Senate Banking Democrats urge CFPB to keep certain ATR/QM standards

Federal Issues CFPB Senate Banking Committee U.S. Senate Ability To Repay Qualified Mortgage

On September 17, nine Democratic Senate Banking Committee members wrote to the CFPB in response to its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) soliciting feedback on amending Regulation Z and the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule (ATR/QM Rule) to minimize disruption from the so-called GSE patch expiration, previously covered by a Buckley Special Alert. The GSE patch confers Qualified Mortgage status for loans purchased or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) while those entities operate under FHFA conservatorship. The letter urges the Bureau to ensure two things when reexamining the regulation: (i) borrowers maintain the same level of access to responsible, affordable mortgage credit; and (ii) all mortgage underwriting decisions are based on a borrower demonstrating an ability to repay and rely on documentation and use verified income. The Senators request that the CFPB use the ANPR “as an opportunity to ensure the ATR and QM regulations facilitate a mortgage market that provides access to safe, sustainable mortgage credit for all creditworthy borrowers.”