The recent economic recession, dated from December 2007 to June 2009, renewed media interest in “doubling-up”, or household sharing. This recession was marked not just by high unemployment, but also by high rates of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Thus, many families faced the prospect of losing their homes.  Families may respond to the risk of foreclosure in several ways.  A family may attempt to retain their home by: (1) paying the delinquent mortgage; or (2) by “doubling up”, i.e. bringing in additional household members to share costs. Families may also respond by moving to another residence, either alone or with others.

 In this analysis, we examine the extent to which doubling up or household sharing prevents families from losing their home to foreclosure. I use data from the 2008 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation linked to foreclosure records from RealtyTrac to examine the extent to which households double up to prevent foreclosure.  I also incorporate data from SIPP topical modules on migration history, mortgages and home values, and adult well-being. The RealtyTrac data consists of records of foreclosure events (Notice of Default, Notice of Auction and Notice of Bank Ownership) for properties in the U.S. from 2005 through 2011. These records include the date and type of event.  SIPP data and Realty Trac data are linked by property address.  My anayltic sample is restricted to households reporting an underwater mortgage.[1]

I estimate logit regression models predicting the probability of receiving a notice of default, a notice of auction or a notice of bank ownership. The key predictor is whether or not a household is doubled up. In additional models, I examine whether and how a household moving from not doubled up to doubled up status is associated with the likelihood of being foreclosed.  Households are defined as doubled up if they contain at least one additional adult member. An additional adult is a person aged 18 years and older who has not been enrolled in school during the survey wave and who is neither the householder, the spouse or cohabiting partner of the householder. I control for age, sex, race, nativity, marital status, presence of children under 18 years, educational attainment, length of residence, poverty status, household type, household income and assets and state of residence, as well as receipt of financial support from family, friends, social service agencies or non-profit organizations.  Further, I also control for additional shocks such as job loss, disability onset or change in insurance status. 

I expect that being doubled up reduces the likelihood that homeowners will experience each stage of foreclosure. Further, I expect that bringing additional adults into the household (doubling up) will reduce the likelihood of experiencing additional stages of foreclosure.