eMortgage and Crypto-Mortgage in Home Finance

Most home mortgage loans today are documented on physical paper, but they are increasingly closed as eMortgages. The move to electronic documents is inevitable and will ultimately be a positive change for lenders and borrowers. However, additional regulation is needed to address issues raised by electronic home mortgage closings and the “crypto-mortgage,” a mortgage loan with the obligation evidenced by or tethered to a non-fungible token. Lenders have traditionally required that home mortgage loans be evidenced by a wet-signed paper promissory note to gain the advantages and the certainty of Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) governing negotiable instruments. However, delivery and storage of promissory notes is expensive and inefficient. More than twenty years ago, state and federal statutes enabled an electronic equivalent to the negotiable promissory note, called a transferable record. More recently, states have begun to adopt the 2022 revisions to the UCC, including new Article 12 of the UCC, which enables a new type of electronic record that may evidence a mortgage loan and that facilitates crypto-mortgage architecture. This Article is the first to provide a comprehensive comparison of the traditional paper mortgage loan, the transferable record eMortgage loan, and the Article 12 electronic mortgage loan and is the first to consider the cryptomortgage. The Article explores the advantages and disadvantages of a move to electronic residential mortgage loan documentation, including the cryptomortgage, with a focus on the homeowner. Consumers may be less likely to read and understand electronic loan documents, but electronic documents can be designed to increase understanding. In addition, the law governing negotiable promissory notes and their electronic equivalent, transferable records, protects lenders from certain defenses to payment at the borrower\u27s expense; Article 12, on the other hand, leaves borrower defenses in place. Finally, storage and registration of eMortgages, registration using blockchain technology, and the crypto-mortgage raise new security questions. To address these issues, this Article recommends adoption of the 2022 revisions to the UCC, use of the Article 12 mechanism rather than the transferable record, abrogation of the holder in due course doctrine for home mortgage loans, regulation of closing procedures designed to consider electronic closings, and further study and regulation of security

Shackles or Safeguards?: Tailoring NDAs and Noncompetes to Protect Interests Without Imposing Uniform Restraints

To better understand the implications of the FTC’s sweeping proposal and the need for a state-by-state approach, the following sections dive into the legal, historical, and comparative foundations of restrictive covenants, trace their evolution across jurisdictions, and explain why states—not federal agencies—are best positioned to strike the right balance. Part II provides an overview of legal doctrines governing the transmission of proprietary information, a history of the early applications of employment contracts, and a comparative analysis of international noncompete standards. Part III describes how different jurisdictions apply trade secret, contract, and employment law to protect business interests through enforceable agreements. Part IV outlines the criteria courts use to determine whether an employer interest is protectable. Part V examines the differing approaches states take when enforcing employment contracts. Part VI critiques the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed nationwide ban on NCAs (and certain NDAs), arguing that it oversteps federal authority and threatens to displace state-specific frameworks. Finally, Part VII proposes NDAs as a more precise and enforceable alternative to NCAs–– one that balances innovation and mobility without the overreach of a one-size-fits-all federal ban

Psychological Treatment Behind the Walls:Insights from the Inside

Repeated eras of mass incarceration, criminalization of marginalized communities, and substance use policies have created a revolving door of justice involved populations. The ever-increasing prison population has repeatedly become the largest contingency of mental health clientele for an overburdened mental health system. Those who work with formerly incarcerated individuals in the community often don’t know the unique set of challenges faced by practitioners within the system. Increased understanding and coordination of care can offer opportunities for sustained recovery and reduced levels of recidivism. In this presentation participants will learn about the unique insights on mental health treatment that can be gained from working within a prison environment. Participants will also learn about the systemic challenges and biases that are common barriers to facilitating psychological recovery inside the system. Discussions of how recovery from mental illness begins inside the system will be combined with a personal narrative of the presenter about the impact that change can have on both client and therapist. The role of advocacy, change agency, and personal ethics will be explored to encourage participants to reformulate their view of what recovery means and where recovery begins within the spectrum of justice involved populations. Learning Objectives 1. Examine the role of the institutionalization on mental illness 2. Analyze two complexities of the mental health care system within an institutional setting 3. Identify three factors that lead to change within the system of incarceration 4. Apply change agency for continuity of care following incarceratio

