fha loans are at the center of a reporting change that is reshaping how delinquency numbers are read inside the mortgage industry. In early 2026, the sharp rise in reported delinquencies did not reflect a matching surge in borrower distress, but rather a policy change that altered how trial payment plans were counted.
Why did reported delinquency numbers jump?
The spike began after the Federal Housing Administration changed its loss mitigation waterfall in October 2025. Under the updated structure, borrowers facing delinquency had to complete a trial payment plan before certain relief options, including partial claims, could move forward. That meant more loans sat in trial payment plan status for longer, and the reported delinquency rate climbed.
A report authored by Kavav Bhagat and published by the Center for Responsible Lending said the increase was a reporting anomaly rather than a sign of a broad deterioration in borrower finances. The numbers help show why the issue drew attention: delinquent FHA loans that were 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure or bankruptcy, rose from 3. 57% in September 2025 to 5. 23% in January 2026.
How is Ginnie Mae responding to the change?
Ginnie Mae announced that it will temporarily exclude FHA Trial Payment Plan loans from issuer delinquency ratio calculations for compliance purposes, beginning with reporting due April 2, 2026. The change affects March 2026 data. Loans in trial payment plans will still appear as delinquent in standard monthly loan-level reporting, but they will no longer count against issuer compliance ratios during the temporary pause.
Ginnie Mae president Joseph Gormley said in a memorandum on April 24 that the volume of trial payment plans is expected to normalize as the policy matures. He said the agency will monitor the effect of these loans on issuer delinquency performance and will give at least 60 days’ notice before returning to its standard calculation through a future memorandum.
What does the wider mortgage picture show?
The broader pattern suggests the higher reported rates are being driven by longer resolution times, not a wave of new financial stress. In Ginnie Mae’s March report, FHA delinquencies averaged 9. 2% from October 2025 through February 2026, up 90 basis points from the prior year. Yet early-stage measures stayed relatively steady: new delinquencies averaged 5. 2%, and 60-day delinquencies hovered around 1. 8%.
Ginnie Mae’s report said a meaningful deterioration in mortgage credit performance would normally show up in a rapid increase in loans moving from current status or early-stage delinquency into 90-plus-day delinquency. “The data does not show such a shift, ” the report said. Instead, it pointed to the longer resolution timeline created by the trial payment plan requirement.
What changes for borrowers, servicers, and issuers now?
For servicers and issuers, the immediate effect is administrative but important. Loans in trial payment plans will stop counting toward delinquency ratios for compliance, even as they remain part of the standard reporting framework. That should reduce pressure created by the temporary increase in calculated delinquency rates.
The shift also signals that Ginnie Mae may revisit how it measures delinquency risk more broadly in today’s market. it expects to review its delinquency threshold policy in a wider context, leaving open the possibility of longer-term changes. For now, fha loans remain in focus as the industry adjusts to a rule meant to organize loss mitigation, but one that also changed how stress appeared on paper.
On a screen in a servicing office, the numbers may soon look calmer. On the ground, the practical work of moving borrowers through the new process continues, and the next question is whether the temporary fix restores clarity without masking the real pace of recovery for fha loans.
