Personal Finance

A temporary dip in 30-year fixed mortgage rates to 5.98% in late February 2026 drove a refinancing-led surge in originations, pushing total Q1 volume to 1.24 million, up 26% from a year earlier. At the same time, 60-plus-day mortgage delinquency climbed to 1.56% in Q2 2026, a 29-basis-point increase year over year, with FHA loans accounting for nearly half of all delinquent accounts. By late July, mortgage rates had risen to 6.81% and weekly refinance applications had fallen both week over week and year over year, indicating the Q1 origination pace has not carried forward.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a strategic plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 in April, weeks after a coalition of 23 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia sent a letter opposing the March draft. The plan prioritizes enforcement on cases with identifiable victims and measurable damages, calls for reducing what it terms unwarranted regulatory burdens, and proposes streamlining staff and real-estate footprint. The attorneys general argued these changes would weaken federal supervision and shift enforcement workload to states, while industry groups including the American Bankers Association expressed support for the plan's anti-duplication and fraud-focus provisions.

A federal court order entered March 3, 2026 directs Walmart to pay up to $79 million directly to Spark Driver gig workers who were shown higher earnings or tips than they actually received between January 2021 and March 2026, with an additional $11 million in civil penalties split among 11 states. Eligible drivers do not need to file a claim; Walmart is required to identify and pay affected individuals directly, then notify them by email. For the next 10 years, Walmart must also operate an earnings verification program and is prohibited from reducing stated pay or tips after a driver accepts a delivery offer.