It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Credit tightening is becoming more evident according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting explained. 'Mortgage credit supply dropped again in June, as investors further reduced their willingness to purchase jumbo loans and those with lower credit scores. The overall credit availability index decreased 3.3 percent to its lowest level since April 2014, with all of the sub-indexes falling to lows not seen since 2014-2015. Credit supply has fallen over 30 percent since February - before the pandemic - with an 18 percent decrease in government loan availability, and a 57 percent drop in jumbo loan availability.'"

"Wells Fargo is now requiring new customers to bring at least $1 million in balances if they want to refinance a jumbo mortgage, up from a previous level of $250,000, according to people with knowledge of the policy. The bank also tightened lending standards in its mortgage business in the July 1 overhaul, which impacts everyone applying for a home loan, not just jumbo refinancings, according to one of the people. For primary and secondary home mortgages, the bank lowered by 5% the size of loans it would approve relative to a property’s value."

"It also boosted the amount of cash that buyers need to have on hand after they’ve purchased a home, called a 'post-closing liquidity requirement,' from 12 months of expenses to 18 months, said the person. And in other areas of the business, the bank is still taking precautions. A moratorium on home equity lines of credit, which are a popular way for homeowners to extract equity from their home, is still in place, said the people. The bank stopped taking HELOC applications in late April, CNBC reported at the time."

"And the bank has not resumed its third-party mortgage business, where it purchases jumbo loans underwritten by other banks and credit unions, the people said. Wells Fargo shut down that part of its correspondent lending business in April."

"ATTOM Data Solutions' second-quarter 2020 Special Report says the stretch of states running from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., as well as Illinois had 43 of the 50 counties most vulnerable to the economic impact of COVID-19. These counties include 11 suburban areas around New York City, seven in Chicago, five in the Washington, D.C. area and four around Baltimore. Only four of the vulnerable counties exist in the West, all of which are within California."

"ATTOM determines counties more or less at risk by exploring the percentage of homes currently facing possible foreclosure, the number of homes with mortgage balances that exceed the property value and the percentage of local wages required to pay for major homeownership expenses. 'Home-sales data from around the country is starting to show that eight years of price gains may be coming to an end amid the economic damage flowing from the virus pandemic. It’s still too early to make any definitive calls, but the latest numbers show storm clouds gathering over the market,' said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions."

"ATTOM's report revealed the most vulnerable clusters are around New York City, Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. In these most at-risk areas, there are higher levels of unaffordable housing, mortgages underwater and foreclosure activity has been found."

"Jeff Ostrowski, analyst, Bankrate.com, said he created an index—the House Hardship Index—which combines mortgage delinquency rates and unemployment rates on a state-by-state basis. He found Nevada and Hawaii were the two most impacted markets, with Nevada having a delinquency rate of 9.9% and an unemployment rate of 25%. Hawaii had a mortgage delinquency rate of 9.3% with 22.3% unemployment."

"'That’s more about the structure of their economy. Those are both very tourism heavy states and there was really no tourism in April and May,' he said, adding both Michigan and New Jersey were hit hard by the virus."

"A new Honolulu Board of Realtors survey paints an alarming picture of the scope of financial pain Oahu renters are feeling. It found that 4 in 10 Realtors have tenants who couldn’t pay their rent in June. Nearly half of Realtors, meanwhile, had tenants who asked for a discount or rent reduction. It also found 14% of Realtors who responded said they had rental property owners who asked lenders for forbearance or deferrals. 16% said their tenants had difficulty finding rental assistance programs, and 45% said they didn’t expect their tenants ability to pay to improve in July."

"A housing crunch was already well-established in the Puget Sound area well before COVID-19, but it is clear that people are extremely desperate. Mom-and-pop landlords are also struggling. KING 5 viewer Jo said she invested in three rental properties as a source of retirement income. She said it's a modest income, but it's worked these past years. Her tenants became unemployed and were unable to pay rent due to the pandemic. This put Jo into such tough times, that they, too, decided to sell their properties."

