Newsroom

November 05, 2013

118 House members urge 1-year QM delay

Nov. 6, 2013 – A NAFCU-sought, one-year delay of CFPB mortgage rules set to take effect in January – including the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule – was urged Tuesday in a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray signed by 118 House members from both sides of the aisle.

The ability-to-repay/QM rule itself has been the subject of at least four amendments since it was finalized, they noted. This rule and the amendments released in May, July, and September "present financial institutions with over 4,000 pages of new regulations that they must be in compliance [with] by January 2014," they wrote. "This task is especially difficult for community financial institutions that may only have one or two compliance officers."

The lawmakers added that many institutions also report they will be unable to ensure their software systems are updated in time to comply.

"If financial institutions are unable to comply with these rules by the January 2014 deadline, there would be significant distortions in the mortgage market affecting the availability of credit for consumers," they wrote.

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger wrote Cordray last month to urge at least a one-year delay of all the CFPB mortgage rules.