Deutsche Bank: America's Foreclosure King

There is no question that the subprime mortgage crisis has been devastating for communities across the US.  Entire neighborhoods have been virtually abandoned as homeowners are forced to walk away from properties they can longer afford. For many Americans, the dream of owning one's home has become a nightmare. Many cities are now pleading to Washington for emergency aid:

“We’re the ones left boarding up these places, cutting their grass, doing demolition on the abandoned structures, picking up the trash, making sure no one breaks in,” said Mayor Frank Jackson of Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which includes Cleveland, has more than 16,800 homes that have been abandoned because of foreclosures.

Cleveland is the first major city to file lawsuits against banks for their predatory lending practices that created this crisis in the first place.  At the top of the list  is Deutsche Bank, which foreclosed on more the 5,000 homes in the area so far. In another part of Ohio, Deutsche Bank has earned the ire of a community activist - Pete Witte - who is trying to preserve a section of Cincinnati from the widening epidemic of foreclosures:

The community activist, a Republican, reserves most of his anger for big banks, particularly Deutsche Bank, which serves as a large trustee for foreclosed homes in Ohio. An analysis by the local newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, last November found that Deutsche Bank National Trust "owned" 188 homes in Hamilton County, more than anyone except for the federal government, and was taking on nine or 10 newly foreclosed properties a week. "Deutsche Bank doesn't show up, the city can't even find them. They almost act as if they don't own the property," Mr Witte says.

Nor are Deutsche Bank's foreclosure activities limited to Ohio.  A community activist organization in Boston - City Life/Vida Urbana - as been staging protests throughout the city to prevent the foreclosure eviction of homeowners.  The group has been putting up flyers around town warning against Deutsche Bank's business practices: Deutsche Bank Facts.

Comments

[Bob]

Visited Cleveland last month, and parts of the community are quite devastated. A major problem that's now looming is that property values will be reassessed downwards, lowering property taxes, leaving city budgets with even less money for services.

These sorts of images are becoming more and more common in Cleveland:

http://pirancafe.wordpress.com/2008/01/06/400-down/