"From southeast Houston to West Harris County, and from Pasadena to Humble, Harris County Justice of the Peace courts have dockets filled with eviction cases. On the other side of the issue are landlords who say eviction is not their goal, but argue they have bills to pay too. 'As a landlord, I have to pay mortgage, I have to pay taxes, I have to pay everything,' said Doina Berea. Another landlord outside of court on Griggs Road who said he tries to be flexible with his tenants but points out he has to support his family as well. 'If I don’t pay after two or three months, they go to foreclosure,' said Mehdi Naghabi."

"The coronavirus pandemic has squeezed New York City renters so badly that a quarter of them have gone four months without paying rent, a new report says. The lack of income from rent has landlords struggling to pay their own bills. A survey found that 39 percent of Big Apple building owners could only make partial property tax payments this month, while another 6 percent couldn’t afford to pay at all, as The Post reported last week."

"With a growing number of residents leaving the city, the New York City rental market took a beating in June, a new report has found. The number of apartments listed for rent in Manhattan also made a record jump, with inventory up nearly 85% from last year. Available listings in Brooklyn and Queens grew, too, with inventory up 57% and 41%, respectively, from last year."

"Meanwhile, the median rental price in Manhattan, $3,378 a month, dropped by 4.7% from last month, reversing all the gains seen in 2019 and 2020. June also saw the lowest number of new lease signings for that month in a decade, with landlords and brokers offering incentives to entice renters. The report found that 45% of new rental transactions in June included some sort of owner-paid incentives, like one or two months of free rent."

"'Being a landlord is tough at the moment,' said Jason Kennedy, a property owner with four buildings in Manhattan. Many tenants have left their apartments for a second home or an alternative living situation outside the city, he said. Other renters who have lost their job or have taken a pay cut are having difficulty affording their rent. And some renters who can pay are asking for breaks on the rent, he said."

"The Long Beach City Council will hear a report from our city attorney that requests policy direction to either extend the eviction moratorium or let it expire on July 31. Sadly, non-paying renters are continuing to grow, making it difficult for housing providers to pay mortgages, property taxes and maintenance."

"Data shared by Zumper last week showed that one-bedroom rents are down 11.8% across the city, beating the previous month's record of largest decline ever in San Francisco. The largest rent decreases were found in neighborhoods within walking distance to San Francisco start-up hubs — SoMa saw a decrease year-over-year of 19%, and the Lower Pac Heights neighborhood saw a whopping 21% dip. Downtown and Financial District rents dropped by 15% and 14% respectively."

"'This really feels like a historic moment. With rents down 11.8% year on year, this is the first time this generation of renters in San Francisco has seen a shift like this,' said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. 'We believe that rents will continue to drop for a while and then plateau. We do not believe we will see any form of immediate recovery to previous highs for a long time. This is without question a reset, driven in part by the recession, in part by an influx of supply, and in part by the future of remote work.'"

"After surviving cancer of the head and neck, Kelly Estavillo lost the ability to operate his business. Now he may lose his home to SPS, a mortgage servicing company, according to a Santa Clarita realtor. Estavillo is among several individuals facing foreclosure by a mortgage servicing company called Select Portfolio Servicing (SPS), and is being represented by Richard Szerman of Alta Realty Group, who offers free foreclosure defense services to the public."

"Szerman said he believes this lack of communication is intentional on SPS’s part to force properties such as Estavillo’s into foreclosure when a short sale would otherwise be possible. One of the reasons Szerman believes the actions by SPS are intentional has to do with the reasoning SPS gave for their denial of Estavillo’s short sale — 'the counter offer was insufficient.'"

"Szerman said that Estavillo is one of 'half a dozen foreclosures scheduled (with SPS) in the next two weeks for clients who had files in process prior to the pandemic.' 'If you think homelessness is bad in the state of California now,' Szerman said, 'try what it looks like in six months if we do not stop banks from foreclosing.'"