Mortgage defaults

With an unusually high number of unknowns to factor in, mortgage industry leaders offer a peek at their playbooks for the next year.

Rick Thornberry discusses the company's third-quarter results and the decision to drop traditional appraisals.

More than six months after the CARES Act became law, the two entities joined a host of industry organizations in launching the COVID Help for Home campaign to educate borrowers on the next steps in forbearance.

The overall mortgage delinquency rate improved in the third quarter as the economy got healthier while late-stage delinquencies hit a decade high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Growing equity levels increased the share of equity-rich and pulled borrowers out from underwater in the third quarter, according to Attom Data Solutions.

And an uptick from second-quarter numbers is attributed to seasonality rather than any upswing in the economy.

While the total foreclosures continued to fall with coronavirus moratoria in place, the share of zombie properties rose in the fourth quarter, according to Attom Data Solutions.

While overall mortgage delinquency rates slowly descend, serious delinquencies — especially loans past 120 days due — jumped in July, according to CoreLogic.

Expected to make landfall as a Category 2 storm, Hurricane Delta's surge is estimated to cause damage to 293,685 residential properties across Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, according to CoreLogic.

If mortgage lenders need to learn anything from the pandemic, it is relying on a single source for any service could disrupt their activities.