Foreclosure Prevention — Administrative Burden Reduction

Summary

Among households at similar risk of foreclosure, those facing simplified application processes received help at dramatically higher rates—and their foreclosure rates fell as a result. The finding illustrates a general principle: when take-up of a beneficial program is below 100%, the bottleneck is usually administrative burden, not lack of need or eligibility. Reducing friction is often more effective than increasing outreach.

Research question

"Does reducing application complexity and wait times increase benefit receipt and prevent foreclosures?"

Methodology

Result

Positive

+23% benefit receipt rate; −7.5% foreclosure rate

Evidence strength

Moderate

Quasi-experimental design; causal interpretation requires care.

Replication status

Partially replicated