Mortgage Forbearances Increase after Three Consecutive Weeks of Declines

According to Black Knight, a mortgage data research firm, mortgage forbearances rose this week, after three consecutive weeks of declines. There were 4.68 million homeowners with forbearance plans this week, meaning their mortgage payments are temporarily suspended, up 79,000 from the prior week. The total represents 8.8% of all active mortgages, up from 8.7%, the week before. The forbearance share for home loans backed the Federal Housing Administration was 14.7%, up from 14.3%, and the share for mortgages backed by the Veterans Administration was 7.5%, up from 7.3%. Together, the FHA and VA loans represent $258 billion of unpaid principal. Also of note, In April, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said servicers handling GSE-backed mortgages were only required to advance four months of missed payments for loans in forbearance. After that, the servicer is under “no further obligation to advance scheduled payments,” the agency said.