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The prevalence and impact of misstated incomes on mortgage loan applications

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  • Blackburn, McKinley L.
  • Vermilyea, Todd

Abstract

Misstatement of income on mortgage loan applications (the “liar-loan” problem) is thought to have been a contributor to the boom and bust of mortgage markets. We provide nationwide measurements that reflect the degree to which incomes on mid-2000 home-purchase mortgage loan applications were overstated relative to the actual incomes of mortgage applicants. Our results suggest a substantial degree of income overstatement in 2005 and 2006, one consistent with the average mortgage application overstating income 15–20%. We find the tendency to misstate income was associated with markets with large home-price increases during the boom. There is little support for the proposition that income overstatement played a substantial role in subsequent mortgage defaults.

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  • Blackburn, McKinley L. & Vermilyea, Todd, 2012. "The prevalence and impact of misstated incomes on mortgage loan applications," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 151-168.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:21:y:2012:i:2:p:151-168
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2012.04.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Kiana Basiri & Babak Mahmoudi, 2021. "Possible income misstatement on mortgage loan applications: Evidence from the Canadian housing market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(3), pages 917-935, September.
    2. Zhenyu Gao & Michael Sockin & Wei Xiong, 2019. "Economic Consequences of Housing Speculation," NBER Working Papers 26457, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Wu, Di & Sam, Abdoul G. & Wang, Xiangrui, 2024. "Spillover effects of financial deregulation: The unintended consequences of the OCC preemption rule on mortgage lending practices," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PC).
    4. Elliot Anenberg & Aurel Hizmo & Edward Kung & Raven Molloy, 2019. "Measuring mortgage credit availability: A frontier estimation approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 865-882, September.
    5. Elliot Anenberg & Aurel Hizmo & Edward Kung & Raven S. Molloy, 2017. "Measuring Mortgage Credit Availability : A Frontier Estimation Approach," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2017-101, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    6. Conklin, James N. & Frame, W. Scott & Gerardi, Kristopher & Liu, Haoyang, 2022. "Villains or scapegoats? The role of subprime borrowers in driving the U.S. housing boom," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Atif Mian & Amir Sufi, 2017. "Fraudulent Income Overstatement on Mortgage Applications During the Credit Expansion of 2002 to 2005," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(6), pages 1832-1864.
    8. Rojas, Alejandro, 2021. "Mortgage credit growth for lower-income borrowers during the 2000s housing boom: Evidence and implications," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 220-233.
    9. Brent C. Smith & Anthony M. Yezer, 2025. "A Lucas Critique of Mortgage Lending: Theory, Evidence, and Implications," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 637-676, May.
    10. Yang, Ling, 2022. "An information quality-based explanation for loan loss allowance inadequacy during the 2008 financial crisis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1).
    11. James Conklin & Moussa Diop & Mingming Qiu, 2022. "Religion and Mortgage Misrepresentation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 273-295, August.
    12. Samuel Kruger & Gonzalo Maturana, 2021. "Collateral Misreporting in the Residential Mortgage-Backed Security Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2729-2750, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mortgage lending; Liar loans; Housing crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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