Households borrow against home equity through different types of mortgages: closed end home equity loans or revolving lines of credit, cash-out refinancing, and—for senior homeowners—reverse mortgages. The objective of this study is to identify how borrowing constraints and the lending...

This paper examines how the extraction of home equity, including but not limited to equity extracted through reverse mortgages, affects credit outcomes of senior households. We use data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, supplemented with our unique credit...

This paper links the literatures on the life cycle hypothesis, homeownership, home equity, and pensions. Empirically, the focus is on the E.U. and U.S. It explores the extent that seniors extract their home equity and discusses the financial instruments available for equity extraction. We use...

Housing wealth is a largely untapped resource that can help older adults supplement their incomes and buffer financial shocks in retirement. The federally insured reverse mortgage offers adults age 62 and older access to home equity with no required monthly payment, and protection for homeowners...

Millions of minority homeowners are at risk of losing their homes as a result of the housing crisis due to mortgage foreclosure and home repossession. One consumer-oriented policy response to this crisis is mortgage default counseling for borrowers. This study examines the rate at which minority...