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Discussion Paper
HOUSEHOLD RENTAL DEBT DURING COVID-19
COVID-19 and associated economic shutdowns have led to unprecedented job losses, with up to 20 million households and 24 million individuals experiencing an unemployment spell between March 2020 and August 2020.1 The scale of these losses, their disproportionate impact on lower-income workers, and the uncertain timeline of economic recovery have raised concerns about the ability of households to maintain rent payments while out of work.
Discussion Paper
Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on Small Business Lending
This study provides new evidence on the effectiveness of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on small business lending by focusing on a sample of neighborhoods with changed CRA eligibility status across the country because of an exogenous policy shock in 2013. The results of difference-in-differences analysis provide consistent evidence that the CRA promotes small business lending, especially in terms of number of loan originations, in lower-income neighborhoods. The generally positive effects of the CRA are sensitive to the types of CRA treatment. Losing CRA eligibility status has a ...
Discussion Paper
Home ownership education and counseling: issues in research and definition
Many public- and private-sector initiatives support the expansion of home-ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households. This discussion paper assesses existing research on the effectiveness of home-ownership education and counseling and opportunities for future research. A limited number of printed copies are available.
Discussion Paper
“Forced Automation” by COVID-19? Early Trends from Current Population Survey Data
This empirical study evaluates whether COVID-19 and the threat of future pandemics has expedited the process of automation in the U.S. The results suggest that the pandemic displaced more workers in automatable occupations, putting them at a greater risk of being permanently automated. The automatable jobs that are more vulnerable to the pandemic include jobs that do not permit remote work, have a high risk of COVID-19 transmission, or are in the most affected sectors. While most of the job losses during the pandemic are expected to be temporary, a replication of the analysis for the Great ...
Discussion Paper
Preserving multifamily rental housing: improving financing options in New Jersey
This paper summarizes the obstacles to financing small multifamily rental properties in New Jersey and makes recommendations for policies to address this credit need.
Discussion Paper
Alternative financial service providers and the spatial void hypothesis: the case of New Jersey and Delaware
This paper continues the use of the spatial void hypothesis methodology to analyze the location of alternative financial service providers, such as check cashing outlets and pawn shops, in New Castle County, Delaware, and Atlantic, Mercer, Monmouth, and Passaic counties in New Jersey. Also explores whether these providers are disproportionately serving minority and low-income areas.
Discussion Paper
Alternative financial vehicles: rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs)
This paper describes how ROSCAs work and discusses the benefits that accrue to ROSCA participants and some of the costs they incur. Of particular interest is the introduction of a partial data set collected from a local ROSCA, which offers a glimpse of the capital costs ROSCA participants face and which could ultimately be contrasted with the capital costs faced by borrowers at mainstream financial institutions.
Discussion Paper
The impact of housing rehabilitation on local neighborhoods: the case of St. Joseph's Carpenter Society
This paper presents the results of a Philadelphia Fed study that analyzes whether the community development efforts of a nonprofit in Camden, NJ, have an effect on local neighborhoods.
Discussion Paper
FHA lending activity in the past decade: a national overview
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which provides insurance for residential mortgage loans, was established by the National Housing Act of 1934 to stimulate housing demand and, in turn, demand for those who build housing. In the housing boom after World War II, FHA loans helped make mortgage credit more widely available to returning veterans. In recent decades, the FHA, which is now part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has disproportionately served first-time homebuyers as well as low- and moderate-income (LMI) and minority households. The FHA allows low down ...
Discussion Paper
The quality of FHA lending in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), an agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), insures mortgage loans made by private lenders. All FHA-insured borrowers pay mortgage insurance as one of the terms of their mortgage loan, and this insurance protects the lender against losses if the borrower defaults. In addition to providing a mortgage guarantee, the FHA single-family loan program has features such as a low down payment and a low minimum credit score that benefit borrowers who may not be able to obtain financing in the conventional market. Because of the FHA?s ...