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46 UNEXPLORED TERRITORY The past 24-plus months have confronted the mortgage and servicing industries with challenges both daunting and immediate. DS News polled a cross-section of industry experts on what they've learned and where we go from here. e default servicing industry and mortgage marketplace overall has been through some changes over the past 24-months-plus. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. It was at this time when WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that, over the previous two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside of China had increased 13-fold, and the number of countries with cases increased threefold. e hustle and bustle of everyday life came to an abrupt halt, as we began the advent of the era of social distancing, and it appeared that life as everyone had known it, changed for the foreseeable future. e ripple effect felt by the housing finance market was just as jarring, as a once- flourishing U.S. economic landscape was jolted, with businesses shuttering and industry and its customers entering unexplored territory. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of borrowers behind on their mortgage increased to a level not seen since the height of the Great Recession in 2010. e government acted swiftly, working with the industry to enact policies and programs designed to help keep Americans in their homes. Just 16 days after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill was signed into law by President Donald Trump. Homeowners nationwide impacted by the loss of income benefitted via $300 billion in one- time cash payments to individuals who submitted a tax return, with most single adults receiving $1,200 and families with children receiving more; $260 billion in increased unemployment benefits; and the establishment of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that provided forgivable loans to small businesses with an initial $350 billion in funding. Sections 4022 and 4023 of the CARES Act involved mortgages, protecting those with federally-backed mortgages from foreclosure Cover Story By: Eric C. Peck