Qualified mortgage rules

The CEO of SWBC Mortgage discusses her top priorities for the Mortgage Bankers Association, the election, the CFPB's seasoned QM proposal and what to expect at this week's conference.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the proposal would increase access to credit, but consumer groups argue that it will encourage lenders to make high-cost loans while protecting them from legal liability.

Hudson Americas is pooling its next aggregation of non-qualified, high-balance mortgages in a new securitization that is exposed to a large share of borrowers seeking or already receiving pandemic-related forbearance or deferral on payments. So far, a little over half of those granted the allowance have yet to skip any payments.

The agency is still moving forward on key regulations dealing with payday lending and mortgage underwriting despite new demands posed by the crisis.

The agency's director said both steps will come as part of an ongoing review of agency rules and show her "commitment under the law to be effective and evidence based” in providing clarity to stakeholders.

Five MBS pools of predominantly non-QM mortgages have been launched into the market by originators and loan aggregators, according to ratings agency presale reports published since Monday.

The agency is sending a strong message that it won't rush to end an exemption for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while also signaling longer-term changes that will affect all lenders.

Industry groups are calling on the consumer bureau to eliminate the debt-to-income limit for “qualified mortgages” and provide a short-term extension of special treatment for Fannie- and Freddie-backed loans.

Senate Democrats are warning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be careful as it considers changes to its mortgage underwriting rules.