This study analyzes the effects of state bankruptcy asset exemptions and foreclosure laws on mortgage default and foreclosure rates across different segments of the mortgage market. We found that the effects of these legal provisions are larger for sub-prime than for prime mortgages and larger...

This article reviews the law and economics of consumer debt collection and its regulation, a topic that has taken on added urgency in light of the announcement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it is considering new regulations on the subject. Although stricter regulation of...

This study analyzes whether bankruptcy asset exemptions and state foreclosure laws affect borrowers' decisions to default on their mortgages and the lenders' incentives to settle the default outside the foreclosure. Using a rigorously specified empirical model and accounting for endogenous loan...

In his new book, "Courting Failure: How Competition for Big Cases is Corrupting the Bankruptcy Courts", Professor Lynn LoPucki's book argues that that current bankruptcy venue rules have spawned an improper competition for big cases that has corrupted America's bankruptcy courts. LoPucki argues...

The bankruptcy proceedings of Chrysler and General Motors were filed at the height of the financial crisis that rocked the global economy in the late-2000s. Although both companies originally received federal financial bailouts to try to avert bankruptcy, within months they were forced to file...

A growing number of state governors are voicing concern about the damage inflicted on their states' budgets—on both the revenue and the expenditure sides—by the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is particularly dire for the many states that entered the current crisis with “preexisting...