The Bureau proposed delaying the General Qualified Mortgage final rule from July 2021 to Oct. 2022.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, urged the Bureau not to delay the effective date of its new General Qualified Mortgage Rule, saying the Bureau’s rationale for delaying the rule would not accomplish its stated goals nor benefit consumers. The Bureau in March proposed to delay the mandatory compliance of the General Qualified Mortgage final rule from July 1, 2021 to Oct. 1, 2022. The Bureau said the delay would ensure homeowners struggling with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have additional options. Under the statute, QM loans are presumed to be made based on the lender’s reasonable determination of the homeowner’s ability to repay the loan. Extending the mandatory compliance date of the General QM final rule would allow lenders more time to offer QM loans based on the homeowners’ debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, and not solely based on a pricing cut-off. Extending the compliance date of the General QM final rule would also give lenders more time to use the GSE Patch, which provides QM status to loans that are eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In MBA’s letter to the Bureau, MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, said the delay was unnecessary. “While we commend the Bureau for its willingness to take proactive steps to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the housing finance system, we do not support the proposal to delay the General QM Final Rule’s mandatory compliance date, as it will not expand access to credit and will inject considerable uncertainty into the housing market,” he said.

Source: The Mortgage Bankers Association