Hot off the heels of its qualified mortgage and ability-to-repay rules, the Consumer Financial ProtectionBureau late Thursday also issued final rules for high-costmortgages.

The CFPB defined them as having annual percentage rates thatexceed the average prime rate by 1.5 percentage poits or morefor first liens, or by 3.5 points or more for loans secured bya subordinate lien.

The new rules ban balloon payments and pre-payment penalties,bans modification fees and limits late fees. Charging for providinga payoff statement and encouraging consumers to default on existingloans so they can refinance to a higher-priced loan are alsoout.