Kate Berry

One criticism of the CARES Act is that it provides relief only to borrowers with government-backed loans. Bills in New York and California would cover the remaining 30% of homeowners.

The rescue bill enabled banks to protect loans in forbearance from an immediate hit to a borrower’s credit report, but experts say affected consumers may have trouble getting loans after the pandemic ends.

Forecasts about the pandemic's impact on the mortgage market have grown less dire after forbearance requests by homeowners nearly leveled off in the first half of May.

The templates are meant to make it easier to obtain agency approval for small-dollar loan products and to accommodate mortgage servicers that want to provide online loss mitigation options.

The agency has freed companies from reporting requirements and provided flexibility on exams to help them deal with COVID-19 fallout. It has also finished other regulatory relief efforts that were in the pipeline before the pandemic hit.

The joint site describes potential strategies for both homeowners and renters economically affected by COVID-19.

Complaints to the bureau hit an all-time high in April. More than one in five said servicers wouldn't grant deferrals, forced borrowers into forbearance or violated other requirements of the coronavirus relief law.

Mortgage lenders have imposed steep pricing adjustments for cash-out refinancing as more borrowers seek forbearance.

Credit inquiries for auto lending, revolving credit cards and mortgages fell sharply in March as unemployment surged, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

The bureau issued an interpretive rule clarifying that consumers under certain conditions can modify or waive waiting periods required by the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

The bureau said it began developing the standards before the coronavirus pandemic. But more transfers may occur as some servicers struggle to meet their obligations during the economic downturn.

The bipartisan coalition of AGs said homeowners should be allowed to wait until the end of a loan term to make payments they skipped because of the coronavirus.

The agency said it is aligning policies for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans in forbearance so that servicers are only responsible for advancing four months of missed payments.

Federal backing for firms facing a deluge of missed mortgage payments is still on the table despite recent comments by an official who questioned the need to help the industry.

The nation's largest bank is temporarily reducing its exposure to the mortgage market amid rising unemployment and estimates that home prices could drop by 10%.

The move is part of an effort by CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger to help smaller lenders by significantly raising loan thresholds for collecting and reporting mortgage data.

The agency is still moving forward on key regulations dealing with payday lending and mortgage underwriting despite new demands posed by the crisis.

The Borrower Protection Program enables the two agencies to exchange information about loss mitigation efforts and consumer complaints regarding specific servicers.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Treasury secretary that the Financial Stability Oversight Council should create a liquidity facility to deal with a flood of forbearance requests brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Five Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Director Kathy Kraninger calling the agency's response to COVID-19 “tepid and ineffectual at best.”