Reacting to Naming, Blaming, and Claiming: Defendant Homeowners’ Actions in Response to Foreclosure

• In Event: 163 - Regular Session. Sociology of Law

Abstract

The rise in residential foreclosures over the last decade has been well documented. These cases represent instances in which individual homeowners must respond to claims made against them.
While existing models of dispute processing have described patterns of behavior among individual claimants, there has been less attention afforded to the actions of individual respondents. This article extends prior research by developing a framework for analyzing the dispute processing behavior of individual respondents and applying it to the residential foreclosure setting. Using a unique dataset of residential foreclosure cases filed in New York City between 2007 and 2011, the article explores the dispute processing behavior of individual homeowners facing foreclosure. The results document the limited level of participation exhibited by homeowners engaged in the foreclosure process and highlight the influence of structural factors on the dispute processing behavior of individual respondents.

Author

• Emily Taylor Poppe, Cornell University