Foreclosing Foreclosure: Escaping the Yawning Abyss of the Deep Mortgage and Housing Crisis

Authors

Aleatra P. Williams

Abstract

In 2007, Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at RealtyTrac, stated that with more stringent lending and underwriting standards, “we will likely see a significant foreclosure decrease” within the next three years. However, a sustained and considerable decrease in foreclosures has yet to occur. In fact, the real estate market downfall and resulting mortgage and housing crisis have proven to be wider, deeper, and more serious than first anticipated. Since 2007, millions of homeowners faced, and continue to face, foreclosure proceedings. To provide protections for homeowners, federal and state actors have attempted regulatory and legislative solutions to stem the foreclosure crisis. The attempted regulatory and legislative responses, such as foreclosure moratoria, have failed to pull the real estate housing market out of crisis and provide meaningful relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. Many factors contribute to this failure, but namely, lack of uniform rules and policies among the relevant federal and state agencies for lenders, homeowners, and servicers. This Article contends that with the rate of foreclosures predicted to steadily continue into 2015, the need for standardized intervention remains imperative to sustain the goal of homeownership, safeguard consumers, guide lenders/servicers, and stabilize the real estate market.

Recommended Citation

Aleatra P. Williams, Foreclosing Foreclosure: Escaping the Yawning Abyss of the Deep Mortgage and Housing Crisis, 7 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y. 455 (2012).
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp/vol7/iss2/7