News Topic: Qualified Mortgages

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities. ... Read full article

The agency’s plan to extend the "qualified mortgage" stamp of approval to more loans could help lenders that rely on alternative data and cushion the blow of other QM changes for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ... Read full article

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the proposal would increase access to credit, but consumer groups argue that it will encourage lenders to make high-cost loans while protecting them from legal liability. ... Read full article

An imminent high court ruling about the independence of the bureau's director, coupled with an election victory for Joe Biden, could doom a plan to extend GSEs' exemption from tough debt-to-income requirements on mortgages. ... Read full article

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to change the definition of what constitutes a qualified mortgage from a 43% debt-to-income limit to a price-based threshold, and further extend a temporary exemption given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ... Read full article

With no way of knowing just how many borrowers will need the mods after the coronavirus forbearance period ends, lenders are deploying artificial intelligence and servicing protocols to tame the ferocious piles of paperwork awaiting them. ... Read full article

The agency's director said both steps will come as part of an ongoing review of agency rules and show "my commitment under the law to be effective and evidence based” in providing clarity to stakeholders. ... Read full article

Now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will scrap an unpopular standard for so-called qualified mortgages, the big question is what will take its place. ... Read full article

Director Kathy Kraninger has told lawmakers that the agency will delay the expiration of the so-called QM patch, now set for January 2021. ... Read full article

And the government-sponsored enterprises could hold initial public offerings in 2021 or 2022 to ensure they hold adequate capital, FHFA Director Mark Calabria said. ... Read full article

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s exemption from the Qualified Mortgage rule is on borrowed time, but a House bill would allow lenders to use the mortgage giants’ guidelines for documenting borrower income. ... Read full article

Industry groups are calling on the consumer bureau to eliminate the debt-to-income limit for “qualified mortgages” and provide a short-term extension of special treatment for Fannie- and Freddie-backed loans. ... Read full article

Though advocates and industry are rarely aligned, they are starting to coalesce around a plan that would call for the elimination of the CFPB’s 43% debt-to-income limit as part of its qualified mortgage rule. ... Read full article

With the agency mulling changes to the “Qualified Mortgage” regulation, mortgage lenders say little-known standards for how they document a borrower’s income would be a good place to start. ... Read full article

Many in the industry say releasing GSE-backed loans from stringent underwriting rules has helped the housing market recover, but a new level of regulatory burden could reverse those gains. ... Read full article

The mortgage industry was caught off guard by regulators’ decision to cease special treatment for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in complying with underwriting rules. But how big of an impact will the new policy have? ... Read full article

“Digital Vault” will allow customers to store encrypted documents on third-party servers; bank accuses Orcel of misdeeds. ... Read full article

The agency’s director said it will let a temporary GSE exemption from the “qualified mortgage” regulation expire. ... Read full article