Leaning on the at-risk

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: TimesUnion.Com

Nearly a dozen major banks and hedge funds, anticipating quick profits from homeowners who fall behind on property taxes, are quietly plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses that collect the debts, and tacking on escalating fees and threatening to foreclose on the homes of those who fail to pay.

The investors, which include Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have purchased from local governments the right to collect delinquent taxes on several hundred thousand properties, many in distressed housing markets, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found.

In many cases, banks and hedge funds created new companies to do their bidding. They gave the companies obscure, even whimsical names and used post office boxes as their addresses, masking Wall Street's growing role as a surrogate tax collector.

In exchange for paying overdue real estate taxes, the investors gain legal powers to collect the debt and levy fees. At first, property owners may owe little more than a few hundred dollars, only to find their bills soaring into the thousands. Some jurisdictions tack on bills, such as for water, sewer and sidewalk repair.



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Leaning-on-the-at-risk-709912.php

[No Elephants]

1. Pleasant dreams, turds.

[Jefferson23]

2. From the OP: "The question becomes: Do you mind being a vulture and preying on people?"

Answer: Of course they don't mind, it's what they live for...fucking bastards.

[txlibdem]

3. Please tell me this is a hoax

Or something from The Onion...?