This morning, Montgomery Bank, which has six branches in St. Louis and five branches in Southeast Missouri, announced late last week that “it will not lend money for projects in which local governments use eminent domain to take private property for use by private developers.”

In a press release issued by the bank, Chief Operating Officer Troy Wilson said, “The sanctity of private property ownership is one of the hallmarks of our individual rights as private citizens. Eminent domain should only be used for public projects, not to benefit private developers.”

Joel Montgomery, vice-chairman and general counsel, added, “We’ve already witnessed the chaos unleashed on local communities when city councils and private developers threaten to use this type of legislation.”

The century-old financial lending house with $800 million in assets is the first Missouri bank to take a principled stand against eminent domain for private development. One week earlier BB&T—the nation’s ninth largest financial holdings company with $109.2 billion in assets—became the first in the nation to refuse loans to projects involving the threat or use of eminent domain.