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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Price Of Crisis: Eminent Domain, Local Governments, And The Value Of Underwater Mortgages, Raymond H. Brescia, Nicholas Martin
The Price Of Crisis: Eminent Domain, Local Governments, And The Value Of Underwater Mortgages, Raymond H. Brescia, Nicholas Martin
Raymond H Brescia
In response to the lingering fallout from the Financial Crisis of 2008, local governments have begun to explore whether it is wise and legal to use the power of eminent domain to seize distressed home mortgages. This Article attempts to situate this approach to such mortgages within the larger economic, legal and policy context and asks three key questions. First, are local governments appropriate actors to address the lingering problem of underwater mortgages? Second, assuming they are appropriate actors to address this problem, how should localities and, if necessary, courts, value underwater mortgages in the context of condemnation proceedings: i.e., …
The Community Reinvestment Act: Guilty, But Not As Charged, Raymond H. Brescia
The Community Reinvestment Act: Guilty, But Not As Charged, Raymond H. Brescia
Raymond H Brescia
Since its passage in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has charged federal bank regulators with "encourag[ing]" certain financial institutions "to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered consistent with [] safe and sound” banking practices. Even before the CRA became law—and ever since—it has become a flashpoint. Depending on your perspective, this simple and somewhat soft directive has led some to charge that it imposes unfair burdens on financial institutions and helped to fuel the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 and the financial crisis that followed. According to this argument, the CRA …
Leverage: State Enforcement Actions In The Wake Of The Robo-Sign Scandal, Raymond H. Brescia
Leverage: State Enforcement Actions In The Wake Of The Robo-Sign Scandal, Raymond H. Brescia
Raymond H Brescia
In the fall of 2010, in one of the largest scandals to ever hit the American court system, information gathered from lawsuits across the country revealed that tens of thousands of foreclosure filings were likely fraudulent—if not outright criminal. These revelations sparked a nation-wide investigation by all 50 state attorneys general to assess not only the extent of the scandal and its potential impacts but also potential legal and policy responses to such behavior. One of the tools at the state attorneys general’s disposal that might rein in this behavior includes each state’s Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP) …
Trust In The Shadows: Law, Behavior And Financial Re-Regulation, Raymond H. Brescia
Trust In The Shadows: Law, Behavior And Financial Re-Regulation, Raymond H. Brescia
Raymond H Brescia
In the deep throes of the Great Depression, in an effort to restore faith in America’s economy, the Roosevelt Administration promoted the development of voluntary codes of conduct to govern employment and manufacturing practices across hundreds of industries. Compliance with these codes permitted a company to display a Blue Eagle, which was supposed to signify support for New Deal efforts, and that the company was trustworthy. In this way, the Blue Eagle served as a heuristic—a cognitive shortcut— that helped consumers identify those companies engaged in fair practices so that those consumers could show their support for the recovery effort …
Tainted Loans: Towards A Mass Torts Approach To Subprime Mortgage Litigation, Raymond H. Brescia
Tainted Loans: Towards A Mass Torts Approach To Subprime Mortgage Litigation, Raymond H. Brescia
Raymond H Brescia
A poison has entered the financial bloodstream. The subprime mortgage crisis and the wider financial crisis it has spawned have caused the erosion of trillions of dollars in wealth, destroyed whole communities and the dislocation of millions of homeowners. Yet, unlike in other situations where toxic products have caused widespread harm, to date, we have not seen an avalanche of litigation, large jury awards, massive settlements compensating victims and financial ruin for the distributors of those products. Some of this is changing, however. Litigation arising out of the present financial crisis is hitting the courts, including suits alleging discrimination in …
Subprime Communities: Reverse Redlining, The Fair Housing Act And Emerging Issues In Litigation Regarding The Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Raymond H. Brescia
Subprime Communities: Reverse Redlining, The Fair Housing Act And Emerging Issues In Litigation Regarding The Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Raymond H. Brescia
Raymond H Brescia
As the nation struggles to find its bearings in the current financial crisis, and venerable pillars of Wall Street crumble, hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent to shore up the financial system and re-capitalize credit markets. While the eyes of Washington are directed towards Wall Street, there is much talk of the need to prop up Main Street as well, and nowhere is this more apparent than in communities and neighborhoods across the United States that have experienced the first wave of the financial crisis hit: home upon home of foreclosed properties, abandoned and neglected, their absent silence …
Capital In Chaos: The Subprime Mortgage Crisis And The Social Capital Response, Raymond H. Brescia
Capital In Chaos: The Subprime Mortgage Crisis And The Social Capital Response, Raymond H. Brescia
Raymond H Brescia
“Capital in Chaos: The Subprime Mortgage Crisis and the Social Capital Response,” examines the role of trust and the absence of social capital in the subprime mortgage crisis, with a particular focus on the impact of the subprime crisis on communities of color.