Could the CFPB be worried that its ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule is already contracting the availability of mortgage credit?
(CFPB Monitor) -- Could the CFPB be worried that its ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule is already contracting the availability of mortgage credit? In his remarks earlier this week to the Credit Union National Association, Director Richard Cordray told mortgage executives that “the current mortgage market is so tight that lenders are leaving good money on the table by not lending to low-risk applicants seeking to take advantage of the current favorable interest rate climate.”
Commenting that “plenty of responsible lending remains available outside of the Qualified Mortgage space,” Mr. Cordray stated that the CFPB “encourage[s] you to continue to offer mortgages to those borrowers you can evaluate as posing reasonable credit risk.” He also urged executives to overcome their concerns about regulatory scrutiny. Stating that they may be “initially inclined to lend only within the Qualified Mortgage space, maybe out of caution about how the regulators would react,” Mr. Cordray told the executives they “should have confidence in your strong underwriting standards, and you should not be holding back.”
Perhaps recognizing that, despite his encouragement, his audience might remain reluctant to lend “outside the Qualified Mortgage space,” Director Cordray also described the increased flexibility available to smaller banks under the QM rule. In particular, he noted the rule’s extension of qualified mortgage status to certain balloon loans held in portfolio by smaller banks operating in rural or underserved areas and the further exemptions the CFPB has proposed to liberalize the qualified mortgage standard for portfolio loans made by smaller banks. He also discussed the exemptions for smaller banks in the CFPB’s new mortgage servicing rules.
