Statutory Right of Redemption and its Influence on Defaulted Mortgage Outcomes

Abstract This paper provides empirical evidence that a strong statutory right of redemption leads to a statistically significant and an economically large impact in reducing bankruptcy filings. Under the statutory right of redemption, borrowers can repurchase the property after the foreclosure auction at a certain price. Implementations of the statutory right of redemption, however, vary substantially among states. When categorizing the redemption rights from an economic perspective, we find that a strong redemption right leads to a greater than 30% decrease in the odds that a borrower with a defaulted mortgage will file for bankruptcy.