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Research Reports Indepth analysis of persistent problems in the field of community development. Woodstock's research reports contribute to the body of knowledge used by policymakers and community development practitioners.
DocumentsDate added
Geoff Smith, Sean Zielenbach, Jennifer Newon, and Sarah Duda
This study examines the nature of the interaction of banks and community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in small business lending. We examine the experience of six different CDFIs that vary by size, corporate structure, and market. We explore how they both collaborate and compete with regulated lenders, and how changes in local and national market dynamics affect their activities. Our case studies are not necessarily representative of the CDFI industry, but they offer insights on the factors that shape CDFIs’ interactions with and responses to more mainstream institutions. Our findings are therefore more descriptive than prescriptive, although we offer suggestions for both CDFI practice and future research.
This report found that much of South Suburban Cook County, McHenry County, and parts of Northwest Will County have gaps in foreclosure counseling services. Even in areas where several agencies actively provide foreclosure prevention counseling, four out of every five new foreclosure cases in 2008 did not access counseling services.
Geoff Smith, Sarah Duda, and Malcolm Bush This report demonstrates that measuring how well a bank provides basic banking services to low-wealth consumers could be done using existing data. Using proprietary data collected from two bank branches located in low-wealth communities, it shows that the type of transaction level data, previously thought to be unavailable to regulators and costly to collect for financialinstitutions, is routinely collected by at least one large bank for marketing purposes.
Roadblock to Recovery: Examining the disparate impact of vacant lender-owned properties in Chicago
09/29/2009
Geoff Smith and Sarah Duda This report analyzed Chicago region foreclosure auction and property transfer data and found that vacant, lender-owned properties are heavily concentrated in African American communities, go unsold longer, and incur greater losses to the lender than similar properties in predominantly white communities. 
There Goes the Neighborhood: The Effect of Single-Family Mortgage Foreclosures on Property Values
06/14/2005
Daniel Immergluck and Geoff Smith
This report shows that foreclosures have a significant negative effect
on neighborhood property values. Although foreclosures have long been
considered a problem associated with FHA loan programs, recent research
has shown that the explosion in foreclosures that began in the 1990s
was primarily driven by the growth of high-risk, conventional subprime
lending.
This report analyzes 2007 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data and finds that, in low- and moderate-income communities, depositories with CRA obligations originate a far smaller share of higher-cost loans than lenders not subject to CRA. It also finds that lenders covered by CRA are much less likely to make higher-cost loans in communities of color than lenders not covered by CRA. 
Hunting Down the Payday Loan Customer: The Debt Collection Practices of Two Payday Loan Companies
09/28/2006
Examines the court records of borrowers taken to court by two companies now offering payday installment loans. These loans, which were made before the Payday Loan Reform Act (PLRA), show the types of abuses and aggressive litigation borrowers can expect from these companies currently offering loans designed to circumvent the law.
Geoff Smith and Sarah Duda
This report examines the results of foreclosure auctions in the Chicago region held between 2005 and first half 2008 for regional municipalities, Chicago community areas and Chicago wards. The analysis provides the total number of properties going to auction, changes in the share of properties going to auction that become lender-owned, the auction values of these properties, and the property types of lender-owned properties in the City of Chicago.
This report examines financial products that take advantage of the economic vulnerability of older persons and highlights key features of some alternatives. It is based on extensive conversations with leading members of the policy and advocacy community, financialservices industry, and bank regulatory agencies. The report concludes with recommendations for both bank regulatory andfinancial institution policy to advance financial products that protect the economic security of older persons.
Whitni Thomas and Jessica Brown, new economics foundation Malcolm Bush and Geoff Smith, Woodstock Institute This report seeks to reinvigorate the debate on bank disclosure in the UK and to create a better understanding of why it should be demanded of banks. This analysis is carried out through detailed case studies comparing Charter One Bank in Chicago in the US where banks have disclosed local lending practices since 1975- with its parent company Royal Bank of Scotland in Manchester to review the level of information available and the impact that this has. To do this we evaluate the available information on small-business lending, bank branch availability and basic bank account opening in underserved areas of Manchester. Our analysis indicates that data on these factors is generally difficult to obtain, inconsistent, and in many cases incomplete. |
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