After failing to get help from federal agencies, nonbank servicers’ lobbying efforts for a liquidity facility have shifted to Congress.

The GSEs reportedly are in the hunt to hire special servicers to handle COVID-19-related forbearance claims. The reason: Some nonbanks may be living on borrowed time.

Mortgage bankers have been clamoring for liquidity help from the FHFA. This week, the agency delivered on the issue of the GSEs buying COVID-19-related forbearance loans, but then lenders read the fine print.

Economists at Fannie and Freddie are “relatively optimistic” about mortgage originations in 2020, despite the economic impact of COVID-19. But not if social distancing remains in place beyond May.

Regulators have acknowledged that the lack of legal clarity and the speedy implementation of the new forbearance requirements may set the stage for exploitation by unscrupulous or ill-informed servicers.

The CFPB is likely to extend the qualified-mortgage patch, but the question remains whether it will make changes to the current QM framework.

House Republicans are pushing Federal Reserve and Treasury to create a liquidity facility for mortgage servicers struggling to fund advances.

According to independent mortgage bankers, aggregators are adding credit overlays and refusing to buy loans in response to post-closing forbearance risk.

A lack of consistent post-forbearance options may pose additional risks for the industry, particularly for loans owned by Fannie and Freddie.

The coronavirus crisis appears to have already sent the U.S. economy into a technical recession, according to economists at Fannie Mae.