The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued an interim final rule ending protections for mortgagors experiencing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CFPB in 2021 implemented safeguards meant to help borrowers facing foreclosure as a result of a COVID-19-related hardship, such as allowing mortgage servicers to offer certain loan modifications. The policy remained in place after the public health emergency created by the pandemic officially ended in 2023. Then in 2024, the CFPB proposed a rule to require servicers to offer the same loan modifications to all borrowers experiencing difficulties, not just those experiencing a pandemic-related hardship. That rule was not finalized, with the bureau stating it received no public comments on the proposal.
In a Federal Register filing, the CFPB pointed to the end of the public health emergency as the reason the protections are no longer needed. It also said that ending the policy is consistent with the Trump administration’s push to streamline regulation.
