6.42% of the 8,416,639 active FHA-insured home loans were seriously delinquent in August 2026, up from 4.44% in August 2025. HUD counts a loan as seriously delinquent when it is 90 or more days behind, in foreclosure or in bankruptcy. Counting every loan at least 30 days late, 13.64% of FHA loans were behind.
The rate depends heavily on the borrower’s credit score when the loan was made. Among loans to borrowers who started with a score of 580 to 619, 23.95% were past due and 11.87% were seriously delinquent. Among borrowers who started at 720 or higher, 4.32% were past due and 1.94% were seriously delinquent. That is a gap of about 6 to 1 in serious delinquency.
What changed in the past year
Serious delinquency rose in every score band from August 2025 to August 2026. The biggest increases, more than 3 percentage points each, were in the 500 to 579, 580 to 619 and 620 to 659 bands: for example, 8.22% to 11.87% for 580 to 619, and 6.49% to 9.56% for 620 to 659. Borrowers who started at 720 or higher went from 1.35% to 1.94%.
The increase came mostly from loans 90 or more days behind, which rose from 3.53% to 5.24% of active loans. Loans in foreclosure rose from 0.43% to 0.63%. In raw numbers, HUD reported 52,730 FHA loans in foreclosure at the end of August 2026, compared with 34,533 a year earlier, and 9,749 new foreclosure starts in August 2026, compared with 7,397 in August 2025. Earlier-stage delinquency did not rise the same way: loans 30 days late were 5.46% of active loans in August 2026, compared with 5.97% a year earlier.
Delinquency by credit score
| Credit score at origination | Share of scored loans | Any past due, Aug 2026 | Serious, Aug 2026 | Any past due, Aug 2025 | Serious, Aug 2025 | Change in serious rate (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 500 | 0.06% | 23.97% | 11.28% | 24.31% | 9.20% | +2.08 |
| 500-579 | 1.64% | 23.25% | 11.37% | 21.51% | 7.97% | +3.40 |
| 580-619 | 9.05% | 23.95% | 11.87% | 21.90% | 8.22% | +3.65 |
| 620-659 | 32.16% | 19.91% | 9.56% | 18.06% | 6.49% | +3.07 |
| 660-719 | 38.95% | 11.51% | 5.37% | 10.29% | 3.60% | +1.77 |
| 720-850 | 18.15% | 4.32% | 1.94% | 3.93% | 1.35% | +0.59 |
| All loans with a score | 100% | 14.23% | 6.79% | 12.98% | 4.65% | +2.14 |
"Any past due" is every loan 30 or more days late, including loans in foreclosure or bankruptcy. "Serious" is 90+ days late, in foreclosure or in bankruptcy. The score bands cover 7,278,217 fully underwritten loans with a recorded score; streamline refinances, which do not require a credit score, are left out of this panel. The share column is each band’s share of those scored loans. The August 2025 columns come from HUD’s August 2025 report. The change column is our calculation.
Month by month, August 2025 to August 2026
| Month | Active FHA loans | 30 days | 60 days | 90+ days | In foreclosure | In bankruptcy | Serious delinquency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 8,120,561 | 5.97% | 2.10% | 3.53% | 0.43% | 0.48% | 4.44% |
| Sep 2025 | 8,150,049 | 5.94% | 2.10% | 3.57% | 0.45% | 0.51% | 4.53% |
| Oct 2025 | 8,176,266 | 5.50% | 1.97% | 3.60% | 0.45% | 0.51% | 4.56% |
| Nov 2025 | 8,194,450 | 6.28% | 2.25% | 4.22% | 0.46% | 0.54% | 5.21% |
| Dec 2025 | 8,218,177 | 5.92% | 2.23% | 4.81% | 0.47% | 0.54% | 5.81% |
| Jan 2026 | 8,247,428 | 5.46% | 2.08% | 5.23% | 0.48% | 0.53% | 6.24% |
| Feb 2026 | 8,264,389 | 5.54% | 1.91% | 5.68% | 0.52% | 0.54% | 6.74% |
| Mar 2026 | 8,277,765 | 4.97% | 1.62% | 5.61% | 0.52% | 0.50% | 6.63% |
| Apr 2026 | 8,296,826 | 4.98% | 1.57% | 5.49% | 0.54% | 0.50% | 6.53% |
| May 2026 | 8,323,271 | 5.31% | 1.66% | 5.45% | 0.55% | 0.52% | 6.53% |
| Jun 2026 | 8,355,089 | 5.51% | 1.71% | 5.37% | 0.57% | 0.53% | 6.48% |
| Jul 2026 | 8,387,103 | 5.23% | 1.67% | 5.24% | 0.60% | 0.54% | 6.38% |
| Aug 2026 | 8,416,639 | 5.46% | 1.76% | 5.24% | 0.63% | 0.55% | 6.42% |
Not seasonally adjusted, share of active FHA loans at month end. HUD’s report also gives seasonally adjusted rates; on that basis serious delinquency was 6.63% in August 2026 and 4.58% in August 2025. HUD revises earlier months, so the August 2025 figures here, taken from the August 2026 report, can differ slightly from the August 2025 report.
