Did Citizen Greed Cause the Foreclosures

To stop or slow foreclosures, what should the Columbia Heights City Council do. The real estate foreclosure problem was predicted by some economists as early as 1999. That makes the City Council nine years late in getting involved with foreclosures. The Council knew that the Federal Reserve was printing money to lower interest rates and telling banks to drop their mortgage qualifications for home buyers. Also, for the first time that I can remember since 1929 people were being told that they could make good long term money in real estate investment. Then City subsidized development helped to give the allusion that the good times would never stop.

The Federal Reserve can't just keep printing money to keep interest rates in the US low, so rates will rise. Because of inflation of the money supply, goods cost more. Even more alarming is that government spending is going up much faster than inflation, including the City of Columbia Heights. The Council plans to subsidize two more strip malls on Central Ave this year. The Council must not live here because it is easy to see the vacant store fronts already along Central Ave. The City subsidized development will drive existing commercial property owners into foreclosure and force ma and pop businesses to close their doors. Finally, the city spent a lot of money helping to build condominiums, which in a slow economy, are the residential units least likely to sell and to experience the biggest drop in value.

At a Council meeting, all the Council members felt that they were not responsible in anyway with the foreclosure problem. The Council stated that it was due to greedy people. In other words, the citizens that voted the Council in are the problem. The Council has not even studied the problem to determine what would be a workable solution. The Council “Solution” (RIBS – residential inspection before sale) has no studies to show that its benefits outweigh the increases from fees, cost of regulatory delays, or quick fixes in selling Columbia Heights neighborly homes.

What can the Council do to reduce foreclosures.
Stop all city development plans now. Development appears to be about 20% of the City budget.
Reduce taxes to help keep citizens in their homes and increase the pool of potential home buyers for affordable family homes in Columbia Heights.
Reduce/eliminate regulations that interfere with the selling of homes in Columbia Heights.
Allow the selling of homes “as is.” This greatly reduces the chances that a home will sit vacant and become an eye sore.
Listen to citizens and put a sign on the door to City Hall that says, “No Solicitation from Developers.”

The main concern of the Council should not be increasing the value of property so they will collect more taxes to spend and buy votes. The concern should be keeping Columbia Heights “Affordable and Neighborly.” People move to Columbia Heights because of the friendships that they can form here. After all, people are more important than things.

Bob Odden
Candidate for Mayor of Columbia Heights
“Affordable and Neighborly”