We study the suspension of household debt payments (debt forbearance) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and May 2021, more than 70 million consumers with loans worth $2.3 trillion entered forbearance, missing $86 billion of their payments. This debt relief can help explain the absence of consumer defaults relative to the evolution of economic fundamentals. Borrowers’ self-selection is a powerful force in determining forbearance rates: relief flows to households suffering pandemic induced shocks who would have otherwise faced debt distress. Moreover, 55% of forbearance is provided to less creditworthy borrowers with above median income and higher debt balances – i.e., those excluded from income-based policies, such as the stimulus check program. A fifth of borrowers in forbearance continued making full payments, suggesting that forbearance acts as a credit line. About 60% of borrowers already exited forbearance while more financially vulnerable and lower income borrowers are still in forbearance with an accumulated debt overhang of about $60 billion Exploiting a discontinuity in mortgage eligibility under the CARES Act we estimate that implicit government debt relief subsidies increase the rate of forbearance by about a third. Government relief is provided through private intermediaries, with shadow banks less likely to provide forbearance than traditional banks.