Bank of America Corp., faced with a glut of foreclosed and abandoned houses it can't sell, has a new tool to get rid of the most decrepit ones: a bulldozer.
The biggest U.S. mortgage servicer will donate 100 foreclosed houses in the Cleveland area and in some cases contribute to their demolition in partnership with a local agency that manages blighted property. The bank has similar plans in Detroit and Chicago, with more cities to come, and Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Fannie Mae are conducting or considering their own programs.
Disposing of repossessed homes is one of the biggest headaches for lenders in the United States, where 1,679,125 houses, or 1 in every 77, were in some stage of foreclosure as of June, according to research firm RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine. The prospect of those properties flooding the market has depressed prices and driven off buyers concerned that housing values will keep dropping.
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