Meh, as this is still being discussed/debated between gov and FN, and the courts have stuck their foot in too, I think it’s misleading to make statements with any certainty as to what the end result will be – the article implying the owners are totally fine, because the writer can’t imagine them being forced to leave their homes, doesn’t really do the situation justice.
What defenders of this process who bang the drum of “no no! Private property’s fine! Don’t blame FN, private property owners will be totally fine!” don’t seem to be factoring, is that the uncertainty itself is enough to wipe out house values, cause sales/developments to fall through, and so on. And that damage can be done beyond just “instantly losing your home” (which I don’t think many people thought would be happening anyhow, so it’s sorta a straw man in the article).
Because sure, there may be a ‘settlement’ where the private property owner keeps their title as is. There may be a requirement that they need to sell it to the FN when it comes time to sell, and that’d be at a discounted price (essentially shifting it to a 99 year lease like other FN properties that gets sold to non-FN). There could be some government buy outs, transferring the property at ‘fair’ market values as of just prior the ruling, which could make any development of that land at this point, pointless. No one knows. I can’t imagine many private businesses/owners wanting to take that sort of gamble on these properties. Especially when it’s a risk that’s entirely outside of your control as an owner.
That uncertainty is what tanks the prices. Those owners are basically screwed, at the very least, until there’s clarity on how the situation is going to get resolved – and likely longer.
Meh, as this is still being discussed/debated between gov and FN, and the courts have stuck their foot in too, I think it’s misleading to make statements with any certainty as to what the end result will be – the article implying the owners are totally fine, because the writer can’t imagine them being forced to leave their homes, doesn’t really do the situation justice.
What defenders of this process who bang the drum of “no no! Private property’s fine! Don’t blame FN, private property owners will be totally fine!” don’t seem to be factoring, is that the uncertainty itself is enough to wipe out house values, cause sales/developments to fall through, and so on. And that damage can be done beyond just “instantly losing your home” (which I don’t think many people thought would be happening anyhow, so it’s sorta a straw man in the article).
Because sure, there may be a ‘settlement’ where the private property owner keeps their title as is. There may be a requirement that they need to sell it to the FN when it comes time to sell, and that’d be at a discounted price (essentially shifting it to a 99 year lease like other FN properties that gets sold to non-FN). There could be some government buy outs, transferring the property at ‘fair’ market values as of just prior the ruling, which could make any development of that land at this point, pointless. No one knows. I can’t imagine many private businesses/owners wanting to take that sort of gamble on these properties. Especially when it’s a risk that’s entirely outside of your control as an owner.
That uncertainty is what tanks the prices. Those owners are basically screwed, at the very least, until there’s clarity on how the situation is going to get resolved – and likely longer.