A number of countries in Latin America and Africa have attempted, strongly aided by donors, to formalize land titles following de Soto’s argument, despite the fact that de Soto has offered little real evidence that formalizing property titles actually leads to greater credit access and thus to poverty reduction in the developing world. According to legal advocate Murtaza Jaffer (quoted in Bourbeau, 2001, pp. The poor soon sell their interests, returning once more to unplanned settlements and despair.”