Subprime mortgage lending expanded in New York City between 2004 and mid-2007, and delinquencies on these subprime loans have been rising sharply. We use a rich, loan-level data set of the city’s outstanding subprime loans as of January 2009 to describe the main features of this lending and to...

Mortgage modifications have become an important component of public interventions designed to reduce foreclosures. In this paper, we examine how the structure of a mortgage modification affects the likelihood that the modified mortgage re-defaults over the next year. Using data on subprime...

Mortgage modifications have become an important component of public interventions designed to reduce foreclosures. In this paper, we examine how the structure of a mortgage modification affects the likelihood of the modified mortgage re-defaulting over the next year. Using data on subprime...

Measures of housing units with negative equity, in which the mortgage balance exceeds the value of the collateral housing unit, have become a necessary component in crafting policies to address the current foreclosure crisis. This article estimates negative equity in the U.S. nonprime mortgage...

In an environment of high foreclosure rates and distressed housing markets, federal policies are focusing on loan modifications to help delinquent homeowners pay their mortgages. While it is too soon to assess the effectiveness of these modifications, policymakers considering future refinements...

The boom in nonprime mortgage lending that occurred inthe United States between 2004 and 2006 was quicklyfollowed by rapid increases in the rate of delinquencies andforeclosures on these loans.1 This pronounced deteriorationalarmed investors, the public, and policymakers.2...