EDITOR:
I'm thinking it is time to punish the big banks, their CEOs and other corporate officers for their greed and letting our communities and nation suffer at their hands.
My immediate neighborhood has two vacant foreclosed upon homes. The one right across the street had a qualified buyer who, while waiting for escrow to close, paid to have a plumber replace a hose bib and have the water turned on so the landscaping would not die over the summer.
The big mega bank who owns this property reneged on the deal, for some unknown reason, and it is now sitting empty. I just checked out this unlocked house and found that the pipes have not been winterized. Thanks to the negligence of the bank, the pipes in this house will freeze tomorrow when the temperature drops below zero. They could have paid a plumber about $100 to winterize the house, but no, they would rather not spend that money and protect their investment. Better to pad their bottom line, artificially protect their stock prices and maximize the CEOs' bonuses in the short term.
The other house has a person who really wants to buy it and has, at his own expense, just winterized the plumbing. He has made numerous and constant attempts to get the big bank to sell him the house or even give him some information on when they would sell it, all to no avail. Just to protect the home that he is dreaming of buying he had to take matters into his own hands and winterize it himself. The bank could care less.
I am going to close my accounts at the big bank and move my money to one of the small community banks here in Douglas County.
I would suggest that we look around our neighborhoods and our nation. If the mega banks are not being the good corporate citizens that we feel that they should be, maybe we all should take our money and business elsewhere.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have no financial or personal interest in any bank large or small.
John Hunter
Gardnerville
