REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Cornell Law School

January 30, 2013

Strategies to Improve the Housing Market

By David Reiss

Boston Consulting prepared this Strategies to Improve the Housing Market report on behalf of The Pew Charitable Trusts.  The report focuses “on practical solutions that can readily be implemented by industry, agencies, and regulators working within existing mandates, or by … Continue reading

January 29, 2013

Federal Reserve Report on the 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

By David Reiss

Fuster and Vickery have posted Securitization and the Fixed-Rate Mortgage, a FRB of NY Staff Report.  This paper brings some empirical research to the debate over the proper fate of the 30 year mortgage.  Commentators are sharply divided over whether … Continue reading

December 14, 2012

Levitin and Wachter’s New History of American Housing Finance

By David Reiss

Adam Levitin and Susan Wachter have released a very interesting paper on The Public Option in Housing Finance.  The paper provides a history of the development of the housing finance infrastructure in the United States.  It concludes that [t]he experience … Continue reading

December 5, 2012

Opposition to FHFA Increase in Guaranty Fees for States with Lengthy Foreclosures

By David Reiss

Senators from the five affected states have written a letter to the FHFA’s DeMarco.  This debate presents a choice between risk-based pricing on the one hand and what is generally considered a pro-homeowner legal regime on the other. The FHFA’s … Continue reading