The Mortgage Bankers Association led more than two dozen other industry groups in an Apr. 15 letter to state and local policy associations, urging them to allocate available American Rescue Plan federal funds to assist renters, consumer-facing small businesses and impacted industries that are having trouble paying rents, mortgages or remaining viable enterprises due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s grassroots advocacy arm, the Mortgage Action Alliance, issued a Call to Action last week, asking its members contact their members of Congress to allow flexibility in implementation of new purchase caps placed on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Forbearance and Call Volume Survey reported loans now in forbearance decreased by 16 basis points to 4.5% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of Apr. 11 from 4.66% the prior week. MBA estimates 2.3 million homeowners are in forbearance plans.

The Mortgage Bankers Association recommended the Federal Housing Finance Agency align its actions on climate change and natural disaster risks with a set of core principles to reduce risk.