Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, IV |

Economist

Thomas Fitzpatrick is an economist in the Community Development Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. His primary fields of interest are the legal aspects of asset-backed securities and their derivatives, such as the process of creating mortgage-backed securities and collateralized-debt obligations. He is also interested in consumer finance, financial regulation, and community development.

From 2007 to 2009, he was a research associate and visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. He has also worked as an investment advisor in the retirement plan industry.

Mr. Fitzpatrick received his JD from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University and his bachelor’s from the College of Wooster. As a member of the Ohio Bar Association, he is licensed to practice law in Ohio.

Fed Publications
Other Publications
Work in Progress

Title	Date	Publication	Author(s)	Type
Regulating the Raters: Key Provisions in Proposed Reforms	December, 2009	Vol. 1, No. 1	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV;	Forefront
	Abstract: The financial crisis has produced no shortage of culprits—from Wall Street executives who were highly compensated for taking excessive risks to woefully undercapitalized insurance companies. Then there are the so-called credit rating organizations, or CROs, which have largely flown under the radar. How was it possible that CROs such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s handed out so many high—quality ratings to investment vehicles that turned out to be so high-risk?
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Making Financial Markets Safer for Consumers: Lessons from Consumer Goods Markets and Beyond	December, 2009	Vol. 1, No. 1	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Daniel A Littman; Stephan Whitaker;	Forefront
	Abstract: In the wake of the mortgage meltdown, policymakers are discussing how best to protect consumers in financial product markets. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland hosted a seminar, “Consumer Protection in Financial Product Markets,” in September 2009 to exchange ideas with other regulators about consumer protection and the role of the courts.
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Video: Forefront Roundtable	December, 2009	Vol. 1, No. 1	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Daniel A Littman; Stephan Whitaker;	Forefront
	Abstract: Watch economists with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland discuss their takeaways from the September 11, 2009, seminar on consumer protection.
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Understanding Ohio's Land Bank Legislation	January, 2009	Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Policy Discussion Paper, no. 25	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV;	Policy Discussion Papers
	Abstract: The effects of sustained high rates of foreclosure on numerous areas of Cuyahoga County have thrust land banking to the forefront of recent public policy discussions in Ohio. This Policy Discussion Paper seeks to inform those discussions by explaining the state’s traditional land banking system and illustrating how the new land banking system, spelled out in Senate Bill 353/House Bill 602 and signed into law January 2009, works. Originally published January 6, 2009. Updated January 30, 2009, to reflect changes in legislation.
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Reconsidering the Application of the Holder in Due Course Rule to Home Mortgage Notes	November, 2008	Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Working Paper no. 0808	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Mark B Greenlee;	Working Papers
	Abstract: In this paper we investigate the history of negotiable instruments and the holder in due course rule and contrast their function and consequences in the 1700s with their function and consequences today. We explain how the holder in due course rule works and identify ways in which the rule’s application is limited in some consumer transactions. In particular, we focus on laws limiting application of the rule to some home mortgage loans. We investigate Lord Mansfield’s original justification for the rule as a money substitute, the lack of explicit justification of the rule by the drafters of the Uniform Commercial Code in the 1950s, the contemporary justification of the rule as a means of increasing the availability and decreasing the cost of credit, and the concerns of legislators and regulators about lack of consumer knowledge, bargaining power, and financial resources which caused them to limit the application of the holder in due course rule to some consumer transactions. We conclude that changes in policy justification, parties to negotiable instruments and the structure of the home mortgage market call for a reconsideration of the continuing appropriateness of holder in due course protection for assignees of home mortgage notes. We suggest further analysis based on economic theory and review of empirical research in order to formulate policy recommendations.
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Title	Date	Publication	Author(s)	Type
A Revolution in Land Banking: Ohio's Land Bank Law	September, 2009	Journal on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, vol. 19:3 (forthcoming spring 2010)	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV;	Journal Article
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Credit Rating Organizations, Their Role in the Current Calamity, and Future Prospects for Reform	September, 2009	In Lessons from the Financial Crisis: Insights and Analysis from Today’s Leading Minds (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. forthcoming 2010)	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Chris Sagers;	Article in Book
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Faith-Based Financial Regulation: A Primer on the Oversight of Credit Rating Organizations	September, 2009	Administrative Law Review, vol. 61:3 (forthcoming September 2009)	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Chris Sagers;	Journal Article
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Reconsidering the Application of the Holder in Due Course Rule to Home Mortgage Notes	July, 2009	Uniform Commercial Code Law Journal, vol. 41	Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Mark B Greenlee;	Journal Article
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Title	Date	Publication	Author(s)	Type
Aligning Incentives and Optimizing Costs in Home Loan Markets: Elimination of the Holder in Due Course Doctrine	January, 2009		Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV;	Unpublished manuscript
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Codifying Too Big To Fail? Bankruptcy v. Resolution Authority for Unwinding Complex Financial Institutions	January, 2009		Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; James B Thomson;	Unpublished manuscript
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The Effect of Local Ordinances on Foreclosure and Vacancy	January, 2009		Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; James B Thomson;	Unpublished manuscript
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False Security: How Securitization Failed to Protect Wall Street	January, 2009		Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Kathleen Engel;	Unpublished manuscript
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Preventative Medicine: The Impact of Consumer Protection Laws on Foreclosures	January, 2009		Thomas J Fitzpatrick IV; Lisa A Nelson; Francisca G-C Richter;	Unpublished manuscript
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Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: http://www.clevelandfed.org

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Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, IV |