Newsroom
March 26, 2015
NAFCU-backed bill would expand 'rural' designation
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Thursday introduced a bill that would create a petition process to ensure "rural" designations in connection with some qualified mortgage lending under CFPB regulation is done in a fair and transparent manner.
The "Helping Expand Lending Practices in (HELP) Rural Communities Act" is being cosponsored by Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. Companion legislation, H.R. 1259, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., was favorably reported out of the House Financial Services Committee yesterday and awaits further House action with several other NAFCU-supported regulatory relief measures.
The measure would be helpful to small creditors, including credit unions, offering mortgages with balloon-payment features in underserved areas. The bill would help these lenders satisfy all the ability-to-repay requirements of CFPB's ability-to-repay/QM rule.
McConnell said, "While I welcome the CFPB's recent attempts to improve the rural definition, I remain concerned that rural communities – particularly those in Kentucky – have been left without a voice."
NAFCU believes such a bill would make commonsense reforms to CFPB's rural designation process and could help provide rural communities with better access to credit opportunities that can help grow their local economies.
The "Helping Expand Lending Practices in (HELP) Rural Communities Act" is being cosponsored by Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. Companion legislation, H.R. 1259, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., was favorably reported out of the House Financial Services Committee yesterday and awaits further House action with several other NAFCU-supported regulatory relief measures.
The measure would be helpful to small creditors, including credit unions, offering mortgages with balloon-payment features in underserved areas. The bill would help these lenders satisfy all the ability-to-repay requirements of CFPB's ability-to-repay/QM rule.
McConnell said, "While I welcome the CFPB's recent attempts to improve the rural definition, I remain concerned that rural communities – particularly those in Kentucky – have been left without a voice."
NAFCU believes such a bill would make commonsense reforms to CFPB's rural designation process and could help provide rural communities with better access to credit opportunities that can help grow their local economies.
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