Miami, FL Oct. 24 - Economist Farid A. Khavari spoke out on Florida's growing housing crisis to a group of supporters yesterday.
"Unemployment brings more foreclosures, and foreclosures create more unemployment," said Khavari, who's hoping to stage a miraculous come-from-behind victory to become only the second independent in history to capture the Florida governorship.
"Without a strong construction industry, Florida's economy will never recover," Khavari said in his prepared remarks. "As long as there are hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes on the market, construction can't rebound, and unemployment will get worse.
"We have only seen the first wave of foreclosures, already about one in seven Florida homes," continued Khavari. "The impact of that will be many more foreclosures and far fewer jobs over the next two years. But we can fix this using our proposed taxpayer-owned bank."
Khavari's proposal for a publicly-owned bank has gained national attention, and gubernatorial candidates in seven other states, including Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, the Democratic nominee in Michigan, have adopted the concept. Khavari's state bank is modeled after the Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the nation.
"Our bank can buy the foreclosed homes at wholesale prices. We can sell them at six percent more than we pay, to cover real estate sales costs. Our bank can provide 2% fixed rate mortgages for 15 years," said Khavari. "In many cases, the owners would be able to stay in their homes, or buy another one at a price and monthly payment they can afford. The state can earn billions of dollars by doing this, at no cost to taxpayers," Khavari said, adding that the additional revenue could be used for property tax reductions throughout the state.
"We can stop foreclosures, end the housing crisis, and save Florida's economy," he boldly declared. "We will create employment as fast as we reverse the foreclosure cycle," he predicted.
Noting that forty-six percent of all homes in Florida are currently underwater, the third highest in the nation behind recession-ravaged Nevada and Arizona, the Iranian-born economist said that the Bank of the State of Florida could also provide refinancing for as low as an eye-squinting one-half of one percent for troubled homeowners with negative equity -- those who owe more than on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
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