Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)
Abstract
The lack of comprehensive and accessible records in systems like that of the United States hampers the ability of credit rating agencies to individually assess the quality of each credit in complex securitized products backed by mortgage receivables. In the current practice, agencies rely on general market indicators to rate financial instruments, particularly Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), rather than analyzing each underlying contract.
More transparent and reliable recordkeeping — featuring real property-based indexing —would greatly facilitate this individualized assessment, providing the clarity and accessibility needed for more accurate credit evaluations.
Recent legislation, such as Section 933 of the Dodd-Frank Act, has introduced a form of reckless liability for negligent credit ratings, particularly where agencies fail to comply with the “safe harbor” requirement of reasonably investigating the rated securities. The effectiveness of this provision could be significantly enhanced if American jurisdictions adopted a different form of indexing. By enabling granular, parcel-level analysis of underlying credits, such reforms could improve the transparency and accountability of credit ratings —thereby addressing one of the systemic weaknesses that contributed to the 2008 Financial Crisis.
As the securitization chain lenghten, information related to the original loans comprising securities tend to get difficult to obtain. A geographic index can serve as a means to retrieve both the characteristics of the mortgage contracts and the mortgagees in long securitization processes, providing the assessors with material data to properly ascertain the true level of risk that each credit actually presents, as well as the correlation among them.
A major reform effort in the 1970s proposed simplifying property transfers and records through a bill called USLTA (Uniform Simplification Land Transfer Act), aiming to reduce the need for title searches and insurance. But the proposals faced strong opposition from title insurers and real estate lawyers, had little political support, and struggled with the fact that property law is handled at the state level. As a result, the proposal was withdrawn by the Uniform Law Commission.
In the aftermath of the 2008 systemic crisis and its severe social and economic consequences, new arguments have emerged that may rekindle momentum for reform. Nonetheless, political traction for any renewed effort will depend on academic engagement capable of highlighting the importance of strengthening the U.S. real estate recording system. The central aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the revival of that conversation.
Recommended Citation
Maziteli Neto, Celso, "The Real Estate Tract Index: a Framework for Individual Assessments of Real Estate Credits in Securitization Operations" (2025). Maurer Theses and Dissertations. 136.
https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/etd/136
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