IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fip/fedlrv/y2008inovp569-584nv.90no.6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changing the rules: state mortgage foreclosure moratoria during the Great Depression

Author

Abstract

Many U.S. states imposed temporary moratoria on farm and nonfarm residential mortgage foreclosures during the Great Depression. This article describes the conditions that led some states to impose these moratoria and other mortgage relief during the Depression and discusses the economic effects. Moratoria were more common in states with large farm populations (as a percentage of total state population) and high farm mortgage foreclosure rates, although nonfarm mortgage distress appears to help explain why a few states with relatively low farm foreclosure rates also imposed moratoria. The moratoria reduced farm foreclosure rates in the short run, but they also appear to have reduced the supply of loans and made credit more expensive for subsequent borrowers. The evidence from the Great Depression demonstrates how government actions to reduce foreclosures can impose costs that should be weighed against potential benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • David C. Wheelock, 2008. "Changing the rules: state mortgage foreclosure moratoria during the Great Depression," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 90(Nov), pages 569-584.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:y:2008:i:nov:p:569-584:n:v.90no.6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/08/11/Wheelock.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Randal R. Rucker, 1990. "The Effects of State Farm Relief Legislation on Private Lenders and Borrowers: The Experience of the 1930s," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(1), pages 24-34.
    2. Meador, Mark, 1982. "The effects of mortgage laws on home mortgage rates," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 143-148.
    3. David C. Wheelock, 2008. "The federal response to home mortgage distress: lessons from the Great Depression," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 90(May), pages 133-148.
    4. J. E. Morton, 1956. "Urban Mortgage Lending: Comparative Markets and Experience," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number mort56-1.
    5. Daniel J. McDonald & Daniel L. Thornton, 2008. "A primer on the mortgage market and mortgage finance," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 90(Jan), pages 31-46.
    6. Bernanke, Ben S, 1983. "Nonmonetary Effects of the Financial Crisis in Propagation of the Great Depression," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 257-276, June.
    7. Karen M. Pence, 2006. "Foreclosing on Opportunity: State Laws and Mortgage Credit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 177-182, February.
    8. Rucker, Randal R & Alston, Lee J, 1987. "Farm Failures and Government Intervention: A Case Study of the 1930' s," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 724-730, September.
    9. Kahn, Charles M & Yavas, Abdullah, 1994. "The Economic Role of Foreclosures," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 35-51, January.
    10. Jaffe, Austin J & Sharp, Jeffery M, 1996. "Contract Theory and Mortgage Foreclosure Moratoria," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 77-96, January.
    11. Alston, Lee J., 1983. "Farm Foreclosures in the United States During the Interwar Period," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(4), pages 885-903, December.
    12. Alston, Lee J, 1984. "Farm Foreclosure Moratorium Legislation: A Lesson from the Past," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 445-457, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Agarwal, Sumit & Ambrose, Brent W. & Diop, Moussa, 2022. "Minimum wage increases and eviction risk," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Bellou, Andriana & Cardia, Emanuela, 2021. "The Great Depression and the rise of female employment: A new hypothesis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Quincy, Sarah, 2022. "Income shocks and housing spillovers: Evidence from the World War I Veterans’ Bonus," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    4. Michael Brocker & Christopher Hanes, 2014. "The 1920s American Real Estate Boom and the Downturn of the Great Depression: Evidence from City Cross-Sections," NBER Chapters, in: Housing and Mortgage Markets in Historical Perspective, pages 161-201, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David C. Wheelock, 2008. "Government response to home mortgage distress: lessons from the Great Depression," Working Papers 2008-038, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    2. Kelly D. Edmiston & Roger Zalneraitis, 2007. "Rising foreclosures in the United States: a perfect storm," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 92(Q IV), pages 115-145.
    3. Goodman, Allen C. & Smith, Brent C., 2010. "Residential mortgage default: Theory works and so does policy," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 280-294, December.
    4. Raghuram Rajan & Rodney Ramcharan, 2015. "The Anatomy of a Credit Crisis: The Boom and Bust in Farm Land Prices in the United States in the 1920s," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1439-1477, April.
    5. Sumit Agarwal & Gene Amromin & Itzhak Ben-David & Souphala Chomsisengphet & Tomasz Piskorski & Amit Seru, 2017. "Policy Intervention in Debt Renegotiation: Evidence from the Home Affordable Modification Program," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(3), pages 654-712.
    6. Jonathan D. Rose, 2013. "A primer on farm mortgage debt relief programs during the 1930s," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2013-33, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. Stuart Gabriel & Matteo Iacoviello & Chandler Lutz, 2021. "A Crisis of Missed Opportunities? Foreclosure Costs and Mortgage Modification During the Great Recession [Synthetic control methods for comparative case studies: Estimating the effect of California," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 864-906.
    8. Postel-Vinay, Natacha, 2011. "From a “normal recession” to the “Great Depression”: finding the turning point in Chicago bank portfolios, 1923-1933," Economic History Working Papers 35518, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    9. John Landon-Lane & Hugh Rockoff & Richard H. Steckel, 2011. "Droughts, Floods and Financial Distress in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Climate Change: Adaptations Past and Present, pages 73-98, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Xavier Giné & Martin Kanz, 2018. "The Economic Effects of a Borrower Bailout: Evidence from an Emerging Market," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1752-1783.
    11. Mandai, Yu & Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2018. "Stabilize the peasant economy: Governance of foreclosure by the shogunate," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 305-327.
    12. David Harrison & Michael Seiler, 2015. "The Paradox of Judicial Foreclosure: Collateral Value Uncertainty and Mortgage Rates," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 377-411, April.
    13. Li, Wenli & Oswald, Florian, 2017. "Recourse and residential mortgages: The case of Nevada," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-13.
    14. Quinn Curtis, 2014. "State Foreclosure Laws and Mortgage Origination in the Subprime," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 303-328, October.
    15. Wenli Li & Florian Oswald, 2017. "Recourse and residential mortgages: The case of Nevada," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/5qjpn9qdt48, Sciences Po.
    16. Aidong Adam Ding & Shaonan Tian & Yan Yu & Xinlei Zhao, 2022. "Does judicial foreclosure procedure help delinquent subprime mortgage borrowers?," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 382-422, June.
    17. Postel-Vinay, Natacha, 2016. "What caused Chicago bank failures in the Great Depression? A look at the 1920s," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88844, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Atilano Jorge Padilla & Alejandro Requejo, 2000. "The Cost and Benefits of the Strict Protection of Creditor Rights: Theory and Evidence," Research Department Publications 3084, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    19. Jonathan D. Rose, 2011. "The Incredible HOLC? Mortgage Relief during the Great Depression," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(6), pages 1073-1107, September.
    20. Atif Mian & Amir Sufi & Francesco Trebbi, 2010. "The Political Economy of the US Mortgage Default Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 1967-1998, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:y:2008:i:nov:p:569-584:n:v.90no.6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Scott St. Louis (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbslus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.