Law Commons^™

Testimony On 'Subprime Mortgage Market Turmoil: Examining The Role Of Securitization', Kurt Eggert

Kurt Eggert

This testimony, before the Senate Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investments, April 17, 2007, examines the role of securitization in the subprime market turmoil, describing how securitization atomized the lending process and turned over the de facto regulation of the subprime market to private entities such as rating agencies and investment banks. The testimony attributes the meltdown of the subprime market, the increased default rate and threat of rising foreclosures, as well as the difficulty of crafting an adequate response to that meltdown, to the effects of securitization. Securitization led to weakened and inconsistent underwriting standards and allowed many borrowers …

Turning A Blind Eye: Wall Street Finance Of Predatory Lending

Patricia A. McCoy

Today, Wall Street finances up to eighty percent of subprime home loans through securitization. The subprime sector, which is designed for borrowers with blemished credit, has been dogged by predatory lending charges, many of which have been substantiated. As subprime securitization has grown, so have charges that securitization turns a blind eye to financing abusive loans. In this paper, we examine why secondary market discipline has failed to halt the securitization of predatory loans.

When investors buy securities backed by predatory loans, they face a classic lemons problem in the form of credit risk, prepayment risk, and litigation risk. Securitization …

Rethinking Disclosure In A World Of Risk-Based Pricing

Patricia A. McCoy

The residential mortgage market in the United States has changed significantly since the passage of current federal mortgage disclosure laws in the 1960s and 1970s. In this Article, Professor Patricia McCoy advocates for the reform of these traditional disclosure rules. After describing the evolution of the subprime mortgage market and providing a description of current federal disclosure laws, she explores how these new market dynamics cause the traditional disclosure rules to break down in the subprime market. Professor McCoy concludes with proposals to counteract false advertising practices, facilitate "meaningful comparison-shopping, and formulate streamlined disclosures addressing loan applicants' greatest concerns in …