BPI, Joint Trades Ask CFPB Not to Delay Qualified Mortgage Rule Compliance Date

The CFPB qualified mortgage rule is based on rigorous analysis, and delaying its mandatory compliance date from July 1, 2021 to October 2022 is unnecessary, BPI and several other trades wrote in a letter to the CFPB’s Acting Director this week. The updated framework – with amended definitions of “qualified mortgage” and safe harbor — expands fair and equal access to credit, particularly for borrowers of color, maintains existing safe product features and provides an effective replacement for the GSE Patch, a measure that treats certain mortgages eligible for purchase or guarantee by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as qualified mortgages, the letter says. The qualified mortgage rule requires lenders to evaluate whether a borrower can repay their mortgage loan. Those mortgages have protection from liability under a safe harbor provision. The CFPB finalized changes to the qualified mortgage rule late last year.