Special Alert: CFPB issues Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to end GSE patch

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

On July 25, the CFPB issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) that is intended as a first step in an orderly expiration of the so-called GSE patch, which confers Qualified Mortgage status for loans purchased or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while those entities operate under FHFA conservatorship. The patch expires in January 2021, or when Fannie and Freddie exit their conservatorships, whichever comes first. The ANPR solicits feedback on amending Regulation Z and the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule (ATR/QM Rule) to minimize disruption from the patch’s expiration. Comments are due 45 days after the ANPR’s publication in the Federal Register, which has not occurred as of the publication of this Special Alert.

The Bureau has previously solicited comments on the ATR/QM Rule, including the GSE Patch — first through a request for information relating to its adopted regulations in March 2018, and then in its ATR/QM Rule Assessment Report in January 2019. 

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Click here to read the full special alert.

If you have questions about the GSE Patch and potential changes to the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule, please visit our Consumer Financial Protection Bureau practice page or contact a Buckley attorney with whom you have worked in the past.