CARES Act

The Federal Reserve has already agreed to shut down emergency credit programs funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, but Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and others want Congress to ensure the central bank cannot revive them.

The extension of the FHA’s willingness to conditionally endorse loans with suspended payments came amid a renewed push by public and private entities to spread awareness of the CARES Act option.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the Federal Reserve Thursday to let several of its emergency lending facilities expire at yearend and return unused funds provided by Congress. But the central bank wants the programs to continue.

There have been several extensions of the policy since it was put into place as a way to sustain originations amid a wave of forbearance allocated to borrowers with government-related loans.

The forbearance rate improved to the a level not seen since early April, but getting back to pre-COVID levels will require employment gains or additional government stimulus measures, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

How we resolve millions of delinquent mortgages due to COVID is the only question that matters.

A booming housing market contrasts with a slow-to-improve job market, making for lopsided improvement in the number of troubled mortgages, according to numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As of the end of July, there were more than 1 million past-due mortgages not in forbearance plans, and the majority likely would have qualified for forbearance under the CARES Act.

A total of 34 states have offered coronavirus-related rental or mortgage assistance, much of which is funded by the CARES Act, according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

The overall forbearance rate was under 6% for the first time since April as another large swath of loans fell out of CARES Act coverage, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.