Policy Intervention in Debt Renegotiation: Evidence from the Home Affordable Modification Program

63 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2012 Last revised: 15 Jul 2023

See all articles by Sumit Agarwal

Sumit Agarwal

National University of Singapore

Gene Amromin

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Itzhak Ben-David

Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Souphala Chomsisengphet

Government of the United States of America - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

Tomasz Piskorski

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance

Amit Seru

Stanford University

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 2012

Abstract

We evaluate the effects of the 2009 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that provided intermediaries with sizeable financial incentives to renegotiate mortgages. HAMP increased intensity of renegotiations and prevented substantial number of foreclosures but reached just one-third of its targeted indebted households. This shortfall was in large part due to low renegotiation intensity of a few large intermediaries and was driven by intermediary-specific factors. Exploiting regional variation in the intensity of program implementation by intermediaries suggests that the program was associated with lower rate of foreclosures, consumer debt delinquencies, house price declines, and an increase in durable spending.

Suggested Citation

Agarwal, Sumit and Amromin, Gene and Ben-David, Itzhak and Chomsisengphet, Souphala and Piskorski, Tomasz and Seru, Amit, Policy Intervention in Debt Renegotiation: Evidence from the Home Affordable Modification Program (August 2012). NBER Working Paper No. w18311, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2138704

Sumit Agarwal (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore ( email )

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Gene Amromin

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago ( email )

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Itzhak Ben-David

Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://fisher.osu.edu/fin/faculty/Ben-David/

Souphala Chomsisengphet

Government of the United States of America - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) ( email )

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Washington, DC 20219
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Tomasz Piskorski

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Finance ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

Amit Seru

Stanford University ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

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