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The decline in late payments recorded in a trade group survey raise hope that many servicers will bear up under a wave of tighter enforcement coming from regulators.

The average for a 30-year loan was 2.98%, down from 3.09% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday.

The federal bank regulators had relaxed certain requirements in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. But they said in a new joint statement that servicers “have had sufficient time to adjust their operations” since that time.

Amid its first post-IPO securitization of loans made outside a regulatory definition for standard products, the company has seen purchases accelerate, but it underperformed by some analysts’ estimates.

Mortgage defaults, bank repossessions and auctions rose for the third month in a row, according to Attom Data Solutions.

The weekly gain was the largest since July, but overall activity still remains close to early 2020 lows.

After its most formidable competitor exited the business in the face of mounting losses, the company is seeking to reassure investors and consumers that its bid to re-engineer the $2 trillion U.S. housing market is still on track.

Nearly half of the company’s revenue comes from sources outside of the traditional home lending market, CEO Patricia Cook told analysts during the company’s earnings call.

The Federal Housing Administration’s changes seek to bring guidelines for specialized Title I programs in line with current borrower and market needs.

However, it remains 30% tighter than pre-pandemic levels, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.