The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a letter this morning to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said FHFA should extend current affordable housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, given current economic uncertainty.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey reported loans now in forbearance decreased by 49 basis points to 6.32% of servicers’ portfolio volume in the prior week as of October 4 from 6.81% the previous week. MBA estimates 3.2 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

In another victory for Mortgage Bankers Association member advocacy, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Oct. 7 rescinded a controversial Compliance Bulletin on prohibition of kickbacks and referral fees under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Fitch Ratings, New York, said while remote working in the U.S. accelerated as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and is reducing the importance of proximity to offices and causing migration from urban to suburban and exurban areas, it does not expect any material effect on the credit quality of its rated U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities pools.

As COVID-19 and government responses continue to drive uncertainty around outcomes and outlooks, MBA Newslink interviewed senior professionals from a credit rating agency and several highly rated servicers to get their perspective on forbearance, loan workouts and portfolio management challenges for agency and non-agency CMBS.