Reply #5: That would make a great deal of sense

[Warpy]

but bankers are a conservative lot and very slow to accept change. They still think they can unload distressed properties in a reasonable amount of time and don't consider how attractive they are to vagrants, vandals and vermin in the meantime. They'd rather keep the properties empty and risk having them stripped for copper, fixtures and appliances than go through the trouble of managing a lease or the expense of paying someone else to do so.

It took them about 12 years to catch a clue in the last housing bust.