On 8/31/2020, the CFPB issued a report that examines the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer credit. In their release, the CFPB explains that consumers have not experienced significant increases in delinquency or other negative credit outcomes despite the sharp increases in unemployment caused by the pandemic. In addition, the release explains that creditors and lenders increased payment assistance to borrowers where student loan and first-lien mortgage accounts had the largest increase in assistance in terms of magnitude, but increases in assistance on auto loan and credit card accounts were also substantial. Further more, the report found that credit card debt access was reduced by financial institutions, but the effects of this appear to be “small in magnitude.”
The full CFPB report can be found here.
