News Topic: Mortgage Debt & Home Equity

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My ears perk up whenever I hear the musical words "synthetic collateralized debt offering". (Bill Bratton and I did write the paper on history of these crazy things , after all....) So, it was with interest that I read a Wall Street Journal ... Read full article

There’s an interesting new article  out on the celebrated Massachusetts U.S. Bank v. Ibanez   case that suggests that the defendant, Antonio Ibanez, was at the center of a property fraud ring. It's not clear to me that there was anything illegal ... Read full article

Here's an opportunity to supervise a consumer financial protection clinic that has done some great work - information on the position and how to apply here .  ... Read full article

The Supreme Court made a noteworthy contribution to the crescendo in our national conversation about race in its recent Texas v. ICP Fair Housing Act decision. The Court affirmed that the Fair Housing Act prohibits not only explicit racial discrimination, ... Read full article

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Bank of America in  Caulkett v. Bank of America . Basically the Court found itself bound by its previous decision in  Dewsnup  and didn't think that any of the distinctions presented (by yours truly ... Read full article

Over the last few years, the US Department of Justice has reached settlements with nearly every major lender with regard to the lending procedures for FHA (Federal Housing Administration) loans. The legal basis for the settlements were alleged violations ... Read full article

Clearly, the biggest surprise in consumer borrowing since the crash has been the explosive expansion of student loan debt. It has surpassed both auto lending and credit card lending. And, since it ties with Payday Lending and pre-crash sub-prime mortgage ... Read full article

The New York Times carried an important story about the risky investment moves of life insurance companies. ... Read full article

At the onset of the current foreclosure crisis, banks bemoaned their inability to get homeowners in default to respond to their generous offers of loan modifications and other foreclosure alternatives. Homeowners, it seemed, were like ostriches with their ... Read full article

Is the foreclosure crisis over? Yes and no. Since 2007, about six million homes have been sold at foreclosure sales ( Foreclosures Public Data Summary Jan 2015) . Today, about one million homes are still somewhere in the foreclosure process. ... Read full article

I'm testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday at a hearing entitled " Preserving Consumer Choice and Financial Independence ." I'm the only non-industry witness (no surprise there). ... Read full article

With my attention drawn to other matters, my personal blogging has been light for the past month. One of the things that had my attention was the  Caulkett  case currently pending before the Supreme Court. The issue in  Caulkett  is whether a wholly ... Read full article

I am so pleased to offer the following post by Carolina Reid , a premier housing researcher at UC Berkeley, about her excellent study of how mortgage servicers matter in creating home-saving opportunities. Welcome Carolina to Credit Slips . ... Read full article

MBS investors suffered a serious legal blow a couple of months back when the Second Circuit held that the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 doesn't apply to MBS .  ... Read full article

Empirical economic analysis is a powerful tool.  It can elucidate correlations and sometimes even get us to causual explanations. But it has a serious weak-spot:  its value is entirely dependent upon the integrity of the data analyzed. To put the problem ... Read full article

Pretty darn dead.  In 2014, there were all of 22 private-label RMBS deals.  These deals provided $5.67 billion in financing for 7,342 mortgages.  Let that sink in for a second.  The private-label market financed fewer home mortgages than were made in the ... Read full article

While I'm on the subject of dead markets, what about HOEPA loans?  HOEPA loans are super-high-cost loans that qualify for special consumer protections under the Home Owners Equity Protection Act of 1998. (Yes, that's the one that directed that ... Read full article