Will Chicago Mob Linked Alderman Burke Use Eminent Domain to Seize Property to Help His Property Tax Business?

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Chicago's City Council is wading into the debate about whether governments should use their eminent domain power to save borrowers from foreclosure.

Under a controversial plan pitched by a San Francisco-based investment firm, municipalities and counties would use their eminent domain authority to buy up mortgages that are “underwater,” or exceed the value of the homes securing them. The governments would then reduce the principal owed on the loans and sell them to private investors.

Officials in Southern California and in New York already are considering the idea. Now, Chicago Ald. Edward Burke (14th) wants a joint committee to convene by mid-August to consider whether the city should pursue such tactics.

“This is something that's starting to percolate in all major cities around the country,” said Mr. Burke, the powerful chair of the council's Committee on Finance. “I'd like Chicago to be the first if it's beneficial.”

No word yet on whether future eminent domain threats will be run out of Alderman Burke's law firm which specializes in property tax appeals.