This presentation explores the impact of second liens on the 2007 and 2008 mortgage crisis and the ongoing financial rescue. The presentation relies on data from the 2001 and 2007 American Housing Surveys. The major questions addressed in this presentations are:What happened to the use of second...

This paper analyzes the potential impact of two different modifications to the bankruptcy code, which might reduce foreclosures and help end the mortgage crisis. The first type of modification involving repeal or modification of the newly enacted bankruptcy means test is motivated by two recent...

The Bankruptcy Abuse and Protection Act (BAPCPA) (2005) by making it more difficult and costly for marginal homeowners to utilize the bankruptcy code, restructure their debts, and maintain mortgage payments, increased foreclosures and the number of homes for sale. BAPCPA was intended to help...

Thousands of U.S. households filed for bankruptcy just before the bankruptcy law changed in 2005. That rush-to-file was more pronounced, we find, in states with more generous bankruptcy exemptions and lower credit scores. We take that finding as evidence that the new law effectively reduces...

The collapse of the subprime mortgage market has led to calls for greater regulation to protect homeowners from unwittingly trapping themselves in high-cost loans that lead to foreclosure, bankruptcy, or other financial problems. Weighed against this catastrophe are the benefits that have...

This paper examines bankrupt families' attitudes toward, and need for, financial education. The data are derived from a longitudinal study of families who filed for personal bankruptcy. We examine the implications of bankrupt debtors' attitudes and experiences for the content and delivery of...

This is the entry for quot;Consumer Bankruptcy, Doctrinal Issues Inquot; in the Encyclopedia of Law and Society: American and Global Perspectives. This entry provides a summary and overview of the law and policy of consumer bankruptcy. First, it summarizes the American bankruptcy law legal...

Since at least the early 1980's, students of financial economics and law amp; economics have puzzled over the question whether secured debt - and more importantly, its priority in bankruptcy, apparently ubiquitous in the real world - can or cannot be explained in terms of economic efficiency....

This paper provides the first in-depth analysis of the homeownership experience of households in bankruptcy. The authors consider households who are homeowners at the time of filing. These households are typically seriously delinquent on their mortgages at the time of filing. The authors measure...

The key feature of the modern U.S. personal bankruptcy law is to provide debtors a financial fresh start through debt discharge. The primary justification for the discharge policy is to preserve human capital by maintaining incentives for work. In this paper, we test this fresh start argument by...