Distressed

The nascent market for private U.S. mortgages is teetering on the brink of collapse as the coronavirus crisis imperils years of work to lessen the government's role in home lending.

January saw the lowest mortgage delinquency rate in over 20 years, according to CoreLogic.

Researchers predict that the rate will rise in step with unemployment rate projections.

If rising flood waters were the right analogy last time around, this time a tsunami is probably a more accurate description of the wave of delinquencies about to come.

Mark Calabria needs to be working to secure a Fed facility for servicer advances and to support, not denigrate, smaller servicers, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The CARES Act does not define what a covered period is when it comes to residential mortgage borrower requests for forbearance.

Mortgage lenders are preparing for the biggest wave of delinquencies in history. If the plan to buy time works, they may avert an even worse crisis: Mass foreclosures and mortgage market mayhem.

Simply stated, the federal forbearance of mortgage payments is perhaps the largest unfunded public mandate in American history.

Mortgage servicers need direction from federal agencies on how to implement the forbearance plans called for in the CARES Act, according to the Community Home Lenders Association.

The impending wave of loan delinquencies because of the coronavirus hurt private mortgage insurer earnings, but the companies will still have sufficient capital, a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods report said.

The government is cushioning the impact of the coronavirus on consumers, but independent mortgage bankers need funding to deal with increased levels of servicing advances because of forbearances.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reiterated Thursday that he wants U.S. financial markets to remain open even as the coronavirus fuels wild volatility, while adding that he's focused on helping mortgage firms expected to be hit hard by the pandemic’s spreading economic pain.

As real estate prices soared in recent years, working-class adults everywhere have increasingly relied on mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration — and U.S. taxpayers.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's 60-day foreclosure halt for Federal Housing Administration borrowers is too short to help reverse mortgage borrowers, a letter from consumer groups stated.

Detroit-based mortgage giant Quicken Loans could be facing a cash crunch in coming weeks and possibly need temporary emergency federal assistance if lots of borrowers stop making payments on their home mortgages during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news report.

The Federal Reserve Board should create a dedicated facility for mortgage servicers to access in order to make required advances, industry participants and observers, including its largest trade group, said.

The percentage of mortgages underwater — when a mortgage exceeds value — has decreased dramatically in South Florida since the Great Recession, meaning the region may be better prepared to weather COVID-19 than the downturn a decade ago.

While the mortgage market began the year healthy, lenders and borrowers need to prepare for the impacts of the coming coronavirus recession.

With increased economic distress because of the coronavirus, lenders are likely to see an increase of borrowers looking for a mortgage rescission, arguing they are eligible for an extended filing time frame.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised a 90-day moratorium on mortgage payments for financially strapped New Yorkers because of the coronavirus.