Just a few weeks after the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) revealed its intention to move away from the DTI limit on Qualified Mortgages, Fitch Ratings released its own take on the matter. In a nutshell, they believe it could weaken borrower protection and usher in “aggressive lending practices,” two major reasons why the QM… Continue reading Fitch: Removing DTI Cap Could Weaken QM Rule

In what was largely expected, CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger signaled the bureau’s intention to extend the GSE patch beyond next January as it works to tweak the Qualified Mortgage rule. At issue is the hard debt-to-income ratio (DTI) limit of 43% that applies to all home loans seeking QM status, which at the moment excludes… Continue reading CFPB to Extend GSE Patch, Move Away from Standalone DTI Requirement

One of the key components of the Qualified Mortgage rule is the 43% debt-to-income limit, a longstanding measure of homeowner affordability. When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) wrote the QM rule, they excluded high-DTI ratio mortgages because studies have demonstrated that borrowers with higher DTIs are more likely to experience payment trouble. As such,… Continue reading Coalition of Top Mortgage Lenders Want 43% DTI Limit Removed from QM Rule

When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule, they included a very important exemption for certain loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This was implemented to ensure a large portion of the mortgage market wasn’t disrupted by the new mortgage rules implemented back in 2014. But when the… Continue reading The GSE Patch and Its Looming Expiration

Non-QM lending may surge 400% in 2019, per the annual Origination Solutions Survey from Altisource Portfolio Solutions. The company asked more than 200 “decision makers” in the mortgage origination business what they thought was the most promising market opportunity. Most Promising Opportunity Unsurprisingly, near the top of the list were non-QM loans, cited by 20%… Continue reading Non-QM Poised for 400% Growth in 2019

While still in its infancy, non-QM lending is expected to get a major boost in 2018, this according to a forecast from S&P Global Ratings. The company said it expects the non-QM market to double or possibly triple in 2018 from current levels. They point to a more liquid non-QM market, driven by improved and… Continue reading Non-QM Lending May Double or Triple in 2018

The first iteration of something is rarely what stands the test of time, and it appears the Qualified Mortgage rule might be at risk of change as well. That is, if the Mortgage Bankers Association gets its way. While speaking at the MBA’s annual secondary market conference in New York City, MBA President David Stevens… Continue reading Mortgage Bankers Want New QM Loan Rule

As the housing market normalizes, and with that gets more expensive and potentially difficult to finance, could we finally see a meaningful increase in non-QM lending? The QM rule went into effect just over two years ago but has yet to really make a splash – most industry folks know about it, but it’s still… Continue reading Is Non-QM Lending About to Take Off?

While the non-QM loan market is still very new and ostensibly untested, it appears that the loans originated thus far are holding up pretty well. A new report from Fitch Ratings revealed that borrower claims have been “nonexistent” since the Ability-to-Repay (ATR) and Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule was implemented in early 2014. Of course, the… Continue reading Default Rates on Non-QM Loans Reportedly Very Low

One of the biggest things the QM rule did was eliminate interest-only mortgages from the mainstream. Sure, it didn’t make them illegal to originate, but it did make them less desirable to originate from a lender’s perspective because they aren’t protected by the Qualified Mortgage rule. Instead, they are considered non-QM loans, meaning only a… Continue reading Interest-Only Mortgage Lending Isn’t Gone, It’s Alive and Well