Eminent Domain policy

Today one of the larger banks in the South-east U.S., BB&T, announced that it would no longer provide loans to developers who have obtained the land by eminent domain. The policy is in response to a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in New London, CT, where the court found that eminent domain could be used to give property to developers based on the anticipated higher tax revenues. I think this reasoning is excessively favorable to developers at the expense of the constitutional protection provided by limits to the government's power of eminent domain. And now, as far as I (or the Financial Times) can find, BB&T becomes the first financial institution to create a policy targeted against excessive use of eminent domain for private gain. From the press release:

“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 BB&T Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Allison.

“One of the most basic rights of every citizen is to keep what they own. As an institution dedicated to helping our clients achieve economic success and financial security, we won’t help any entity or company that would undermine that mission and threaten the hard-earned American dream of property ownership.”

Hopefully this will not be the last company to make this controversy into policy.