The NCUA and four other federal regulators have responded tocreditor concerns over liability under the Equal Credit OpportunityAct for offering only qualified mortgages, as defined by ConsumerFinancial Protection Bureau regulations.

The CFPB's Ability-to-Repay rule implements parts of theDodd-Frank Act that require creditorsto make a reasonable determination that a consumer is able to repaya mortgage loan before issuing credit.

“The agencies do not anticipate that a creditor's decision tooffer only Qualified Mortgages would, absent other factors, elevatea supervised institution's fair lending risk,” said their statementreleased on Tuesday. “There are several ways to satisfy theAbility-to-Repay Rule, including making responsibly underwrittenloans that are not Qualified Mortgages.”

The CFPB does not “believe that it is possible to define by ruleevery instance in which a mortgage is affordable for the borrower,”the statement said.

“Nonetheless, the agencies recognize that some creditors mightbe inclined to originate all or predominantly Qualified Mortgages,particularly when the Ability-to-Repay Rule first takes effect. Therule includes transition mechanisms that encourage preservation ofaccess to credit during this transition period.”

The CFPB, Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of theCurrency, FDIC and NCUA also said they recognize that the loanssome creditors originate will already satisfy the QualifiedMortgage requirements.

The agencies recommend that creditors continue to evaluate fairlending risk by “implementing effective compliance managementsystems” and closely monitoring their policies and practices.