Portland Votes on Foreclosures for First Time in 50 Years

ABC News ^ | 15 June 2016 | gillian flaccus

[Lorianne]

The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with a plan to foreclose on so-called "zombie homes" for the first time in 50 years as the city grapples with a swelling population and skyrocketing home costs that are locking new homeowners out of the market.

Commissioners and the mayor voted 4-0 in favor of the plan, with one member absent. The vote targets five of the city's worst abandoned properties, the first part of a long-term plan to free up housing in an overheated market while clearing out squatters who have plagued developing neighborhoods outside the city's hip core for years. They also voted to alter city code so Portland can sell a foreclosed property for its market value and not just for what's owed in liens.

"What they are doing is cynically manipulating the system and the real estate market to enjoy the rise of property values, but leave the problems to the city and their neighbors," Mayor Charlie Hales said of the absentee owners before the vote. "It's a necessity that you take care of your property and in this real estate market it's quite possible to do so. So this is the right thing to do."

Homeowners who live next to some of the properties applauded the move, saying the blighted homes had taken a huge toll on their communities.

[exDemMom]

The last time I went house hunting, we looked at an absolutely charming brick home. We all loved it. Unfortunately, one of its downsides was that the house next door appeared abandoned. There were a couple of other downsides, as well.

So we ended up in a not quite as charming house, but all of the houses around us have occupants.

[tbw2]

Baltimore is a bad example to follow. Per the Institute for Justice, which has fought eminent domain abuse for years:
“Often, areas that were well-functioning (if unappealing in planners’ eyes) became emptied-out slums only after they were designated as part of a renewal area or were unlucky enough to sit in the path of a planner transit artery thought necessary to revitalize downtown,” Walters and Miserendino continue.”

[BigEdLB]

[Steven Scharf]

Please include the state in the headline when not clear where a locality is. There are several Portlands in the US including the original, Portland Maine. We don’t want people to be confused with the left coast socialist city. We are the right coast socialist city.

[COBOL2Java]

Bob Wheeler, who has lived in the same house since he was 14 years old, stands outside a neighboring fire-damaged, abandoned and boarded-up house in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, June 14, 2016. City officials in this booming Pacific Northwest metropolis have developed a plan to foreclose on so-called "zombie homes" for first time in 50 years as Portland grapples with a swelling population and skyrocketing home costs that threaten to lock new homeowners out of the market. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

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[dfwgator]

[Flavious_Maximus]

“... as the city grapples with a swelling population”

All illegal aliens and Obama refugees? I hope the city gets what it deserves.

[SunkenCiv]

The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with a plan to foreclose on so-called "zombie homes" ...Commissioners and the mayor voted 4-0 in favor of the plan, with one member absent. The vote targets five of the city's worst abandoned properties... while clearing out squatters who have plagued developing neighborhoods outside the city's hip core... They also voted to alter city code so Portland can sell a foreclosed property for its market value and not just for what's owed in liens... "It's a necessity that you take care of your property and in this real estate market it's quite possible to do so. So this is the right thing to do."

Nothing like limo libs runnin' things, eh?

[SunkenCiv]

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales withdraws re-election bid [wanted to **** up everything as a lame duck, instead]
October 26, 2015
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/10/portland_mayor_charlie_hales_w_2.html

Charlie Hales wants tax hike on businesses in final Portland budget
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/05/charlie_hales_wants_tax_hike_o.html

Controversy erupts over business tax hike in Mayor Charlie Hales’ budget
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/05/controversy_erupts_over_tax_hi.html

Charlie Hales and Nick Fish got into a big argument Thursday. You can watch it.
The dispute is tied to Hales’ final budget as mayor. Last week, despite record revenues, Hales proposed a tax increase on businesses so he could cram an additional $8.7 million worth of spending into his budget.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/05/charlie_hales_and_nick_fish_go.html

Charlie Hales Lived in Washington State for Tax Purposes from 2004 to 2009
June 27, 2011
http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-27305-charlie-hales-lived-in-washington-state-for-tax-purposes-from-2004-to-2009.html

[Salvation]

If you would like more information about what's happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me.

Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

[Catmom]

I come down to Portland all the time.

If the population is booming it seems to be an equal mix of affluent hipsters and psycho homeless people.

[VanShuyten]

You missed the chance to buy all of those places for $1.

Baltimore offered those places for a dollar, but (surprisingly) the neighborhoods didn’t improve.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Why don’t we just nuke Portland from space and call it a successful day?

[rolling_stone]

Portland has to wait in line...