Posted on 01/25/2006 8:56:54 AM PST by Littlejon
CHARLOTTE (AP) Regional bank BB&T Corp. will make no loans to developers who plan to build commercial projects on land taken from private citizens by the government through the power of eminent domain, the company said Wednesday.
"The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided, in fact it's just plain wrong," John Allison, chairman and chief executive of the Winston-Salem-based bank, said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at news-record.com ...
Forgot to post my comments!
Anyway, I ran across this and did a search before posting. All I can say is:
GOOD FOR THEM!!
I may just have to start banking at BB&T!
Impressive stance. I hope it pays off for them.
That's very nice of them.
Excellent.
We already do our banking with BB&T
Makes sense, they have more property to lose than anybody.
Just more business for the other banks in the region(s) affected.
I think the GOP should be making more hay than they apparantly are about Kelo. To me, Kelo is a great way to expose the lies of the left re: "extremism" on the court.
Let's hear it from the lefties about how eeeeevil corporations fatten their wallets on the backs of the needy, and we need government to step in and help. Whoops! Looks like the opposite is true.
It's a nice gesture, but is pretty much symbolic. The slack will be taken up by the nation's tenth-largest bank, or fourth-largest bank, or whichever bank is swayed more by potential revenue than by the desire to do what is morally right.
Interesting that it's the bankers, not the government, protecting "the little guy" here.
Tell it like it is BUMP!!!!!!
Are you happy with them? We "inherited" Wachovia as a result of a series of mergers and are not thrilled with them. Our mortgage is already with BB&T, and I might just switch the rest of our banking to them.
Amazing, putting principle over profit! (short term, anyways).
Changing eminent domain law to require that the home/business owner be paid, not the prevailing market price, but 3X the prevailing market price, PLUS, if it is a business, the equivalent of 5 years of net income before a government can take any property could help also.
They will be getting my business in the future.
Bump!
I think I'll go open an account at BB&T later this week. I'll be sure to let them know why.
On the other hand, Congress could pass legislation prohibiting all banks from making such loans. They could also prohibit selling municipal tax-free bonds for those purposes. I think if Republicans introduced such legislation, DemocRATS would have little choice but to go along with it.
I am a former regulator and current banker. I heard Allison speak at a conference about 3 years ago. He seems to be a level-headed, values-oriented person. Based on my limited knowledge of him, he seems to be the kind of business leader this country needs a lot more of.
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