This teaching case provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the best course of action for a firm who just filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. The home-builder is already in default on over $20 million in loans. They have homes at various stages of the construction process, and...

This case exposes students to the ethical and legal issues property owners face during eminent domain proceedings in an environment of downward spiraling housing prices (see Exhibit 1 - Federal Housing Finance Agency US house prices index). To date, current federal and state eminent domain laws...

Defaulting on a mortgage is widely viewed as being immoral, but no prior study has examined the intervening roles of Prospect Theory and default intent. We find that the public is significantly more accepting of a defaulting borrower who earns a zero or negative return on his investment than one...

This article discusses the often overlooked ramifications of strategic mortgage default and the widespread implications it has on our sense of community, economic and financial stability, as well as mental and physical well-being. Too often studies examine only the one-off economic effects of...

We test the disjunctive thesis as it relates to mortgage contracts and find that a liquidated damages clause shifts ones view of a mortgage from a promise to perform to either a promise to perform or pay compensatory damages. However, when a strategic mortgage default is responsible for the...

This study discusses the many factors and considerations that enter into the strategic mortgage default (SMD) decision-making process. While it is not possible to construct a single cumulative distribution function (CDF) associated with this decision, it is important for policymakers to better...

Inequity Aversion has long been applied in a game theoretic setting to explain that individuals are willing to sacrifice personal wealth in order to financially penalize players they perceive to be acting selfishly or unfairly. I apply inequity aversion to strategic mortgage default decisions...

This study examines strategic mortgage default on a neurological level. Specifically, we test two mainstream behavioral finance/economic theories: sunk cost fallacy and cognitive dissonance. Using fMRI technology, we identify a number of substrates within the brain that provide a neurobiological...

Inequity Aversion has long been applied in a game theoretic setting to explain that individuals are willing to sacrifice personal wealth in order to financially penalize players they perceive to be acting selfishly or unfairly. We apply inequity aversion to strategic mortgage default decisions...

In this study we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand how homeowners process non-financial information when considering strategic mortgage default. We find that borrowers initially attempt to inhibit their knee jerk reaction to retaliate against a lender who has engaged...