Academic Research

• Federal Mortgage Modification and Foreclosure Prevention Efforts, Pinedo, A. T., & Baumgardner, A. M. (2009). UCC LJ,41, 319. 
• Means-tested Mortgage Modification: Homes Saved or Income Destroyed?, Mulligan, C. B. (2009). National Bureau of Economic Research. This paper uses the theories of price discrimination and optimal taxation to investigate effects of underwater mortgages on foreclosures and the incentives to earn income, and the degree to which those effects are shaped by public policy. The paper also considers the consequences of a public policy that left mortgage modification to lenders, subject to a requirement that modification would not be conditioned on borrower income. 
• Tackling the" end of the beginning" of the nation's mortgage crisis, Cocheo, S. (2009). American Bankers Association. ABA Banking Journal,101(5), 5. 
• Foreclosures, enforcement, and collections under the federal mortgage modification guidelines, Mulligan, C. B. (2010). National Bureau of Economic Research. This paper shows how federal mortgage modification initiatives discourage principal reductions in favor of interest reductions. Using the framework of optimal income taxation, this paper shows how alternative means-tested modification rules would simultaneously improve collections, efficiency, the number of foreclosures, and their total cost. As a result, lenders have an incentive to foreclose on borrowers deemed modification eligible by the federal programs. 
• Preservinghomeownership: Foreclosure prevention initiatives, Jones, K. (2009, August Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. This report describes the consequences of foreclosure on homeowners; outlines recent foreclosure prevention initiatives, largely focusing on initiatives implemented by the federal government; and discusses the challenges associated with foreclosure prevention. 
• A Borrower's Equitable Relief Pursuant to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Federal Regulations, Silvestri, F. (2016). U. Tol. L. Rev.,48, 613. 
• The Trillion Dollar Problem of UnderwaterHomeowners: Avoiding a New Surge of Foreclosures by Encouraging Principal-Reducing Loan Modifications, Crespi, G. S. (2011).Santa Clara L. Rev.,51, 153. This paper explores different underwater homeowners whose mortgage obligations outweigh the current values of their houses. The paper uses a well-known data set to show that most of these homeowners continue to pay their mortgage dues, even while defaulting is a much better option for them. This paper proposes the implementation of a public education program designed to assist underwater homeowners in assessing where their interests lie, and then to encourage them to demand loan modifications, upon pain of default, when this proves to be their best course of action. 
• Reconciling Policy Initiatives, MAURICE, D. R., & YAN, C. Reconciling Policy Initiatives. 
• The End of the HomeAffordableModificationProgramand the Start of a New Problem, Whelan, C. K. (2017). The End of the Home Affordable Modification Program and the Start of a New Problem.Brook. L. Rev.,83, 1469. This paper examines the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), focusing on the years of litigation that shaped HAMP, giving life to a program that was built on a foundation ready to crack. This note proposes a solution founded in five core principles: efficiency, affordability, accessibility, accountability, and enforceability. It further recommends utilizing the remaining funds of the since expired HAMP to revamp the program, focusing on each principle both individually and collectively, to ultimately assist the homeowners that are still rearing from the mortgage crisis. 
• The US Mortgage Crisis, Mehtabdin, K., Luttrell, M. T., O'Brien, M., Palermo, D., & Kochian, A. (2012). The US Mortgage Crisis.Chinese Business Review,11(5). 
• Crisis and the PublicPrivate Divide in Property, Dyal-Chand, R., & Davidson, N. M. (2016). Crisis and the PublicPrivate Divide in Property. InThe Public Nature of Private Property(pp. 79-102). Routledge. 
• Resolving the foreclosure crisis: Modification of mortgages in bankruptcy, Levitin, A. J. (2009). Resolving the foreclosure crisis: Modification of mortgages in bankruptcy.Wis. L. Rev., 565. This article empirically tests the economic assumption underlying the policy against bankruptcy modification of home-mortgage debtthat protecting lenders from losses in bankruptcy encourages them to lend more and at lower rates, and thus encourages homeownership. In light of market neutrality, the article argues that permitting modification of home mortgages in bankruptcy presents the best solution to the foreclosure crisis. The article shows that as the foreclosure crisis deepens, bankruptcy modification presents the best and least invasive method of stabilizing the housing market.