A bipartisan group of 118 members of the House of Representatives Tuesday wrote a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), urging the federal agency to delay its January 2014 implementation date of the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule.
The letter, headed by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), calls for a delay in the new mortgage rules that include over 4,000 pages of new regulations required to be in compliance by January 2014.
Community financial institutions with only one or two compliance officers will have difficulty in complying with the new mortgage regulations laid forth by the CFPB by the January deadline, as many might not be able to have their software systems in online and in place by the January deadline.
Delaying the deadline a full year until January 1, 2015, would give these institutions more time to prepare, the House members suggest.
“If financial institutions are unable to comply with these rules by the January 2014 deadline there could be significant distortions in the mortgage market affecting the availability of credit for consumers,” the letter states. “Therefore, we urge you to defer implementation of these rules until January 1, 2015 in order to ensure financial institutions are able to transition their systems to be in full compliance with the rules.”
The CFPB announced its Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage rules in January of this year, pursuant to regulations in the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
“These rules will fundamentally change our nation’s mortgage market,” the letter states.
Written by Jason Oliva
