California Mayor Attacks ‘Greed’ With Eminent Domain Bid

Gayle McLaughlin marched in Occupy Wall Street protests and rails against “corporate domination.” Now, as mayor of Richmond, California, the largest U.S. city with a Green Party leader, she wants to seize home loans and make lenders take less than they’re owed to help residents.

The refinery town of 106,000, where almost half of mortgages have higher values than the homes they financed, threatens to use eminent domain to force discounted sales of the notes. Investors say that would mean unfair losses, push lenders to withdraw from the market and expose the city to legal risks.