Distressed

Forbearance rose for the first time since October 2022 in one report. Delinquencies jumped from a near-record low in another. Experts debate the ramifications.

The proposal would add reforms aimed at broadly prioritizing owner-occupant access and end the "test" or "demonstration" mode these sales have been in since 2002.

Further efficiencies could aid servicers, and improved performance may be a reason for lenders to open the credit box, experts at an Urban Institute event said.

Property insurance and taxes account for over one-third of current loan performance risk, according to Auction.com's recent survey of default servicing leaders.

Financial security is a concern for 31% respondents who said they feel less well-off than their parents or grandparents, a Nationwide survey found.

The agency alleged the companies had inadequate servicing resources and is calling on them to pay millions of dollars in redress and a civil money penalty.

Certain borrowers cut off from help due to the market's elevated equity levels and rates may fare better under coming changes made at the direction of the FHFA.

Although experts are predicting an active season, actual damages could be lower depending on how many storms make landfall and where, Corelogic reported.

Fears that foreclosures and abandoned property rates could spike once Covid-19 moratoriums ended have not come to fruition, Attom Data Solutions said.

The Federal Housing Administration's clarification addresses interpretations of an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that increased industry costs.

Amid numerous late payment improvements, foreclosure sales and prepayments ticked up.

The process of making changes to foreclosure prevention programs has been complicated by differences in how the Department of Veterans Affairs operates compared to an agency like the Federal Housing Administration.

Above and beyond the obvious damage, wildfires levied a hidden cost on the finance industry: Mortgage lenders and investors lost more than $30 billion between 2020 and 2022, due to both accelerated defaults and prepayments following disastrous blazes.

Elevated delinquency levels have not affected expected losses, however, due to home price appreciation, Fitch Ratings said.

"Lax regulation and monitoring of property insurers makes Florida mortgage markets far more exposed to climate risk than people might think," said Parinitha Sastry, an author of a working paper by researchers at Harvard University, Columbia University and the Federal Reserve.

But the number of properties whose mortgage is more than 90 days late is at its lowest since 2006, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

The government mortgage-bond guarantor will require additional information on foreclosure prevention actions, and retire some forbearance reporting.

The Supreme Court ruling on tax foreclosures could improve servicer recoveries but it's also giving some jurisdictions pause as they look at how to interpret it.

The order in the Cenlar loan modification case highlights what courts may look for in qualified written request responses, something other servicers like Specialized Loan Servicing also are contending with in litigation.

What recent patterns in FHA delinquencies, distressed loan outcomes, foreclosures and the rates at which loans are prepaying or underwater can reveal about where the market is headed.