CFPB: Mortgage servicers’ pandemic response varies significantly

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a report detailing the mortgage industry’s varied response to the pandemic.

Impact: The CFPB said it expects servicers to compare the report’s findings to their own internal metrics to identify opportunities for, and demonstrate concrete efforts toward, improvement.

Details: In the report, the CFPB said:

• Call metrics showed most servicers reported abandonment rates of less than 5 percent during the reporting period, though some were considerably higher.
• Many servicers saw increased delinquent exit rates in March and April 2021.
• Overall delinquency rates ranged from roughly 1 percent to 26 percent for federally backed and private loans.
• Nearly half of servicers said they did not collect or maintain information about borrowers’ English proficiency.
• Forbearance was widely available for borrowers with federally backed and private loans, and denial rates were consistently low for both loan types.

More: CFPB mortgage servicing regulations taking effect in August exempt institutions that meet the small servicer standard of 5,000 loans or less serviced annually, which includes most community banks.