Distressed

While loan performance is improving in aggregate, some borrowers remained unaware of the relief available or were unable to access it, according to the Research Institute for Housing America.

Meanwhile at Essent, more loans exited the inventory in January than in December.

The housing market’s boom led to more borrowers building home wealth but the pandemic’s negative impact brings concern for underwater owners, according to Attom Data Solutions.

However, the share of new impairments increased, likely as a result of the high concentration of these loans given to self-employed borrowers.

The CARES Act-related forbearances could be “lulling us into a false sense of security” as 12-month expirations approach, according to Black Knight.

The uptick marks only the third increase in consecutive weeks since reaching a peak in May, according to Black Knight.

The move is in line with expectations that the Federal Housing Administration would extend more consumer relief amid the transition in Washington to Democratic leadership.

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

Remote work and pandemic-induced requirements from the government related agencies forced lenders to pivot on a dime, making it entirely possible that compliance defects will have a larger share in future quarters, Nick Volpe, executive vice president of ACES Quality Management, says.

The company’s 4Q originations were down from the same time in 2019 and the number of overall loans for 2020 marked a decline from the year before.

The government-sponsored enterprises’ moratoria will now continue well past inauguration day, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

While the annual total marks a 16-year low, the numbers are likely to change dramatically once government moratoria expire, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Changes in rules related to repayment options and refinancing criteria have complicated servicers’ lives, but otherwise this crisis hasn’t been as bad as that of 2008, a Fannie Mae survey finds.

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.

The funding will be used to continue developing the automation Brace provides for distressed loan servicing and other related services.

For some, including National MI and Essent, the improvement is taking place faster than expected.

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

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 Fed’s decision to lower rates amid a pandemic proved serendipitous for home lenders who benefited from a refinance boom last year, but they may need to make adjustments in the coming months.

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