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Working Paper
Predatory mortgage lending
Regulators express growing concern over predatory loans, which we take to mean loans that borrowers should decline. Using a model of consumer credit in which such lending is possible, we identify the circumstances in which it arises both with and without competition. We find that predatory lending is associated with highly collateralized loans, inefficient refinancing of subprime loans, lending without due regard to ability to pay, prepayment penalties, balloon payments, and poorly informed borrowers. Under most circumstances competition among lenders attenuates predatory lending. We use our ...
Conference Paper
The law and economics of remedies of predatory lending
Journal Article
Default rates on prime and subprime mortgages: differences & similarities
For the past several years, the news media have carried countless stories about soaring defaults among subprime mortgage borrowers. Although concern over this segment of the mortgage market is certainly justified, subprime mortgages only account for about onequarter of the total outstanding mortgages in the United States. The remaining 75 percent are prime loans that are made to borrowers with good credit, who fully document their income and make traditional down payments. While default rates on prime loans are significantly lower than those on subprime loans, they are also increasing ...
Journal Article
Nonprime loans: a view from the local level
This article presents information on the location of subprime and Alt-A mortgages ("nonprime" loans) in the five states within the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago?s district (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin). The purpose is to identify the zip codes and communities most affected, or at risk of being affected, by foreclosures. We present a series of maps that show the zip codes with the highest numbers and highest concentrations of subprime and Alt-A loans, as well as the past-due and foreclosure rates in these neighborhoods. For illustration purposes in the print version ...
Journal Article
States fight predatory lending in different ways
As the laws vary from state to state, so does their impact. In some states, the high-cost mortgage business appears to have shrunk. But in other states, the opposite has occurred.
Report
Understanding the securitization of subprime mortgage credit
In this paper, we provide an overview of the subprime mortgage securitization process and the seven key informational frictions that arise. We discuss the ways that market participants work to minimize these frictions and speculate on how this process broke down. We continue with a complete picture of the subprime borrower and the subprime loan, discussing both predatory borrowing and predatory lending. We present the key structural features of a typical subprime securitization, document how rating agencies assign credit ratings to mortgage-backed securities, and outline how these agencies ...
Journal Article
Income inequality: time for predatory lending laws?
States that have adopted laws against such lending had higher than average levels of income inequality over the past 10 years than did states that didn't pass such laws.
Journal Article
High profile predatory lending cases
This article provides an update on litigation to address predatory lending. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been leader in the fight against deceptive and abusive mortgage lending and has consistenly waged a vigorous enforcement effort to eradicate predatory practices by lenders. The National Association of Attorney General (NAAG) has also been a major force combating predatory lending through a combined and coordinated effort by state officials. Further, some cases have been settled through a joint effort of the governmental agencies and private plaintiffs' counsel. In the past year, ...
Journal Article
Predatory lending—a grassroots perspective
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCl) is a multiissue, statewide nonprofit organization with a 28-year history and nearly 2,000 dues-paying members. CCI was founded in 1975 in Waterloo, Iowa, by people who wanted to address local problems and improve their community. Since then, CCI has expanded to include urban members from Des Moines and family farmers and other rural citizens from across the state. Iowa CCI?s purpose is to empower and unite grassroots people of all ethnic backgrounds to address problems in their community and win positive social, economic, and environmental justice.
Journal Article
Wisconsin moves forward to address foreclosures: a conference review
In March 2008, CCA convened ?Wisconsin Moves Forward to Address Foreclosures.? The conference was a continuation of a series of conferences that has focused on the rapid rise of foreclosures in the Federal Reserve?s Seventh District, their effects, and efforts to intercede. Conference participants have learned from experts their leading ideas, best practices and models for addressing the mounting level of foreclosures and their ill effects both in Wisconsin and the broader Midwest. This article briefly summarizes the March conference.