Mortgage delinquencies fell slightly in March, with the first-lien delinquency rate declining to 3.35%, down 37 basis points from February, as seasonal factors and tax refunds supported borrowers.
The real estate and mortgage industry outlet HousingWire cited Intercontinental Exchange’s May 2026 Mortgage Monitor report, which showed that while the overall mortgage delinquency rate fell in March, there was still concern over serious delinquencies and foreclosures, which are up by 154,000 borrowers from one year ago.
The increase was driven mostly by FHA loans, which rose by 164,000 and now account for a record 55% of seriously past-due mortgages. Overall, 1.6% of active mortgages are seriously delinquent, up 20% year over year.
A lot of questions here...
During the Biden administration, H-1B visa holders were buying houses with 97-100% financing. 97% would come from the FHA, with the rest coming from state first-time home buyer programs.
Zero money down. Thanks to programs that were supposed to be helping low-income American… https://t.co/0ZaLGV0Wru pic.twitter.com/WvlRjgYeJV
Adding to the mortgage delinquency story is Goldman analyst Jason Acosta, who released a note earlier today, showing what he described to clients as the "chart of the day."
The chart indicates that mortgage past-due rates are highest across parts of the Deep South, with Mississippi and Louisiana as the worst-performing states, followed by elevated stress in Alabama, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and others.
"On a national level, mortgage delinquencies eased in March, yet higher-severity stress remained elevated even amid the strongest monthly gain in U.S. home prices in two years," Acosta said.
He added, "We just released a new widget looking at past-due rates on a state-by-state basis below, with updates incoming to select between ranges of 30-59 days, 60-89 days, and 90 days+."
Here is the chart: What is the mortgage past-due rate by state?
Latest on the housing market:
The read we have here is that mortgage distress is becoming increasingly concentrated in lower-income Southern states, even as the national delinquency rate improved modestly overall.
Tyler Durden Wed, 05/13/2026 - 12:15Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on May 11 issued an alert to financial institutions warning them of efforts by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to evade sanctions.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington on June 30, 2025.Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch TimesFinCEN said in a statement that the IRGC has been facilitating and laundering the proceeds of illicit oil sales using networks of financial facilitators and shell companies. The alert provides red flags on the IRGC’s oil smuggling, digital assets, and front-company abuse to aid financial institutions in detecting and reporting suspicious activity, the statement said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that financial institutions have a responsibility to stop this activity.
“Degraded by Economic Fury, the Iranian military is desperately trying to fund its weapons programs and terrorist proxies,” Bessent said.
“Treasury will continue to deny the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps access to the financial networks it exploits to fund its terrorist acts. Financial institutions should be on notice that they have a responsibility to detect suspicious activity and stop it in its tracks.”
The Treasury network describes the IRGC as a parallel organization to Tehran’s regular armed forces, which reports directly to the leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. The IRGC is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
Shadow BankingFinCEN says the IRGC can make money from oil sales by misrepresenting its commercial activities. It smuggles oil using a “shadow fleet” of vessels that operate outside normal maritime rules and are often owned and operated by companies outside Iran.
Proceeds are then laundered through “shadow banking” networks to sell their oil and commodities abroad.
“By using front company accounts outside Iran to receive and remit payments, sanctioned entities like the IRGC are able to conduct transactions through the international financial system without repatriating funds to Iran,” FinCEN said.
The network says that with these proceeds, Iran can fund the procurement and development of weapons, as well as fund terrorist activity abroad.
Sanctions on IranThe alert comes after President Donald Trump said on May 11 that a ceasefire with Iran was on “life support.”
The president’s remarks follow Tehran’s proposal to end the war over the weekend.
“I would call it the weakest right now after reading that piece of garbage they sent us,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I didn’t even finish reading it.”
A ceasefire between the United States and Iran went into effect in April, ending weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes on the country that started on Feb. 28.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and natural gas, has remained effectively closed in the meantime, sending oil prices surging and rattling stock markets worldwide.
In the meantime, the U.S. military has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on May 11 that 62 commercial ships have been redirected and four ships disabled as it enforced the blockade.
Also on Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against 12 new targets as part of its “Economic Fury” initiative to disrupt Tehran’s economic and military capacity.
The Treasury said it had designated 12 individuals and entities for their roles in enabling the IRGC’s sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China.
“The IRGC relies on front companies in permissive economic jurisdictions to obfuscate its role in oil sales and funnel the revenue to the Iranian regime. Instead of using this revenue to support the struggling Iranian people, the regime directs it toward weapons development, backing terrorist proxies, and funding security forces that suppress citizens’ freedoms,” the Treasury said.
Joseph Lord and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden Wed, 05/13/2026 - 12:00