Abstract:

This paper is inspired directly by two articles coauthored by Professors Bebchuk and Fried, which comprehensively questioned the efficiency of the bankruptcy priority awarded to secured claims. It starts by pointing out the following efficiency benefit of such priority largely unmentioned in the legal literature, including the Bebchuk and Fried articles: the priority of secured debts undermines borrowers’ incentives to pursue excessively risky investment projects under certain circumstances.

Abstract:

The characteristics of bankrupt households (such as income and asset levels) vary widely across  states. This paper asks whether these variations can be attributed to state exemption laws or state garnishment laws. Using a new household-level dataset, the author finds that high exemption levels encourage high asset households to file for bankruptcy while high garnishment rates encourage low income households to file for bankruptcy.

Abstract:

Bankruptcy Code Section 502(b)(6) caps a landlord's claim against a debtor-tenant. Courts disagree on whether the provision caps damages for past breaches of non-rent lease covenants, such as a tenant's contractual obligation to maintain and repair the premises. This Article contends that 502(b)(6) caps only those damages authorized under applicable nonbankruptcy law that are triggered by the termination of the lease, regardless of whether termination occurs before or after the petition date.

Abstract:

In response to objections causing wasteful, unnecessary and inappropriate delay in the bankruptcy sale context, this article concludes that bankruptcy courts should employ a preliminary injunction-like standard for evaluating objections to bankruptcy sales.   Employing a strict, preliminary injunction-like standard should decrease the possibility that parties-in-interest will introduce an improvident delay into the bankruptcy sale process.  By preventing inappropriate delay, courts will ensure that parties receive an appropriate amou

Abstract:     

This paper  examines the determinants of missed payments and foreclosure initiation among a national sample of homeowners who filed for personal bankruptcy in 2007, using a rich dataset from the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project.

Summary: This article discusses the "fix" that Congress attempted to make in BAPCPA in 11 U.S.C.

Abstract:      This essay critically examines MERS' structure which incorporates principles of dubious legality such as a theory of common agency as well as a duality of roles held by MERS. The article examines many recent decisions in state, federal and bankruptcy courts in order to identify current trends regarding MERS-related jurisprudence.

Abstract: Section 302(a) of the Bankruptcy Code allows an individual debtor and his or her "spouse" to commence a joint bankruptcy case by filing a single bankruptcy petition. The term spouse is not defined in the Bankruptcy Code; however, since 1996, section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") has defined a spouse for purposes of federal law as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." Although no state permitted same-sex couples to marry when DOMA was adopted in 1996, six states currently permit same-sex couples to marry.

Abstract: This paper examines the contagion effect of residential foreclosures and finds strong evidence of a social interactions influence on default decisions where the interaction is based on neighbors' behavior in a previous period. Using a unique spatially explicit parcel level data set documenting residential foreclosures in Maryland for the years 2006-2009 and a highly localized neighborhood definition, based on 13 nearest neighbors, the authors find that a neighbor in foreclosure increases the hazard of additional defaults by as much as 28%.

Abstract: This paper investigates whether homeowners respond strategically to news of mortgage modification programs.  The authors exploit plausibly exogenous variation in modification policy induced by U.S. state government lawsuits against Countrywide Financial Corporation, which agreed to offer modifications to seriously delinquent borrowers with subprime mortgages throughout the country.