Prof. Jean Braucher Article in Arizona Law Review

Good morning Professor Hayes,

We admire your blog here at the Arizona Law Review and we wanted to notify you about the just-released Financial Products issue. In the midst of the government's efforts to step up regulation of financial institutions through the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Arizona Law Review takes stock of some recent financial markets, programs, and products.

In particular, we wanted to draw your attention to three articles:

-      Humpty Dumpty and the Foreclosure Crisis: Lessons from the Lackluster First Year of the Home Affordable Modification Program. Professor Jean Braucher examines the reasons behind the limited results in the first year of the Home Affordable Modification Program. Braucher’s article reminds us that we are well-served by ex ante regulatory constraints, because it is very difficult to cure a crisis once it has occurred.

-       1,000% Interest - Good While Supplies Last: A Study of Payday Loan Practices and Solutions. Professor Nathalie Martin’s curbside interviews with payday-loan borrowers at the point of sale suggest that the key to the industry’s success is consumers’ misconceptions of the true costs of these loans. Her research also indicates that the business model of payday lenders is to get customers on a debt treadmill, belying industry claims that payday loans are an innocuous way for consumers to deal with emergencies. She concludes by recommending greater regulation through legislation, and particularly recommending a usury cap to reign in these predatory lending practices.

-       Neither Borrower nor Lender Be: The Future of Payday Lending in Arizona. Tying Martin's article to developments in Arizona, 3L member Allison Woolston provides a policy note on Arizona's ten-year experiment with authorized payday lending.

Erin Norris
Arizona Law Review, Marketing Manager
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2012
The University of Arizona College of Law
(480) 612-7805
enorris@email.arizona.edu