Recent research on mutual fund performance has ignored the impact of initial public offering on mutual fund performance. We show that the real estate mutual funds returns, at least in the 1990's, are almost entirely a function of REIT IPO returns, and that, after controlling for the REIT IPO...

We propose a new mortgage contract that endogenizes the risk of house price declines and thus minimizes default risk resulting from changes in the underlying asset value while still retaining contract rates near the cost of a standard fixed-rate mortgage. Our new mortgage recognizes that the...

Loss mitigation is the process by which lenders attempt to minimize losses associated with foreclosure. As competition increases in the mortgage industry, lenders and servicers are under great pressure to adopt loss mitigation tactics rather than simply use foreclosure as the means of dealing...