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A group of investors has a novel way of forcing mortgage write-downs. They want county governments to condemn the mortgages on underwater homes allowing them to be bought out of mortgage pools at fair market value. Their plan is to then issue new mortgages to current homeowners that reflect the market value of their homes.

It’s a neat idea. I can’t vouch for the legality of this approach, but serious people have spent a lot of time developing it. If it works, it could allow hundreds of thousands of homeowners to get out from underneath crushing debt burdens.