Social Justice and the Nevada Housing Market

Rattlesnake near Chilnualna Falls, Yosemite N.P. - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being.
Social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution. These policies aim to achieve what developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity than may currently exist in some societies, and to manufacture equality of outcome in cases where incidental inequalities appear in a procedurally just system.
Wikipedia

Historically low interest rates coupled with one of the recession’s most severely impacted housing markets should make Nevada a paradise for bargain hunters trying to escape California’s high taxes.  With the Silver State’s excessive home inventory, and many owners unable to make payments, how can there be too few houses for sale?

In March of this year Steven Miller wrote an article in the Nevada Journal about the effects of Nevada law AB 284, which makes it prohibitively difficult for banks to foreclose on delinquent owners.  From 2009-2011 Nevada averaged 5411 foreclosures per month, but since implementation of AB 284 the rate has dropped to 211 per month.  Banks simply have ceased foreclosing, since the law makes it a felony punishable by at least a year in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine for the slightest deviation from procedures.  Attorneys, defaulted owners, and the social justice entourage hail AB 284, but for the majority of Nevadans it is a bad law which has unnecessarily deepened and lengthened the recession.

The reasoning behind the law is convoluted and consistent with the philosophy of social justice.  Nevada Assembly leader Marcus Conklin, the main sponsor of the bill, stated categorically, “This bill is not about recovery.  It is about justice, plain and simple.”  Mr. Conklin got his way; housing prices continue to fall, and banks are unable to evict owners who are years behind in their house payments.

Contrast the situation with that in Phoenix, another hard hit area during the housing crisis.  As opposed to Nevada, housing prices are on the rebound and inventory is ample, since banks are able to sell distressed property to new owners who can make their mortgage payments.

We can thank Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and the Marcus Conklin’s of the world for making and prolonging a housing crisis for which they are in large part responsible.  Their quixotic attempts at social engineering are lauded in the press for righting the great wrongs of the world, but their efforts are misguided and of great cost to society.  Six trillion dollars have been spent since the War on Poverty was declared in 1965 with only a 3% improvement to mark the effort.  Social justice is a euphemism for wealth redistribution and equality of result, not opportunity.  Laws and programs based on this utopian concept do not allow the market place to correct itself and pave the road to widespread economic stagnation and a lower standard of living for all.