On January 10th 2014 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will implement a final rule detailing the laws requiring mortgage lenders to consider consumers’ ability to repay home loans before extending them credit.

Some of the highlights of the rule are as follows: (1) The borrower’s debt-to-income ratio cannot be more than 43% to qualify for an FHA loan, and (2) Interest-only and balloon payment feature are not allowed for qualified loans.

By breaking these elements down and asking ourselves some key questions we can get a better sense of how several of the agency Mortgage REITs could potentially benefit.