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Full-Text Articles in Law
Mortgage Justice Is Blind, John D. Geanakoplos, Susan P. Koniak
Mortgage Justice Is Blind, John D. Geanakoplos, Susan P. Koniak
Shorter Faculty Works
THE current American economic crisis, which began with a housing collapse that had devastating consequences for our financial system, now threatens the global economy. But while we are rushing around trying to pick up all the other falling dominos, the housing crisis continues, and must be addressed.
Get Sick, Get Out: The Medical Causes Of Home Mortgage Foreclosures, Christopher Robertson, Richard Egelhof, Michael Hoke
Get Sick, Get Out: The Medical Causes Of Home Mortgage Foreclosures, Christopher Robertson, Richard Egelhof, Michael Hoke
Faculty Scholarship
In recent years, there has been national alarm about the rising rate of home foreclosures, which now strike one in every 92 households in America and which contribute to even broader macroeconomic effects. The "standard account" of home foreclosure attributes this spike to loose lending practices, irresponsible borrowers, a flat real estate market, and rising interest rates. Based on our study of homeowners going through foreclosures in four states, we find that the standard account fails to represent the facts and thus makes a poor guide for policy. In contrast, we find that half of all foreclosures have medical causes, …
The Problems Of Securitizing Sub-Prime Loans, Tamar Frankel
The Problems Of Securitizing Sub-Prime Loans, Tamar Frankel
Faculty Scholarship
In October 2007, the board of directors of Merrill-Lynch, Smith & Fenner, one of the largest if not the largest brokerage houses in the United States, accepted the request for early retirement of its Chief Executive Officer. The brokerage firm disclosed that it has lost over $8 billion on its investments in sub-prime mortgage loans.1 Merrill Lynch was not the only financial giant to sustain enormous losses. The losses caused market liquidity to dry up. The U.S. government took steps to ease the pressure.2 But the high leverage of the system is still unravelling. The effect of these …