As Christmas approaches, Deutsche Bank has stepped up its foreclosure activities across the US. In California, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan – where ever Americans are being forced out of their homes – Deutsche Bank is making its presence felt. According to the New York State attorney general, Deutsche Bank is one of the top ten banks responsible for foreclosures in New York City. The city of Springfield, Massachusetts has been devastated by a wave of foreclosures and local residents are shocked that international banks with no connection to the community hold title to the abandoned properties:
Sheila McElwaine knows all too well what absentee landlords and abandoned properties can do to a neighborhood.
Some of the houses have been foreclosed on;
others have simply been abandoned by their owners, who've stopped
paying taxes or maintaining the properties. Some shabby houses are
still occupied, either by legal tenants or squatters. Others are
vacant, with boarded-up doors and windows that don't necessarily
dissuade drug dealers or thieves looking to strip the old houses of
copper piping and other fixtures they can sell.
mortgage holders are likely to be national or international banks with
little if any connection to the city. "What the hell is Deutsche Bank
doing owning some dump on White Street?" McElwaine asked. "That's
mind-boggling. "
In central Michigan, Vidas Brown, an African-American woman with severe medical disabilities, was forced from her home, even though her lawyer showed she was the victim of fraudulent lending practices. Her eviction sparked protests against Deutsche Bank:
responded from cities as far away as New York and Baltimore. Brown’s
supporters flooded the Deutsche Bank headquarters on Wall Street with calls
demanding they stop the illegal foreclosure and eviction.
Throughout this unprecedented crisis, Deutsche Bank has maintained that it is not to blame for the untold misery it has inflicted on American homeowners. In fact, the bank sees itself as a victim of forces beyond its control and is not even responsible for the upkeep of the properties it has taken over:
“Deutsche Bank has consistently failed to take responsibility for
the maintenance and upkeep,” said the city’s complaint. “In fact,
Deutsche Bank has denied ownership of its own properties.”
Attorneys for Deutsche Bank did not return calls, but in court
filings, the company claimed any damages suffered by the neighborhood
were caused by “superseding, intervening forces” for which it is
“neither liable nor responsible.”
But now a big customer of Deutsche Bank – Donald Trump - has turned the tables on the lender, claiming that"superseding, intervening forces" prevent him from paying back a $40 million loan.
The project is the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago,
which is to be the second-tallest building in that city (after the
Sears Tower). By Mr. Trump’s account, sales were going great until “the
real estate market in Chicago suffered a severe downturn” and the
bankers made it worse by “creating the current financial crisis.”
Those assertions are made in a fascinating lawsuit filed by Mr.
Trump, the real estate developer, television personality and
best-selling author, in an effort to avoid paying $40 million that he
personally guaranteed on a construction loan that Deutsche Bank says is due and payable.
Rather than have to pay the $40 million, Mr. Trump thinks the bank
should pay him $3 billion for undermining the project and damaging his
reputation.
He points to a “force majeure” clause in the lending agreement that
allows the borrower to delay completion of the building if construction
is hampered by such things as riots, floods or strikes. That clause has
a catch-all section covering “any other event or circumstance not
within the reasonable control of the borrower,” and Mr. Trump figures
that lets him out, even though construction is continuing.
country since 1929 to be such an event? I would,” he said in an
interview. “A depression is not within the control of the borrower.”
