Policymakers are relying heavily on mortgage modifications to address the foreclosure crisis. However, not enough is known about whether modifications actually help borrowers stay current over the long run, or about what kinds of modifications are most successful. We use logit models in a hazard...

After emerging from the U.S. real estate and financial markets, financial crisis has gradually become global. Due to both primary and secondary mortgage market problems in the U.S. are accepted as the essential reasons of the current crisis, it is believed that financial markets and real estate...

Many writers have been quick to blame the high rate of foreclosures on subprime mortgages on what they call greedy, predatory lenders who exploited poor, unsophisticated and uneducated borrowers. The problem with this interpretation is that it cannot explain the behavior of foreclosure rates on...

Many writers have been quick to blame the high rate of foreclosures on subprime mortgages on what they call greedy, predatory lenders who exploited poor, unsophisticated and uneducated borrowers. The problem with this interpretation is that it cannot explain the behavior of foreclosure rates on...

Using information on advertising and mortgages originated by subprime lenders, we study whether advertising helped consumers find cheaper mortgages. Lenders that advertise more within a region sell more expensive mortgages, measured as the excess rate of a mortgage after accounting for borrower,...

Debate exists on the relative importance of employment status and house price declines in accounting for the large number of mortgage defaults during the Great Recession.To avoid the complexities posed by potential interactions among house prices, employment status, and income, we propose the...

Using a novel data set, we study the soft information in subprime mortgages that is not verifiable by a third party, and its relationship with mortgage default. We find that lender effort to collect soft information is intertwined with borrower self-selection into subprime mortgages. We employ...

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) encourages banks to expand mortgage lending in the communities in which they have branch offices, subject to maintaining overall levels of financial safety and soundness. Some have argued that this regulation forced banks to lower their credit standards and...

I identify shocks to interest rates resulting from two administrative details in adjustable-rate mortgage contract terms: the choices of financial index and lookback period. I find that a 1 percentage point increase in interest rates at the time of ARM reset results in a 2.5 percentage rise in...