Law Commons^™

Facing The Facts: An Empirical Study Of The Fairness And Efficiency Of Foreclosures And A Proposal For Reform, Debra Pogrund Stark

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Lenders view real estate foreclosures as too expensive and time consuming a process which needlessly increases the costs of making loans. Others complain that the foreclosure process fails to adequately protect the borrower's equity (the value of the property in excess of the debt secured by the property) in the mortgaged property.

This article tests these views by gathering new data on the fairness and efficiency of the foreclosure process. Based on the data collected (which confirms some assumptions but disproves others), the author proposes a reform of the foreclosure process to promote the interest of both lenders and borrowers. …

Farmland And Open Space Preservation In Michigan: An Empirical Analysis, Sandra A. Hoffmann

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note describes the political and economic conditions that gave rise to the farmland and open space preservation enactments. It presents a brief political history of the support for this body of legislation and summarizes the economic arguments raised both for and against these preservation efforts. Part II describes the principal types of state farmland and open space preservation programs enacted during the past thirty years. Finally, Part III presents an empirical analysis of P.A. 116.

Residential Tenants And Their Leases: An Empirical Study, Warren Mueller

Michigan Law Review

Of particular interest is the application of this theory to residential leases, a classic example of the standard long-form contract. An abundance of traditional legal research and commentary has been devoted to the problem of disparity of bargaining power between the parties to a standard-form residential lease. The commentators have consistently called for reform measures to combat this problem. In order to adopt sensible and effective reform measures, however, it is first necessary to obtain factual data with which to test and clarify the reformers' underlying assumptions. Such data is virtually nonexistent, since, prior to the study described in this …