There's a technical mortgage term that's been deservedly getting bad press, called "dual tracking." That's where a person with a delinquent loan tries to work out an arrangement with the lender, and while a loan is in review for some form of modification the lender continues to move ahead with the foreclosure process. Often this is done without the borrower's knowledge, with the end result being that the borrower loses his or her home without fully comprehending that they were even in such danger in the first place. Dual tracking is being regulated out of practice by the federal government, and Minnesota has been considering its own legislation to curtail the process.
Apparently though, when a house in Minneapolis is at risk of demolition, the city employs its own version of dual tracking. Not too long ago, I pointed out that there were viable structures on many Green Homes North parcels. KSTP did a nice follow-up piece, and the city even opened up some of these houses to inquiries by private parties who could do rehab work. Unbeknownst to those parties--who, by the way, are willing and able to put forward viable offers for rehab--Minneapolis has not slowed down their demolition processes in the least.
One house in the Willard-Hay neighborhood, pictured above, is another example of...
