Liquidity Contractions, Incomplete Financial Participation and the Prevalence of Negative Equity Non-recourse Loans

Abstract

We address a dynamic general equilibrium model where securities are backed by collateralized loans, and borrowers face endogenous liquidity contractions and financial participation constraints. Although the only payment enforcement is the seizure of collateral guarantees, restrictions on credit access make individually optimal payment strategies---coupon payment, prepayment, and default---sensitive to idiosyncratic factors. In particular, the lack of liquidity and the presence of financial participation constraints rationalize the prevalence of negative equity loans. We prove equilibrium existence, characterize optimal payment strategies, and provide a numerical example illustrating our main results