BB&T Corp. (Winston-Salem, N.C.), the nation's ninth-largest financial holding company, announced it would deny loans to developers building shopping malls and other private projects on land acquired through eminent domain.
“The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided — in fact, it's just plain wrong,” said chairman and ceo John Allison.
BB&T, with more than 1400 branches — mainly in the Southeast — is believed to be the first bank to have made public such a policy. In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of officials in New London, Conn., to condemn homes and businesses to increase its tax base. of one of the state's poorest cities.
W. Kendall Chalk, an officer for the bank, told The New York Times that the bank recently turned down a loan for a private project that would have involved the forced sale of unoccupied land, but that such loan requests had been rare. However, Chalk said he felt the Supreme Court “opened the door wider,” making broader use of condemnation powers more likely. “We thought it was just timely to let people know how we feel,” he told The Times. “We are a very values-driven, principled organization.”