June 18, 2020

FHFA stretches its foreclosure moratorium

5 minutes

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire covers the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s extension of its foreclosure mortarium.

For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:

The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Wednesday extended the foreclosure and eviction moratorium for borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until “at least” Aug. 31, the federal watchdog said.

“During this national health emergency no one should worry about losing their home,” said FHFA Director Mark Calabria, who oversees the two mortgage companies that back more than half of the outstanding mortgages in the U.S.The FHFA will continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and “update policies as needed,” the agency said in a statement.

The moratorium would primarily apply to the 2 million mortgages that were in default at the end of February, as measured by Black Knight. Both the delinquency rate and foreclosure rate for mortgages reached multi-decade lows before the pandemic began hitting the U.S. at the end of February.

Borrowers with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages are eligible for forbearance of up to one year if they are impacted by COVID-19, as mandated by the CARES Act passed by Congress. But, borrowers have to be current on their mortgage payments to qualify.

Following the main story, HousingWire covers Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s plea for examiners to go easy on forbearances, and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey that indicates rates have now fallen to another all-time low.

The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.

HousingWire articles covered in this episode:

FHFA extends foreclosure moratorium to end of August

Powell urging examiners to go easy on forbearances

Mortgage rates tumble to another all-time low

...more