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.