LINK
BB&T Corp., the second-biggest bank in the Washington area, said yesterday that it will not lend money to developers who plan to build commercial projects on land taken from private citizens through the power of eminent domain.
"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," said John Allison, the bank's chairman and chief executive officer.
BB&T Chief Credit Officer Ken Chalk said the North Carolina bank expects to lose only a tiny amount of business, but thinks it is obligated to take a stand on the issue.
"It's not even a fraction of a percent," he said. "The dollar amount is insignificant." But, he added, "We do business with a large number of consumers and small businesses in our footprint. We are hearing from clients that this is an important philosophical issue." ....
No Loans for Emminent Domain Projects....
Discussion in '2006 Archive' started by Bro. Curtis, Jan 26, 2006.
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Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>Site Supporter
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Great!
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Even though their stand does not cost them very much business, it is still good that they are sending that message.
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BB&T will be opening branches in Florida soon, it looks like I may be switching from Bank of America!!
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Hopefully the Supreme Court will revisit their ruling on Eminent Domain. Congress and/or the states could do something but who knows. I believe that Georgia already has.
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Perhaps, in an odd sort of way, Kelo (the SCOTUS decision) will turn out to be a good thing in motivating citizens to take a strong stand against the abuse of eminent domain. Even if the Supreme Court is correct in its interpretation of the Constitution on this issue (I don't agree; I believe they're wrong), citizens and responsive state and local governments, and in this case businesses, are making a needed correction.