"This paper examines how filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 13 helps financially distressed debtors save their homes. Filing under Chapter 13 stops lenders from foreclosing and gives debtors extra time to repay mortgage arrears, but does not reduce the total amount owed. We develop a model of...

We present new evidence on consumer liquidity constraints and the credit market conditions that might give rise to them. Our analysis is based on unique data from a large auto sales company that serves the subprime market. We first document the role of short-term liquidity in driving purchasing...