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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 27 bridged this gap with mortgage loans that the borrowers could not afford to pay off. As the housing prices are exceeding the pre-2008 levels, it is worthwhile to keep an eye on how the mortgage lenders bridge the gap between wages and housing prices going forward. You're currently working on a research that looks at the history of mortgage ownership recording. What are your preliminary findings? My study covers the evolution of the land ownership-recording system in the U.S. from the 1630s colonial recording statutes through four major changes to the system: the introduction of title abstracting in 1840s, title insurance in the 1870s, Torrens registration in the 1890s, and the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) in the 1990s. e paper investigates why these efforts failed to improve the public recordkeeping quality, with a particular focus on MERS. My analysis suggests that the choices made early in the development of the land ownership-recording system hindered subsequent reform efforts. ese choices include voluntary recording of real estate transactions, the fragmentation of public records, as well as of the legal and regulatory regimes governing the system. Which factors are likely to cause the next housing bubble? ere are three factors that are likely to cause the next housing bubble—liquidity in the system, lack of transparency both within and across the institutions, and, finally, the governance of the institutions. e liquidity comes in part from the quantitative easing policies adopted to ease the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. ese policies created a situation of too much money chasing too few assets—a key prerequisite to a housing bubble. ere has been a failure in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis to remedy one of the fundamental causes of the crises—a lack of transparency about who owns what assets. Such lack of transparency means that instead of relying on information both regulators and financial institutions have to base their decisions on educated guesses as to who owns what. ese educated guesses translate into governance problems. Most people frame the fact that some of these institutions are "too big to fail" as an incentive problem. An issue that does not get enough attention is that "too big to fail" is a governance issue—these institutions are too big to be governed effectively, not just by the external regulators but by the internal top management teams. "The liquidity comes in part from the quantitative easing policies adopted to ease the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. These policies created a situation of too much money chasing too few assets—a key prerequisite to a housing bubble." THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Help shape the next issue of DS News. Drop us a line at Editor@DSNews.com. default servicing trusted reliable informed @ dsnews.com 06.2018 62 DIRECTING TRAFFIC, DRIVING PROGRESS Field services technology platforms have proven themselves most efficient in acting as traffic controllers on the property information highway. 66 UNTANGLING THE WEB OF FORECLOSURE COMPLICATIONS New legislation in Washington State aims to define how and when servicers can secure abandoned properties—learn what the law entails and its possible nationwide impact. 70 TEAMING TO BENEFIT THE BOTTOM LINE How your financing partner can make or break your rental investment business, and the ways you can determine what options are right for your growing portfolio. TALKS MR. EBERS MR. COOPER Tony Ebers Speaks with DS News on Helming the Corporate Operations of Nationstar in the Newly Created Position of COO EXCLUSIVE FEATURE

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