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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

CFPB seeks comments on “QM patch” ahead of expiration

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB Qualified Mortgage Ability To Repay Regulation Z GSE Fannie Mae Freddie Mac

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

On July 25, the CFPB issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) seeking feedback on potential revisions to the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage (ATR/QM) Rule related to the expiration in 2021 of the “GSE patch,” a temporary provision granting Qualified Mortgage status to mortgages that are eligible for purchase or guarantee by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including loans with higher debt-to-income (DTI) ratios than are allowed under the general QM requirements. The GSE patch (also referred to as the “QM patch”) is set to expire no later than January 10, 2021, or when Fannie and Freddie exit their government conservatorship, whichever comes first, with the Bureau stating that it currently plans to allow the GSE patch to expire as scheduled or “after a short extension” to facilitate a smooth transition. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Bureau issued an assessment report on the ATR/QM Rule, in which it reported, among other things, that the GSEs have persistently maintained a high share of the market.

The ANPR requests comments on several potential amendments, including (i) whether the “qualified mortgage” definition should be revised in light of the upcoming expiration (currently, loans under the GSE patch generally qualify for safe harbor from legal liability under the ATR/QM Rule even if their DTI ratio exceeds 43 percent); (ii) whether the DTI ratio limit should remain at 43 percent or be increased or decreased, along with whether loans above the DTI ratio should be granted QM status if they have “certain compensating factors,” (iii) whether the QM definition should take into account possible alternatives to the DTI ratio for assessing a borrower’s ability-to-repay; and (iv) whether Appendix Q—which sets standards for calculating and verifying debt and income to determine the borrower’s DTI ratio—should be replaced, changed, or supplemented. Comments on the ANPR are due 45 days after publication in the Federal Register.