Why borrowers fell 90 days behind
When an FHA loan first becomes 90 days delinquent, the servicer reports a reason. In the April to June 2026 quarter, the latest full quarter in the report, reduction of income was the most common reason (31.3% of new 90-day delinquencies), followed by excessive obligations (21.3%), death or illness (15.4%) and unemployment (12.3%). In late 2021, most new 90-day delinquencies were coded "national emergency", a category that includes the COVID-19 pandemic; that share is now close to zero. HUD counted 145,837 new 90-day delinquencies in that quarter, fewer than the 156,963 in the same quarter of 2025. The total number of seriously delinquent loans can still rise when new cases slow, because it also depends on how many late loans catch up, are modified or leave the portfolio.
| Reason the servicer reported | FY2021 Q4 | FY2023 Q4 | FY2025 Q3 | FY2026 Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduction of income | 7.0% | 26.0% | 29.0% | 31.3% |
| Unemployed | 2.1% | 7.6% | 12.1% | 12.3% |
| Excessive obligations | 6.0% | 16.4% | 20.3% | 21.3% |
| Death or illness | 3.6% | 11.6% | 14.9% | 15.4% |
| Marital difficulties | 0.7% | 2.2% | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| No contact | 4.4% | 5.2% | 6.8% | 9.0% |
| National emergency (includes COVID-19) | 71.3% | 24.0% | 4.0% | 0.1% |
| Other | 5.0% | 6.9% | 10.2% | 8.2% |
| New 90+ day delinquencies (count) | 85,581 | 145,097 | 156,963 | 145,837 |
HUD labels these by federal fiscal year, which starts October 1, so FY2026 Q3 is April to June 2026, the latest full quarter in the report. The CSV also has July and August 2026, which HUD reports as partial-quarter figures. These are the reasons servicers recorded, not a survey of borrowers.
Why it matters
FHA loans are often used by first-time buyers and borrowers with lower credit scores or smaller down payments, so FHA delinquency is an early read on stress among households with less cushion. A rise in serious delinquency means more borrowers face foreclosure risk, and it can affect the FHA insurance fund and the cost and availability of FHA loans over time.
For an individual buyer, the score table is a reminder that a lower starting score does not doom a loan: more than three in four FHA borrowers who started at 580 to 619 were current in August 2026. But it also shows how much less room for error those loans have.
What you can do if you are behind on an FHA loan
- Call your servicer as early as you can. FHA requires servicers to review borrowers for options to avoid foreclosure, such as repayment plans, forbearance, loan modifications or a partial claim, and you generally have more choices before a foreclosure starts.
- Talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor. Counseling is free or low cost; you can find an agency through HUD’s website or by calling 800-569-4287.
- Keep a written record of every call and send documents your servicer asks for promptly. Missing paperwork is a common reason reviews stall.
- If you are not behind yet but expect a drop in income, ask about options before you miss a payment.
What these numbers are
These are HUD’s figures for single-family loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. They do not cover conventional, VA or USDA loans, so they are not the delinquency rate for all U.S. mortgages. The credit score is the score recorded when the loan was insured, not the borrower’s current score. Loans under active consideration for loss mitigation are included in the delinquency counts. HUD notes that its numbers may not fully reconcile with other FHA reports because of different reporting methods.
Source
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Housing, FHA Single Family Loan Performance Trends, August 2026 report (Tables 1 to 4; file dated October 7, 2026) and the August 2025 report (Table 3), downloaded October 19, 2026. U.S. government data. Our tables are available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "FHA Mortgage Delinquency by Credit Score," My Credit Guide, October 19, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/fha-mortgage-delinquency-by-credit-score/.