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June 1, 2012 – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reopened its ability-to-repay mortgage rule for comment Thursday to generate input on data it has received so far regarding loan performance as it reviews this proposed rule.

The proposed rule, issued in May 2011, generated some 1,800 comments, the CFPB noted. It added that this round of comments is being initiated only to address a narrow set of data issues, not to generate new input on other aspects of the proposed rule.

NAFCU submitted comments to the Federal Reserve Board before it transferred this rule to the CFPB, and it lodged its concerns anew in a letter sent jointly with 22 other industry trades to CFPB Director Richard Cordray. The association wants the CFPB to structure its definition of a "qualified mortgage" – one generally viewed as being in compliance with the reg – as a safe harbor against litigation and enforcement measures.

That letter, sent this April, notes that equating the qualified mortgage to a safe harbor as "the only means of ensuring that the largest number of borrowers possible will enjoy the safest and most affordable options for sustainable credit available through the QM."

The proposed rule currently provides a rebuttable presumption of compliance if the mortgage meets the definition of a "qualified mortgage." However, NAFCU points out that this presumption can be challenged by facts or evidence beyond that addressing the requirements of the QM. This allows a level of unpredictability that is likely to encourage lenders to tighten mortgage credit availability.

Comments are due on this notice by July 9.

A report by National Mortgage Newsyesterday speculated that a final rule on ability to pay may not be completed before this year's elections.