Fresh Greens

What a Waste: New Homes Demolished By Bank

By Maura Judkis

Posted: May 5, 2009

Here on this blog, there's a lot of talk about waste: How not to waste food, old electronics, energy, and more. But this story about waste may be the most egregious - a bank has decided to demolish new homes in Victorville, Calif. because it was cheaper than selling them in this market. As my colleague Luke Mullins pointed out, it's a sign of just how bad the housing market has gotten. It's also a troubling example of our American culture of disposability.

Says the Wall Street Journal:

Demolishing vacant houses in economically troubled, inner-city neighborhoods is common. But the demolitions in Victorville show how the housing market is weighing on lenders even in once-booming suburbs. The houses were built by a California developer less than two years ago, according to city records.

Because the homes were vacant, squatters had moved in, and the bank says that they tore them down for safety reasons. The demolition was estimated to have cost $100,000. Appliances were removed from the house before the demolition (either by the workers, or by vandals - the article doesn't say). Fortunately, some of the wood will be reused for construction projects in Mexico, while the rest will be ground up for mulch. You can watch the demolition crew move in here:

 

Oh for goodness sakes - Victorville is not exactly a garden spot

Victorville is a brutally hot place in the hight desert of Southern California. It was pure foolishness on the part of the original bank and developerto have built these silly McMansions in the first place. If the homes were not finished and simply left open to the elements, there is no way that the houses could have completed and sold. If the empty hulks were housing transients, prostitution, drug deals and out of control parties, then the bank did the rest of the area a favor.

Lynn of LA of CA @ Jun 21, 2009 14:05:32 PM

Home demolitions

The destruction of wealth due to the recession gathers pace.

US banks given trillion of dollars in tax payers money to let them off their own bad debts, are showing no such mercy to unemployed, or otherwise impoverished home owners who fall behind in their mortgages.

In the latest trend from America, banks, after throwing the former inhabitants on the street, are instead of letting these houses stand empty - Are rather demolishing perfectly good, and often brand new homes.

This in a country where tens of thousands of Americans and homeless, and many, many, more are forced to live in sub-standard, overcrowded and unhealthy housing.

This modern tactic, is the 21st century version of the burning of wheat and the driving of cattle off cliffs that was used to keep profits up, and bolster unafordable prices in the 1930s.

-While the poor starved.-

The only result of these brutal and wasteful tactics will be to make the recession worse.

Americans should be demanding that the taxpayer money gifted to the banks, instead of being used to bolster their profits, is used to lower mortgages to affordable levels. And/or, in case of default, due to no fault of the home owner, a moratorium on mortgage payments until the homeowner is back on their feet.

Here in New Zealand this was done in the 1930s when the government mandated a universal moratorium on mortgages.

Jenny @ May 30, 2009 21:23:20 PM

liability and not typical

This is not a typical situation. For a bank to demolish homes at a cost to them of 100,000 is the last thing that they rather do.

These houses were not finished and in the middle of the desert. It is a liability for these companies to give away these homes to anyone. If these houses were not built to meet the building codes it is very possible that it will take more money to fix them than it would to build new. Habitat for Humanity spends an average of 85,000 per house. If these houses were not properly finished, this probably would have cost more per house.

ryan of NJ @ May 12, 2009 16:31:43 PM

Add Your Thoughts
About You

advertisement

Fresh Greens

Fresh Greens

Maura Judkis is a producer at U.S. News. She writes about the green movement and looks for ways to be an ecofriendly consumer without breaking the bank. Send her your green tips.

advertisement

Best of Fresh Greens

4 Easy Ways to Be a Freegan

Thankfully, you don't have to dumpster-dive to subscribe to the freegan philosophy and reap the cost-saving benefits.

Philippe Cousteau, Jr: 5 Green Things My Grandfather Would Have Wanted You to Do

Cousteau sat down with U.S. News to share five green things that his grandfather and father would have wanted everyday consumers to do to protect our oceans and planet.

Don't Be Duped By E-Cycling Scams

When you turn your old technology over to an e-cycling drive, are you sure that it's in good hands?

advertisement

Subscribe

U.S. News Digital Weekly

A weekly insider's guide to politics and policy — in a multimedia, digital format. 52 issues for $19.95!

U.S. News & World Report

6 months of U.S. News & World Report's print edition for only $15. Save up to 67% off the cover price!