A $150 Billion Pile of Frozen Loans Starts to Worry U.S. Banks

Millions of Americans getting breaks on their loans are about to hear from their banks.

Nationwide, lenders are preparing to take a closer look at consumers who have arranged to delay payments, potentially pushing some out of the programs, as the industry tries to get a clearer picture of how many customers are truly unable to keep up during the coronavirus pandemic.

Forbearance programs from March are nearing expiration dates, when many banks are set to decide whether to continue letting people put off roughly $150 billion of debt including credit cards balances, personal loans and car payments. In interviews, ...