a luxury development including a hotel, stores, and condominiums next to a Pfizer research facility. The Kelo House itself was spared - moved to another part of town. The rest were demolished. The planned development? It never happened. All that's left are empty fields. Oh, and the research facility? Pfizer just announced they'll be closing it
posted by delmoi on Nov 13, 2009 - 63 comments

San Francisco's Hugo Hotel, the current home of Brian Goggin's Defenestration, has been seized by eminent domian and will probably be demolished. Fear not; San Francisco has many other ancient hotels.
posted by fandango_matt on Jan 28, 2008 - 17 comments

When the Quabbin Reservoir is low, they say a church steeple rises from the water, a ghostly reminder of the towns submerged by the flooding of the Swift River Valley in 1939.

Enfield: "The residents of Enfield held a farewell ball in the town hall for their lost community."
Prescott: "The youngest of the four towns and the first to give up its identity in 1928"
Greenwich: "Where eastern Massachusetts saw four luckless, shabby towns, the residents saw a home."
Dana: "The Rabbit Run was used by school children. It was the only means of getting to daily classes at Athol High School"

'I had one guy in here who swore he remembered being a little kid on a boat with his dad, paddling around the steeple,"... He tries to set such visitors straight, but 'you can't just tell people they're crazy."
posted by jessamyn on Aug 20, 2007 - 46 comments

The town of Riviera Beach, FL is considering the use of eminent domain to relocate 6,000 poor, predominantly black citizens to make way for a yacht club. More fallout from the previously discussed Kelo vs. New London decision.
posted by knave on Oct 5, 2005 - 20 comments

New London Development Corporation Breaks Eminent Domain Moratorium Pledge, Starts Charging Rent. Previously discussed here and here, the Kelo case has just gotten more outrageous. Breaking its word and defying both Governor M. Jodi Rell and the Connecticut legislature, the New London Development Corporation (NLDC) has apparently now decided not to abide by a moratorium called for by both the governor and legislature.
posted by ZenMasterThis on Sep 14, 2005 - 35 comments

Justice Souter may rue his decision on eminent domain... I can't tell how serious the backers of this hotel 'proposal' may actually be, but I know that it brought a smile to my face. Anyone else think of some good "right back at'cha" antics after controversial rulings, mandates, etc. were made?
posted by tgrundke on Jun 28, 2005 - 97 comments

Under eminent domain, a federal agency can "condemn" a piece of property and convert it to public use for the benefit of the greater community, while providing monetary compensation to the property owner. In Mississippi, however, officials at the state's economic development agency said they must seize (NYT link, login readit11, pass readit) 23 acres in the hands of African-American hold-outs to prove to Nissan that they can. What's especially interesting is that the local newspaper has pretty much ignored that aspect of the story in favor of covering the economic benefits. Is this a case of the rights of the few ceding to the rights of the many, or a case of a local government pushing people around because it can?
posted by headspace on Sep 10, 2001 - 19 comments