The Use of Humor in Mental Health Care

This project is a systematic review that examines the use of humor in mental health care. The review synthesizes the existing literature to highlight the settings and contexts in which the use of humor in mental health care has explored while simultaneously providing qualitative analyses on the various humor-based approaches utilized. This review aims to provide guidance for counselors, mental health clinicians, and health care providers to further utilize humor in their work

Succeeding in Higher Education: Find Your Person

This presentation explored the effectiveness of accountability partnerships in higher education. Whether faculty or student, these unique partnerships can help ensure success in academic endeavors. Some literature comments on this approach to success within higher education, but the research is scant and tends to focus on accountability partnerships as part of larger mentoring programs (Berk, R. A., 2011; Smith, et al., 2018; Smolcic, et al., 2017; Swann, et al., 2023; Traini, et al., 2021)

Leadership of Women K-12 Principals

Presentation of qualitative research on the leadership styles and experiences of women principals in K-12 schools. This research paper sought to answer the following questions: What are the common characteristics, styles, strengths, weaknesses, and strategies in leadership among leaders and women in K-12 school principals? The presentation will also demonstrate the experiences of these women as they lead in what they call a “Boys Club.

Analyzing students’ long-term motivational and emotional effects on achievement performance within and across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds

This dissertation examines how students’ motivational and emotional factors influence their future educational and professional achievements within and across diverse socioeconomic status (SES) groups. This study leverages a quantitative longitudinal study methodology employing a publicly available sample of 16,197 U.S. students from 10th grade through age 26. The theoretical model of this study is grounded in the situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT; Eccles & Wigfield, 2024) and generalized control-value theory (CVT; Pekrun, 2024), encompassing five latent constructs: expectancies for academic success, subjective task values, assurance about academic success, assurance about career success, and SES-related achievement performance. To investigate the relationships between these latent constructs, this study performed structural equation modeling (SEM) for the within-SES analysis and multi-group structural equation modeling (MGSEM) for the across-SES analysis. The findings revealed that students’ motivational and emotional predictors affected their future achievements differently both within and across low, low-mid, mid-high, and high SES groups. Specifically, students from lower SES groups were more inclined to experience social mobility through their motivational factors, whereas those from higher SES groups were more impacted by their emotional factors. Overall, students’ expectancies and assurance about their academic success were positive predictors of their future SES-related achievements while their values and assurance about career success were negative influencers. These findings contribute to understanding longitudinal comprehensive relationships between motivation and emotions among students from diverse SES and how these factors ultimately enhance students’ academic and professional achievements

2025 Private Capital Markets Report

The Pepperdine private cost of capital survey was originally launched in 2007 and is the first comprehensive and simultaneous investigation of the major private capital market segments. This year’s survey specifically examined the behavior of senior lenders, asset‐based lenders, mezzanine funds, private equity groups, venture capital firms, angel investors, privately‐held businesses, investment bankers, business brokers, limited partners, and business appraisers. The Pepperdine survey investigated, for each private capital market segment, the important benchmarks that must be met in order to qualify for capital, how much capital is typically accessible, what the required returns are for extending capital in today’s economic environment, and outlooks on demand for various capital types, interest rates, and the economy in general. Our findings indicate that the cost of capital for privately‐held businesses varies significantly by capital type, size, and risk assumed

A Letter to Governor Newsom and the California State Legislature on the Loneliness Epidemic and How to Confront It

We are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness in the United States, with our youth and elderly being the most affected populations. The best solution for loneliness is relational connection. While loneliness is subjective and will never be eradicated, the most serious consequences can be reduced significantly. The approach here focuses on determining what constitutes a healthy, close relationship and how to go about promoting that in order to improve overall relational health in the community. The policy options assessed include increased counseling and therapy, community building events such as neighborhood gatherings, teaching conflict resolution and communication skills, providing “Gateway Services” such as transportation and technology, and increased involvement of the medical community through assessments and referrals. This article finds that for youth, teaching conflict resolution and communication skills would be the most effective option to address loneliness, while community events would be most effective for the elderly. Funding from state and federal programs should support these programs