In a press briefing early Thursday, company CEO David Brickman noted that the number of forbearance requests have increased “significantly,” adding that he expects the readings to continue to rise.

It’s quite possible a large chunk of these loans will be cash-flow positive again. It’s just a matter of when.

MFA's initial forbearance agreement with its financing providers lasted for 15 days. The REIT extended the agreement through June 1.

In a statement, MBA SVP Mike Fratantoni noted, “Forbearance requests fell relative to the prior week but remain roughly 100 times greater than the early March baseline. While the pace of job losses have slowed from the astronomical heights of just a few weeks ago, millions of people continue to file for unemployment.”

The outcome was a boost in broker share to 15.2% of the market, up from 12.6% in the first three months of 2019.

The situation at press time: Mnuchin said that a Fed facility was no longer warranted...

“Wait until you see next month’s PTAP draw,” suggested one official familiar with the program...

The flows into commercial MBS of loans backed by office properties, retail facilities, hotels, apartments and industrial properties were all down sharply from the fourth quarter, a victim of the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A FHFA spokesman told Inside Mortgage Finance the pricing approved by the agency is “fair and reasonable. He added: “We have heard these loans would sell for much lower prices (15-20% discounts) in private markets.”

The reaction from some trade group officials was swift. Scott Olson, Executive Director of the Community Home Lenders Association, called the new COVID-19-related guidelines “totally inadequate.”