A key federal watchdog agency has warned companies that administer mortgages, either for themselves or on behalf of investors, that they must be prepared for the coming surge of borrowers seeking relief.

Unprepared is unacceptable, said Dave Uejio, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"There is a tidal wave of distressed homeowners who will need help in the coming months," he says.

Uejio's message was directed at so-called "servicers" -- the companies that collect monthly payments from borrowers, pay their property taxes and homeowner's insurance and send the proceeds to those who own the loans. Some lenders manage their own loans, but most use these third-party companies.

But the 2.3 million borrowers who are still in active, federally mandated emergency mortgage relief programs should take heed, too. The day is rapidly approaching when they are going to be asked to start making their full house payments and start paying back what they owe.

As Uejio told servicers, "There is no time to waste, and no excuse for inaction. No one should be surprised by what is coming."

After being extended several times, the federal foreclosure moratoriums are set to expire on June 30. But earlier this month, the CFPB proposed extending the freeze until the end of the year. The final rule won't see the light of day until early June at the earliest, depending on the number of comments the bureau receives and what stakeholders have to say.

But even if the moratorium is extended, it doesn't mean you can stop making your payments. That would make you delinquent, negatively impacting your credit and making it harder to catch up.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties because of the pandemic, you have only until June 30 to ask your servicer for forbearance. That's when the COVID forbearance period comes to an end -- unless it, too, is extended, of which there's no indication at this writing.

As of early April, 93% of all mortgages were current, but 4.7% were in a forbearance plan, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Some 1.8 million of those are already behind by 90 days or more, and 78% are in plans that have been extended beyond their original three-month period.

For anyone struggling to keep up with their house payments, the first step -- even before you actually fall behind -- is to get on the horn with your servicer. (Or reach out online, says Jane Mason of Clarifire, a company that automates customer service functions for lenders and servicers.) Servicers are being told to be proactive, but don't wait for them to contact you.

Asking for forbearance is as easy as raising your hand. All you have to do is say that you've been negatively impacted by the pandemic. For most loans, no documentation is required -- just your word -- but be truthful. Don't lie just so you can stop making your payments for a few months. That's not right.

Once the relief period ends, though, anyone seeking help will have to document their financial hardship, so the time to act is now.

The CFPB's website (consumerfinance.gov/housing) lays out the five steps troubled borrowers need to take. If you qualify, relief will be granted for three to six months. It can be extended for up to 18 months, in some cases, if you need more time.

Servicers are being reminded they should contact borrowers before the end of their forbearance periods so they have time to apply for an extension. But more time won't be granted automatically. You must request it.

If you've exited a forbearance plan previously, you can ask to enter into a new one if your circumstances warrant. But again, you have only until June 30 to ask.

The CFPB has reminded servicers they must ensure that all homeowners have an opportunity to save their homes before foreclosure is initiated. The agency's rules apply to all loans touched in one way or another by the federal government. That includes those purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as those insured by the Federal Housing Administration, guaranteed by the Veterans Administration and/or underwritten by the Agriculture Department. Most private lenders follow similar guidelines.

Generally, four forbearance repayment options are available:

-- Repay. If you can afford to add more to your regular monthly payment once you exit the program, you can make up for the payments you missed as you go along.

-- Defer. If you can't afford to increase your payments, the missed amount will be added to your loan balance.

-- Modify. If you can't resume regular payments, your loan can be extended or your interest rate could be lowered. That way, your payments may be lower, but it will take longer to pay off your mortgage.

-- Reinstate. You make up your missed payments all at once. But note: Lenders cannot require you to make a lump-sum payment. So if that's the only option offered, the CFPB says to ask what other choices are available.

To help determine which option is best for you, servicers will ask if you can resume making payments, says Mason. They must evaluate your income based not only on earnings, but also public assistance, child support, alimony or other sources.

If there is no hope for returning to normal, the next choice is between selling your place or giving it back to your lender. Otherwise, unfortunately, a foreclosure is in your future.

Over the next few months, the White House is likely to propose two major tax changes that could impact the housing sector.

