Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had to outline requirements to ensure lenders adequately assessed a borrower's ability to repay a loan and create ultra-safe "qualified mortgages" that were protected from legal liability. Despite the challenge, the mortgage rule revisions the agency provided were able to please both bankers and consumer groups.
The initial version of the ability-to-repay rule released in January concerned bankers that it would restrict access to credit. But the agency made several revisions this week. "The agency's revised final ability-to-repay rule released this week went a long way to easing many concerns," writes American Banker's Rachel Witkowski.
"We appreciate the CFPB giving thoughtful consideration to our industry's concerns and to the impact the Ability-to-Repay rule could have on access to responsible credit," said Stew Larsen, executive vice president and mortgage banking division head at $62 billion-asset Bank of the West in San Francisco. "I feel they've done a nice job of balancing the various interests while both protecting consumers and fostering access to responsible credit."
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