Redemption laws give mortgagors the right to redeem their property following default for a statutorily set period of time. This paper develops a theory that explains these laws as a means of protecting landowners against the loss of non-transferable values associated with their land. A longer...

In this paper we develop a theoretical framework for determining whether laws designed to reduce lead paint risk are consistent with efficiency. We do this in the context of both owner-occupied and rental housing, and under different informational scenarios depending on who has knowledge about...

Although it is axiomatic that property rights of infinite duration are necessary for owners to make efficient long term investments in their property, time limits on property rights are pervasive in the law. This paper provides an economic justification for such limits by arguing that they...

This article examines the impact of repair expenses on the selling price of a house. Using data that include the actual dollar amount of repairs stipulated in the settlement statement, we investigate the frequency and extent to which the performance of major repairs is part of the sales...

The mistaken improver problem occurs when an individual improves a piece of land owned by another. This paper derives the condition under which a potential improver should invest in a costly survey to determine ownership prior to making irreversible investments. It then examines whether legal...

This paper develops a theoretical model of the problem of maintenance risk in reverse mortgages (RMs) and home equity conversion instruments generally. By maintenance risk we refer to the incentive homeowners will have to reduce maintenance expenditures as their equity in the house falls during...

This article explains why a profit-maximizing developer may include multiple, competing outlets in a shopping center. While competing outlets presumably dissipate potential profits, thereby lowering aggregate rents that the developer can extract, the presence of shopping externalities causes the...

This article examines the role of title registration in providing security of property rights for landowners. A simple model is developed to examine the trade-off between increased security of registering title against the administrative costs of accessing the system. The model predicts that the...

Developers attempting land assembly often face a potential holdout problem that raises the cost of development. To minimize this extra cost, developers will prefer land whose ownership is less dispersed. This creates a bias toward development at the urban fringe where average lot sizes are...