One, a tax credit for first-time buyers, is likely to be welcomed by those who have yet to get a toehold on the housing ladder. But it is totally unnecessary, at least right now. The other, abolishing a little-known tax benefit accorded to investors, could upset the real estate continuum up and down the line.

Giving a tax credit to renters who want to buy their first houses is a noble, but not a new, idea. It was first offered in the 1970s to jump-start the slumbering new-home sector, and it was resurrected during the Bush and Obama administrations to help pull housing out of the Great Recession of 2008.

In the ‘70s, the tax credit was $2,000, which looks like chicken feed compared to the $15,000 credit President Biden has talked about. But “it worked like gangbusters,” David Seiders, the former chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, has been quoted as saying.

In 2008, President Bush brought back the credit to help raise the country out of the Great Recession, which was caused largely by overzealous lenders granting loans to unqualified borrowers. In ‘08, the tax credit was a maximum of $7,500. But in the subsequent two years, President Obama raised it to $8,000.

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the credit did help to initially boost home sales and prices, as it was intended, though modestly. Now, President Biden is said to be considering asking Congress to clear another first-time buyer credit.

With $15,000 in hand, research from Zillow says, 9.3 million renters -- nearly 1 in 3 -- would have enough cash to cover their entire down payments on a median-priced home in 40 of the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.

But here’s the problem: The last thing the market needs is more would-be buyers.

People are already falling all over themselves and one-upping each other to win the few houses on the market. According to a recent CNN report, a run-of-the-mill fixer-upper in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., drew 88 offers -- 76 all-cash, and 15 sight-unseen. Listed at $275,000, it sold for $460,000.

As of the end of March, according to realty data firm Altos Research, the inventory of unsold houses nationally stood at 313,000. That’s 58% fewer houses than the 747,000 on the market the same time last year.

So, no -- housing does not need a tax credit for first-timers; rather, it needs more houses for sale. Maybe a tax break for owners to persuade them that now’s the time to sell is in order, instead. One idea floating around is to suspend or reduce capital gains taxes for anyone selling during a specific time period.

Maybe that would provide an additional incentive for the large percentage of owners who told Zillow researchers recently that they are not interested in selling, many because they are worried about finding or affording a replacement house.

Biden should also shelve his proposal to eliminate Section 1031 like-kind exchanges, which allow property owners to defer taxes on the disposal of one property by replacing it with another. This, too, has been run up the flagpole by previous administrations as a way to generate more revenue, but it has never received much traction.

Most people have no clue about Section 1031, but the 100-year-old rule is a key tax benefit in the real estate community. It mostly impacts the commercial sector, but it is claimed in the residential field, as well. Local community governments and nonprofit organizations also use like-kind exchanges to conserve land for the public benefit.

Like-kind exchanges are particularly important in land development and multifamily housing: two investments which are highly illiquid. By taking advantage of the rule, builders and developers can rebalance their portfolios without having to generate enough cash to pay taxes. Without the benefit, experts say, many of these properties would languish, remaining underutilized.

Biden has called for Section 1031’s repeal for taxpayers with incomes above $400,000. I’m all for making everyone pay their fair share. But it’s not as if investors use the provision to skirt capital gains taxes altogether. Rather, when the proceeds of a sale are directed into a new property within 180 days, the tax on the exchange is deferred, not forgiven.

The tax eventually comes due when the profits from the last trade are finally pocketed.

According to a 2015 study by two college professors, David Ling from the University of Florida and Milena Petrova of Syracuse University, nearly 88% of exchanges end in taxable sales, yielding more taxable gains than properties bought and sold through regular taxable sales.

Realty interests maintain the exchange rules are among the most important of all tax provisions for investors and real estate professionals. Recently, in a rare show of unity, more than 30 realty organizations -- including heavyweights like the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association -- sent letters to key congressional committees and the Treasury Department outlining how Section 1031 benefits the marketplace.

“Like-kind exchanges allow investments to be shifted to the most productive and efficient uses,” says NAR President Charlie Oppler. Without it, the ripple effect would impact realty brokers and agents, title companies, appraisers, inspectors and everyone else along the real estate chain.

