Two of the key players in the battle between mortgage investors and and backers of an eminent domain plan talk about the controversial scheme, while a Realtor says his town has no business participating in the plan.
Richmond, Calif., Mayor Gayle McLaughlin tells her constituents that the city can force investors of private-label mortgage-backed securities to dramatically write down the balances on severely underwater loans by using the city’s power of eminent domain.
McLaughlin walks through a Richmond neighborhood as she is interviewed about her city’s plans to move forward with strategy.
The interview was part of a segment aired Thursday on PBS Newshour.
Steven Gluckstern, chairman of Mortgage Resolution Partners, says of Wall Street in the story, “for whatever reason, they don’t like this.”
Gluckstern and MRP, as well as the city of Richmond, stand to profit from each mortgage that is written down.
Among those apposed to MRP’s plan is local Realtor Jeffrey Wright.
“If a lender wants to renegotiate, that’s between the lender and the borrower,” Wright said. “It’s not for a municipality, such as the city of Richmond, to become an interloper into someone else’s agreement.”
