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.

Abstract: On March 4, 2011, the New York Times described a settlement ("settlement") proposed by a consortium of state attorneys general (AGs) to large mortgage servicers. The claims to be settled reportedly relate to failures to follow existing procedural rules relating to the foreclosure process. The settlement would make dramatic changes in those rules, and reportedly require a mortgage loan principal reduction program of $20 to 25 billion.

Summary:

This paper looks at the extent that differences in foreclosure and bankruptcy laws can jointly explain variation in default rates across states.  The author  finds that more generous homestead exemptions raise the cost of unsecured borrowing. Households in states with high exemptions therefore hold less unsecured and more mortgage debt compared to low exemption states, which leads to lower bankruptcy rates but higher foreclosure rates.

After December 1, 2010, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 (c) no longer required that "discharge in bankruptcy" be plead as an affirmative defense because the Rules Committee felt that the language of 11 U.S.C.

This note discusses the circuit split that is found regarding whether the FDCPA applies to communications from a debt collector to a debtor's attorney between the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Circuits.

Abstract: This two part article is an exchange between Prof. Melissa Jacoby and Prof. Anna Gelpern examines the challenge of consumer financial protection and its implications for financial stability. Jacoby illustrates how the channels of production of formal law (non-uniform state law, uniform state law, federal law) fail to coherently reflect the functions of ex post consumer debtor protection. Channels of production shape the market for the services of lawyers and other intermediaries.

Abstract: This article was written for the Federal Judicial Center's annual symposium for bankruptcy judges. It examines the practical implications of the intersection of the Bankruptcy Code and DOMA. While states provide same-sex couples some or all of the rights and obligations of marriage including those related to creditor-debtor relationships, DOMA prohibits federal courts from recognizing those unions and attendant rights when applying federal law.