Everyone, it has been said, enjoys their 15 minutes of fame. But these days, that’s just about all the time homebuyers are allowed to give a house the once-over and make a decision.

Southern California realty agent Jeff Dowler calls it real estate’s version of speed dating, and says buyers in today’s inventory-depleted market must be decisive. Otherwise, someone in the horde of other house hunters will make the decision for them.

Gone are the days when a buyer could linger longer, agents report. In the old days, you could wander around to your heart’s content: Stroll through the house, measure some rooms for your furniture, discuss possible remodeling projects, meander around the grounds.

Back then, you could even come back for a second or third visit. But not anymore. Now, you’re lucky to get 15 minutes -- a whopping 900 seconds -- to look around. And when the pressure is on and other would-be buyers are waiting outside the front door, those precious seconds tick by awfully fast.

According to ShowingTime, a service agents use to manage buyer visits, an “unprecedented” 75 markets registered double-digit showings per listing in February. A year earlier, only four markets had at least 10 showings per listing. It’s a “powerful trend” of “more and more showings concentrated on dwindling inventory,” said Chief Analytics Officer Daniil Cherkasskiy.

But is a mere quarter of an hour really enough time to view a house and decide whether to make an offer? In a recent conversation on ActiveRain, some agents said it’s not, while others said it is. But most maintained that in today’s overheated market, this is often the way it has to be.

“Fifteen minutes definitely is not enough time,” said Arizona agent Brian England, who is affiliated with Vacasa. “But in this crazy market, I completely understand.”

Dorie Dillard of Coldwell Banker Realty said house hunters in her Austin, Texas, market get a whopping 20 minutes. “With such low inventory, when a house hits the market, you better have your track shoes,” she advised.

When Utah agent Wanda Kubat-Nerdin of Red Rock Real Estate lists a house, she allows at least 30 minutes for each showing -- “That way, no rushing” -- and she also “locks the front door so we are not interrupted by early agents and their buyers.”

North Carolina’s Nina Hollander, of Coldwell Banker Realty, goes one better: She gives buyers up to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the house. “At the end of the day, it still gets lots of people in,” Hollander said. “And those who really have had a chance to look thoroughly at a house are prospective buyers who will make offers -- and not suffer from buyer’s remorse.”

On the other hand, some agents believe buyers don’t even need 15 minutes. Connecticut agent Ed Silva of Mapleridge Realty said some buyers can decide in five minutes, spending the other 10 figuring out what to put in their offer.

Debb Janes of ViewHomes in Camas, Washington, agreed. “I’d say most people can get a feel for a home in 15 minutes,” Janes said, while adding that “it can take longer to really explore more of the home’s nuances.”

“Getting 15 minutes is like a lifetime in today’s seller’s market,” added Endre Barath of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Beverly Hills. We often make judgments about other people in 30 seconds or less, Barath noted, so why not a house?

Illinois agent Lyn Sims of RE/MAX Suburban thinks the short time frame is actually “a good thing” -- one that culls the perennially undecided from the pack. For some people, there’s never enough time to make up their minds. Sims points out that there are many buyers who take an hour and a half to look around, just to say “no thanks.”

Truth be told, only you can answer the question of whether 15 minutes is enough. You must be comfortable making the decision; you have to write the checks, and you have to be able to sleep at night.

Remember, though, that submitting an offer is not the end of the process: It’s just the beginning. The seller has to accept the offer. Then, assuming you’ve been preapproved for financing, you have to get your lender’s final say-so. The appraisal has to support the sales price, and the inspector needs a few days to do his or her thing.

That means you have time to change your mind if you have a change of heart. Even when your offer is accepted, there are plenty of ways to get out of the deal. “Our contracts have a million outs to kill the agreement and recover your earnest money deposit,” said Richard Foster of Nevada Perfect Homes in Henderson.

In the end, the key to the short window given buyers these days is being decisive. Know what you can spend, know what you want, and go for it. And for crying out loud, be on time for your visit, lest you lose your place in line.