The panel will discuss Professor
Chris Odinet’s recently published book, Foreclosed: Mortgage Servicing and
the Hidden Architecture of Homeownership in America (Cambridge Univ. Press
2019). The publisher’s website describes the book as follows: “In Foreclosed,
Christopher K. Odinet gives voice to the stories of homeowners that have been
neglected, particularly those facing foreclosure and deep financial distress.
The book reveals the powerful and often invisible mortgage servicing industry,
the tremendous discretionary power it wields over the housing lives of most
Americans, and the servicing problems that still persist today. ... [I]t
unveils a quiet and dangerous market shift in mortgage servicing-namely, an
ongoing move toward a shadow banking sector where regulation is weak-that
threatens the stability of our housing finance system. Ultimately, the book demonstrates
how the law does not afford homeowners the protection most think and how
regulation of these mortgage middlemen remains weak.”
Business meeting at program conclusion.