Brockton becoming battleground for eminent domain fight
“City Councilor Jass Stewart’s working group on a bold initiative to use eminent domain to stem the decline in city housing prices will listen today to a Wall Street trade group opposed to the idea.
The eminent domain working group will hold its second meeting today at the Brockton Public Library’s East Branch to consider Stewart’s proposal to use eminent domain to take the mortgage note of a resident in need of refinancing and transfer it to a lender interested in helping the resident refinance the loan, preventing possible foreclosure.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which has had representatives at previous Brockton meetings on the topic, will have Boston lawyer James Masterman of Greenberg Traurig LLP address the group on what they say is the illegality of the idea.
SIFMA representatives have traveled around the country to fight the idea – started by investors close to San Francisco-based Mortgage Resolution Partners – with Brockton becoming the latest battleground.”
Bloom, Alex. Enterprise News 20 March 2013.