ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the legal factors which were central to the US subprime crisis, the international credit crunch and subsequent global economic developments. Some innovative developments are examined, such as increased protection for mortgage consumers and an intermediate tenures project in Catalonia. After the abrogation by the Dodd-Frank Act 2010, it seems clear that rating agencies were considered as experts and were not simply giving their 'opinion', thus losing the protection of the First Amendment of the US Constitution for their ratings. The reform of the mortgage market in Spain, by Act 41/2007, introduced two new risky practices that were discouraged by the European Commission White Paper on the Integration of EU Mortgage Credit Markets. Another group of provisions deals with the fact that new types of housing tenures are needed to augment the housing market, and to adapt it to the economic capabilities of each family, instead of making families to choose between full ownership and renting.
