We examine the use of simultaneous close junior lien lending (“piggybacks”) over the course of the recent housing bubble and subsequent mortgage market collapse. Using both state-level and zip code-level data over the period 2001-2008, we find that the fraction of piggyback originations is...

Mortgage brokers have grown in importance in the home mortgage origination process in recent years, suggesting they provide a valuable service matching borrowers and lenders, although their involvement has also been linked to the recent surge in mortgage defaults and foreclosures. As in other...

Extensive research has confirmed that there is significant anchoring bias in purchase mortgage appraisals, with appraisers setting the value at or above the contract price the vast majority of the time. However, understanding appraisal bias in refinance mortgages has been significantly more...