Resources on the Mortgage Crisis

Last week in my Real Estate Transactions class, we focused on financing residential and commercial real estate, while looking at the current mortgage crisis.  A few materials that I found helpful:

The reports (and executive summaries) of the Congressional Oversight Panel.  A full list can be found here.  The ones I found most useful were: (i) the February report, regarding commercial real estate, and (ii) the November report, regarding the current issue of whether securitized residential mortgages were properly documented and therefore can be legally foreclosed.

An interesting counterpoint to the COP's November report is a White Paper released by the American Securitization Forum last week.  It can be downloaded through a link in the press release here.  The White Paper was endorsed by thirteen large law firms, which will surely preview arguments those firms will make in the lawsuits to come.

Finally, the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee held some hearings last week on these issues.  A list of the witnesses and links to their written comments can be found here.  Particularly of interest is the written testimony of Associate Professor Adam Levitin of Georgetown, who refutes the legal theories set forth in the ASF's White Paper.

A little light reading for your Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

Tanya Marsh

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