Servicing

Between rising home costs and the end of mortgage relief programs, many homeowners are struggling to stay above water, especially in the South and West.

More powerful storms and pricier building costs are behind the increases in premiums, said the report's authors.

Numbers on use and performance point to potential for nonpublic insurers to take on a greater role but also suggest there are limits to it, Fitch Ratings found.

Lenders and other businesses active in the state also stepped up with large donations and charitable campaigns in the days following the flooding disaster.

Insurers had already doled out more than $12 billion to pay for wildfire damages as of early March, according to California state officials.

Publicly traded lenders, including UWM, Rocket Mortgage and Guild Mortgage, saw personnel expenses increase significantly throughout last year.

The measure applies to mortgages closed in the months prior to the Southern California wildfires, which are now experiencing early-stage distress.

Scott Turner, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, extended borrowers more leeway after he toured the region with a local official.

The jump, which represents an ICE Mortgage Technology survey high, reflects the past cost of natural disasters like hurricanes in the Southeast.

The rapid rise in the cost of both insurance coverage and taxes leaves close to half of homeowners worried about their ability to make payments.