Banking

Amerant Mortgage includes several former bankers from City National Bank of Florida in Miami.

The firm will invest in loans in health care, real estate, equipment and transportation, as well as corporate sectors backed by contractual cash flows, according to a statement Tuesday.

The auto finance company, which had stumbled in forays into the credit card business, is now seeing rapid growth in mortgage and unsecured consumer lending.

The uptick follows the pandemic-era trend of midmonth increases in active plans, according to Black Knight.

The investments, part of a post-merger effort to wring out more profits, include new commercial and mortgage lending platforms.

The acquisition brings the credit report provider into the commercial and residential appraisal technology space.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.

While distressed mortgage rates continued the fall’s short-term slide, serious delinquencies are three times higher than the year-ago total, according to CoreLogic.

Fitch and Trepp reported that overall commercial mortgage-backed security delinquencies were down, while the MBA reported a slight increase.

A new path forward for digital banks and their customers.

A slowdown in the increase of loans exiting forbearance “implies that those who were able to absorb the shock of the pandemic and get back on their feet, may have already done so,” said Andy Walden, Black Knight economist.

The largest U.S. shopping center became delinquent on its debt last year after its owner Triple Five Group began skipping mortgage payments, citing hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A panel appointed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Congress should consider authorizing the bureau — and not the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — to issue federal charters to fintech companies.

While the balance of newly delinquent loans fell by 50% from November, the ratings agency warned that many borrowers will likely struggle to bring loans current under ongoing pandemic conditions.

The CFPB issued two rulemakings in 2020 that the financial services industry and consumer advocates hoped would finally clarify key issues over how collectors contact debtors and deal with legacy debts. But both sides want the incoming Biden administration to make further changes.

The recent stimulus law’s relief for renters and extension of the federal eviction ban were meant to ward off a housing crisis. But owners of 1- to 4-unit dwellings still face mounting mortgage and property tax debts, and delinquencies could start rising soon — followed by foreclosures.

Reports indicate distressed owners would rather surrender their hotel or retail properties instead of negotiate workouts on delinquent loans as the pandemic spread carries on.

With limited plan removals due to the holidays, mortgages in coronavirus-related forbearance rose by 15,000, according to Black Knight.

The river of red ink will likely begin to flow in the new year, due not only to the pandemic itself, but also to longer-term secular trends that have been accelerated by COVID-induced changes in the economy, says DebtX President and CEO Kingsley Greenland.

About 4,400 loans started the foreclosure process in November, alongside 176,000 mortgages in active foreclosure.