State Banking Lobbyists Seek To Sneak Law Exempting Banks From Maintaining Abandoned Homes In Foreclosure Past Florida Legislature

The Mike Thomas Blog in the Orlando Sentinel opines:

• First came tarp. Then camp the compensation packages. And just when you thought banks had maxed out on the gag meter, we learned [Thursday] about their latest screw-you to taxpayers. The banks want to let their growing plague of foreclosed homes become overgrown, rotting eyesores that attract crime and drag down communities. Bankers are asking [Florida] state legislators to exempt them from having to maintain homes that have been abandoned because the banks recklessly sold them to speculators and others who could not afford them.

For more, see Sleazy banker ploy would devastate neighborhoods.

See also, The Miami Herald: Florida banks balk at taking care of vacant homes:

• [B]anking lobbyists have quietly crafted a measure in the Florida Legislature that would prevent cities and counties from forcing the banks that hold mortgages on properties in foreclosure to maintain those properties until they have actually acquired the title to the land. [...] Banking industry lobbyists hope to tack their language onto other legislation in the waning days of this year's legislative session, which is scheduled to end May 1.