[quote=briansd1]Think of it this way: from a purely economic view, houses that are unused, just like factories that are idle, are a huge economic waste.
If you believe in economic efficiency, you would want all houses to be used to provide shelter for people and for the benefit of society.
I’m all for putting houses to use rather than let them sit empty, idle, wasting away simply because of a bottleneck in the financial system.[/quote]
If the banks were to foreclose in a timely fashion and then put the damn homes on the market they way they’re supposed to — and the way they always have in the past — there would be no empty homes (not for any significant amount of time). We have empty homes because the banks aren’t foreclosing and selling the homes in a timely manner.
These deadbeat losers aren’t doing us any favors. These are the idiots who were over-bidding against rational buyers during the bubble. These were the idiots who forced responsible people to rent and spend years of their lives waiting for prices to correct so they could buy homes at prices they could afford without gimmicky loans. Let these dirtbag deadbeats suffer for their irresponsible actions. They deserve no sympathy.
If we keep deadbeat borrowers in their homes, they we need to have laws that protect renters equally. Are you in favor of laws that prevent the eviction of tenants if they endure tough economic times, too? If we protect one group, we have to protect the other; otherwise, we are discriminating against renters who are more often poor and/or members of minority groups.
