Arbor Realty Trust made inroads on its delinquent loan book in the third quarter. But a new crop of late payers nearly erased the progress.

The net result for the REIT, a top bridge lender to multifamily syndicators, was to shave about $45 million off the $1 billion in delinquencies it reported in the previous quarter.

By taking properties from troubled borrowers and modifying the loans of others, it wiped out nearly $300 million of the delinquencies it began the third quarter with — “strong progress,” in the words of CEO Ivan Kaufman.

But as Arbor bailed out its boat, nearly as much water flowed in. It reported $225 million in new delinquencies for the three months ending Sept. 30.

On a Friday morning earnings call, Kaufman said Arbor had expected a “tough” third quarter and projects “additional delinquencies” to come. Still, the CEO said it could achieve “a continued decline in our total delinquencies.”

Late payments have become an albatross for Arbor as multifamily borrowers who tapped the lender’s short-term, floating-rate product have struggled to keep up with surging debt service.

One line of attack for the lender has been loan modifications. In the first quarter, Arbor modified 39 multifamily bridge loans to the tune of $1.9 billion by extending maturity dates and providing temporary rate relief to borrowers who paid down principal or bought new rate caps.

Arbor is still pursuing that strategy. It modified 24 loans totaling $1.2 billion in the third quarter, reporting that borrowers put up $43 million in fresh equity to cover past-due interest, pay down loans and buy interest rate caps — protection against rising rates.

About $250 million of those modifications targeted delinquent loans. Arbot said by year’s end it expects to modify another 10 percent of the $1 billion in delinquencies it posted in the second quarter.

The lender reported one pay-down in the third quarter of an $8 million loan and projected another $300 million or more would be paid off over the next few quarters.

In the meantime, Arbor expects to ramp up foreclosures. The firm seized $77 million in assets in the third quarter and expects to grab another $250 million in the fourth.

Arbor finished September with $128 million in the corresponding real estate-owned or REO category, up 47 percent year to date — overwhelmingly driven by multifamily.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Elenio pointed out that the firm broke out REOs as a separate line item in the quarter, characterizing foreclosure as a “strategy.”

Arbor isn’t operating all of the rental properties it has taken back. For some, it has found new sponsors to assume the debt and run them, Kaufman said.