Wall Street’s Frightening New Plan To Become America’s Landlord

Banks, hedge funds and private equity firms have been amassing real estate holdings for a few years now in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, but their plan for wringing profit out of the rental market is just starting to draw real scrutiny.

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What U.S. Revolutionary Past Reveals About Richmond Battle For Eminent Domain

Mortgage relief schemes played an important role in our nation’s history as states passed laws to help debtors. Still, foreclosures became increasingly common, and a mini-revolution erupted when angry farmers organized themselves.

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Richmond Expands Battle for Eminent Domain To Save Homeowners From Foreclosure

The eminent domain plan—in which cities like Richmond will forcibly acquire mortgages at discounts, then help homeowners refinance into smaller and more affordable home loans—is gaining mainstream acceptance as a form of principal reduction.

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Revealed: Blackstone Group Exploited Foreclosure Crisis And Seized Homes Cheap

The world's largest private equity firm has amassed an unprecedented rental empire by buying foreclosed homes at knock-off prices —from Queen Anne Victorians in Atlanta to brick-faced bungalows in Chicago to Spanish revivals in Phoenix.

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New Jersey Town To Rescue Foreclosed Homeowners Through Eminent Domain

On Saturday, Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith announced the township’s plan to “take” and revalue foreclosed homes at market rates for public benefit using the legal doctrine of “eminent domain” -- making it the second U.S. city to exercise the measure.

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A Film About the Fed, Funded by the Mortgage Crisis

As millions of Americans invested in new homes in the mid 2000's, filmmaker Jim Bruce was already investing in the housing market's implosion.

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Homeowners Jailed, Protesters Brutally Tased at DOJ Demonstrations

A two-day long housing protest outside the Department of Justice this week has resulted in nearly 30 arrests and several instances of law enforcement unnecessarily using tasers on activists.

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Revealed: Atlantans Lost Nearly $1 Billion in Wealth Due to Foreclosures in 2012

Communities of color lost more than double the wealth of predominantly white communities in the Atlanta housing crisis in 2012.

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Stiglitz: Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream

Like the housing crisis that preceded it, the student debt crisis is intimately connected to America’s soaring inequality.

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As the Foreclosure Crisis Drags On, So Does Flawed Government

We've been keeping a close watch on whether the government is keeping its promises about compensating victims of the foreclosure crisis, which just ended its sixth year.

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