Banking

Forecasts about the pandemic's impact on the mortgage market have grown less dire after forbearance requests by homeowners nearly leveled off in the first half of May.

In a report issued Tuesday, the ratings agency notes that 1,287 companies as of April 28 faced prospects of potential debt and issuer downgrades, impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and a virtual shutdown of the global economy this spring.

The templates are meant to make it easier to obtain agency approval for small-dollar loan products and to accommodate mortgage servicers that want to provide online loss mitigation options.

Loans with coronavirus-related forbearance have to be reported as current to the credit bureaus but there’s a ripple effect from them that has implications for credit reports and underwriting.

A Democratic measure to freeze foreclosures and auto repossessions through the coronavirus crisis while expanding eligibility for loan forbearance is getting strong pushback from banks and credit unions, which complain it would constrain credit.

The Federal Reserve received a bipartisan critique Wednesday from members of a congressional oversight panel who said the central bank has been slow to launch a key emergency lending program for midsize companies.

Unlike public equities and even high-yield bonds, funds focused on CLO equity show little evidence of rebounding anytime soon from steep losses in total value.

The lender will pay $65 million in restitution and forgive nearly $500 million in auto debt to settle charges that it steered subprime borrowers into risky loans.

Progress Residential is bringing its next securitization of single-family rental properties to market, even as concerns mount on the depth of pandemic-driven tenant forbearance and delinquency trends.

The Flagship Credit Auto Trust 2020-2 transaction is only the second subprime auto-loan ABS transaction in the last two months, following the pricing last week of an American Credit Acceptance-sponsored $209.3 million bond offering.

Ginnie Mae is offering temporary relief related to its acceptable delinquency-rate threshold in response to issuers' need to fulfill the forbearance requirements in the coronavirus rescue package.

The Federal Reserve's unprecedented scale of intervention sparked an immediate surge in demand for both investment-grade and junk bonds. Now that the program has started buying, it’s unclear what happens when – and if – the funding runs out.

The agencies produced an application process that includes favorable interpretation of qualifying expenses.

The central bank's Financial Stability Report said companies may face difficulties repaying debt given lower earnings, “which could trigger a sizable increase in firm defaults."

J.C. Penney Co., the department-store chain that’s been negotiating with creditors on a plan to restructure in bankruptcy court, made good on a missing loan payment and said it’s still considering solutions to its crushing debt load.

The Federal Reserve said a facility designed to purchase eligible corporate debt from investors will launch today, bringing a key part of the U.S. central bank’s emergency coronavirus lending program online following weeks of anticipation

The agency is being methodical in its rollout of the Main Street Lending Program in hopes of avoiding missteps that followed the launch of other coronavirus relief efforts. But observers say delaying aid brings its own risks.

Banks could end up holding many low-rate Paycheck Protection Program loans on their books for two years, and dealing with irate borrowers who failed to meet federal requirements for forgiveness.

PACE sponsors are raising capital and promoting plans to retroactively fund stalled CRE projects amid the COVID-19 outbreak, giving a potential boost to ABS activity in the space.

The worst recession since the Great Depression is prompting indebted companies to default, and increasingly more will do so in a way that’s harder for investors to detect.