Affiliation:
1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089;
2. The Brattle Group, San Francisco, California 94105
Abstract
We study incentive problems associated with the compensation of servicers during default remediation. First, we fill a gap in the literature by identifying stylized facts about servicing fees. Next, we present evidence showing that servicing fees drive mortgage modifications and foreclosures, likely to the detriment of investors. Servicers modify loans paying high servicing fees and delay their foreclosure to protect servicing cash flows. These effects are causal. Voluntary mortgage renegotiation by servicers is unlikely to reduce foreclosures. In addition to ex post government intervention, special servicing and innovative mortgage contracts allowing for affordable modifications that benefit investors may improve renegotiation outcomes. This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance.
Publisher
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
Subject
Management Science and Operations Research,Strategy and Management