The city council in North Las Vegas rejected a plan proposed by Mortgage Resolution Partners to utilize the power of eminent domain to refinance underwater mortgages. The plan was struck down in a five-to-zero vote. Per Reuters:
"They want the performing mortgages they assume will default two, three, four years down the road. That's a mighty big assumption with property values climbing," said City Councilman Wade Wagner.
MRP has proposed that eminent domain can be used if holders of underwater mortgages do not sell them to cities at a discount pegged to their properties' current value. Then the loans can be refinanced and made less costly for their borrowers, MRP says.