Oregon Invests In Blight

The Oregon Investment Council (OIC) approved investing $600 million of PERS money in Lone Star, a venture investment firm, at the end of January. This money is part of $10 billion Lone Star is seeking to buy up distressed mortgage lenders and faltering commercial properties. Is taking a bet on foreclosure vultures really a good deal? What do the candidates for Oregon Treasurer have to say about Lone Star’s scofflaw reactions when the foreclosed properties become public nuisances?

When you buy up “distressed” mortgage lenders, you get their portfolios of foreclosed properties. How’s that working out? Back east Lone Star is sticking it to local taxpayers. Bloomberg News reports that in Boston:

"The [shuttered] Lone Star condominium was the scene of a raid in November by more than three dozen police officers searching for a suspect in the shooting of two neighborhood teenagers, according to police records. * * *. The city spent $3,120 boarding up the building and $7,000 cleaning the lot last year, said Patricia Canavan, head of the city's foreclosure team."

Ben Westlund (D) and former Pixelworks CEO Allen Alley (R) should weigh in on this kind of “investment.” Should the OIC use PERS money to enable blight and crime?