Foreclosed: High-Risk Lending, Deregulation, and the Undermining of America's Mortgage Market
"Dan Immergluck'sForeclosedprovides a detailed historical overview of the evolution of US mortgage markets during the New Deal era, to the era of deregulation/securitization, the emergence of the high risk loan products and the sudden growth of the high risk loan market. . . . It presents a thorough body of evidence which illustrates that ample warnings should have been evident leading into the 2007–2008 housing crisis, but these warnings were ignored and were not reflected in policy. It also clearly points out the important role for government in both the emergence of the mortgage market and in assuring its sustainability, a role that has diminished (to our peril) in the decades leading up to the crisis."—John Powell and Jason Reece,Shelterforce, Fall/Winter 2009"A timely, comprehensive text analyzing the chinks in the armor of U.S. housing finance, illustrated with useful charts to unpack complex cycles and relationships."—Corianne P. Scally,Canadian Journal of Urban Research(Winter 2010)"A broad an accessible account of mortgage finance in the United States. . . . This book is coherent and cohesive and is well worth reading by citizens who would like to have a deeper understanding of the current mortgage mess. It is also a rewarding read for many academics and social scientists—nonspecialists who may have followed recent events in the housing market but who would like to have a more thorough grounding in its causes and antecedents."—John M. Quigley,Enterprise and Society"Foreclosedshould appeal to policymakers, researchers, and students—anyone who is interested in the economic climate of the past decade. A silver lining to the mortgage crisis is the opportunity to consider new ways to think about mortgages and housing policy, and Immergluck's book contributes to a more nuanced and productive debate about these contentious issues."—Journal of Planning Education and Research"Immergluck's book is key to understanding the housing and financial crises.Foreclosedlays out the roots of subprime lending, traces their connections and implications, and catalogs the unavoidable calamitous collapse."—Journal of Planning Literature"Foreclosedis a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how the mortgage market really works and the sources of the current mortgage market meltdown."—Susan M. Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management, Professor of Real Estate and Finance, and Co-Director, Institute for Urban Research, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania"Foreclosedwill elicit a chorus of thank-yous to Dan Immergluck. In this clear and compelling analysis, the roots of the subprime crisis are untangled with precision and sophistication. This timely effort is sure to become a key resource to those who wonder what happened and why, and what needs to be done to prevent future catastrophes."—Rachel Bratt, Tufts University"Foreclosedis a well-documented and engaging account of how the United States built and then, by dismantling safeguards and ignoring the consequences of unbridled complexity, destroyed one of the world's most effective and democratic housing systems. The Obama administration should carefully consider Dan Immergluck's suggestions for getting that system back on track and for bringing back the neighborhoods destroyed by misguided policies and practices of the past several decades."—Ellen Seidman, Senior Fellow in the Asset Building Program of the New America Foundation"Foreclosedis accessible, comprehensive, informative, and insightful. It provides a critical but balanced analysis of the current mortgage crisis, its origins, consequences, and solutions. It is very well written and will appeal to a broad audience including policymakers, policy analysts, bankers, and lawyers. Dan Immergluck's recommendations couldn't be more timely."—Alex Schwartz, Milano The New School for Management, author of Housing Policy in the United States