A recent analysis of mortgages by the CFPB found that an estimated 4.7% of owner-occupied properties were in forbearance as of March 2021, while about 0.5% of mortgages were 60 or more days delinquent. Loans in forbearance were more likely to have a high loan-to-value ratio—half of loans in forbearance have an LTV of 60% or higher, according to the bureau’s analysis.
The study analyzed demographics for a sample of nearly 662,000 loans for owner-occupied properties. The CFPB cautioned, however, that the demographic information reported in its analysis “should be interpreted with caution, because the representativeness of the sample may be different compared to other publicly available sources.”
The CFPB also issued a separate report on mortgage-related consumer complaints. The report found that mortgage complaint volume “has remained relatively steady since January 2020, averaging around 2,500 complaints per month,” though complaints did reach a peak in March 2021. The most common issue reported since January 2020 has been trouble during the payment process. Additionally, the CFPB identified several topics commonly raised in complaint reports, including forbearance communications, account statements and notices and denials of partial claims and loan modifications.
