Dyna writes: "The great flaw in the land trust is that it creates permanent dependency- the residents will never really be homeowners and will forever be at the mercy of the landowners.
.........and given some appreciation the land trust could end up being quite the robber barons- consider what would happen if they reinvested the appreciation in more land... They could end up owning most of the "hoods." Vicky adds: This is EXACTLY what happened on the West Bank. Twenty-five years ago, the hippies who read Karl Marx in its original German form, set up "Housing Cooperatives" using the exact same sales pitch being used now for "Land Trusts." Of course you know what happened.....the Marxists morphed into Capitalists (after obtaining title to the real estate, at no cost, from the City) and their business entities still own and manage almost all of the housing in the neighborhood. These feudal lords cannot bear to part with all of those assets and the annual cash flow that the serfs generate. Not only that, they avoid paying taxes by setting up an intricate web of SPE's (special purpose entities) -- some of which are non-profit corporations, others are for-profit corporations and partnerships. The only people who became "owners" were a handful of insiders. They obtained their homes for FREE, paid themselves handsomely to rehab them, and then sold them for large profits, and moved away.......leaving behind a path of destruction: 10% homeownership and 46% poverty rates. Vicky Heller North Oaks REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
