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Driven To Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless, Deborah Thorne
Driven To Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless, Deborah Thorne
Scholarly Works
Over the last ten years, 15.1 million people filed for bankruptcy owning 16.4 million cars. These cars provided access to work, education, medical care, childcare, food, and other life necessities. They also were major household investments, the most expensive asset most bankruptcy filers owned other than a house. Using original data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, we document what happens to car owners and their car loans when they enter bankruptcy. In brief, we find that people who file bankruptcy own automobiles at the same rate as the general population, and that they overwhelmingly indicate that they want to use …
Consumer Bankruptcy Should Be Increasingly Irrelevant--Why Isn't It?, Pamela Foohey
Consumer Bankruptcy Should Be Increasingly Irrelevant--Why Isn't It?, Pamela Foohey
Scholarly Works
This symposium piece is a response to Professor Nathalie Martin's Bringing Relevance Back to Consumer Bankruptcy. This response overviews the place consumer bankruptcy presently occupies in the United States. In doing so, it details why consumer bankruptcy remains relevant in the face of a socio-economic structure and of laws that suggest that bankruptcy may not be a particularly useful place for struggling Americans to turn to for help. The response ends by calling for a bolder vision for consumer bankruptcy in light of the shifting place of the bankruptcy system in America’s increasingly thread-bare social safety net.
Consumers’ Declining Power In The Fintech Auto Loan Market, Pamela Foohey
Consumers’ Declining Power In The Fintech Auto Loan Market, Pamela Foohey
Scholarly Works
Automobiles have become part of America’s infrastructure. For most people, having access to a car is crucial to their livelihoods and they will take on significant amounts of debt to purchase vehicles. Auto debt is unlike any other consumer debt, both in its structure, which allows creditors to easily seize collateral, and in its lack of regulation. The unique and lucrative nature of auto debt has not gone unnoticed by lenders or by companies leveraging fintech to offer people new ways to purchase cars and car loans. This Article assesses the evolving marketplace for auto sales, leasing, and loans to …