Credit union trade association representatives were told during a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau industry briefing Thursday that recent rules defining qualified mortgages aren’t intended to pressure lenders into meeting QM standards on all mortgages.
Both NAFCU and CUNA, which had representatives at the meeting, reported the clarification.
NAFCU reported that CFPB Director Richard Cordray said it would be a mistake for prudential regulators to examine institutions in a way that steers them toward only providing mortgages defined as qualified under the ability-to-repay rule, which was finalized Jan. 10.
CUNA said Cordray stressed that some borrowers who are in good financial standing but may not meet the parameters of a QM should nonetheless be allowed to obtain a mortgage.
CFPB staff also said they expect the percentage of qualified mortgages in the market to decline after an exemption for loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expires after seven years, or when the GSEs are no longer in conservatorship.
Cordray will testify Thursday, Feb. 14 before the Senate Banking Committee on Dodd-Frank Act implementation.
That hearing, titled “Wall Street Reform: Oversight of Financial Stability and Consumer and Investor Protections,” also features regulators from the FDIC, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve, among others; however, the NCUA was not included on the witness list.
