SFS Cavalcade North America 2024
Georgia State University | May 19-22, 2024
Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 1st May 2025, 09:57:06am EDT
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Session Overview |
Session | ||
Track W1-5: Real Estate
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Presentations | ||
Language Frictions in Consumer Credit Northwestern University This paper studies how language barriers between lenders and borrowers translate into differences in borrower outcomes in the U.S. mortgage market. I use survey data to infer and machine learning techniques to predict borrowers' English proficiency. I document significant descriptive differences in perceptions of mortgages, application experiences, and mortgage rates between limited English proficient (LEP) and non-LEP borrowers. To measure the causal effects of language frictions, I exploit a Federal Housing Finance Agency policy that provided translated mortgage documents in Spanish to mortgage lenders. After the policy change, LEP Hispanic borrowers had a streamlined application process, contacted more lenders, understood mortgage contracts better, and enjoyed lower borrowing costs. Reducing language frictions also led to expanded access to credit, reduced loan risks, and a more competitive mortgage market for LEP borrowers. Overall, my findings highlight a cost-effective way to create a responsible inclusion of well-qualified LEP borrowers in the mortgage market.
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