QM and Non-QM Are Going to Get Along Just Fine

Savvy entrepreneurs or established organizations have little to fear from the new qualified mortgage (QM) and Ability-to-Repay (ATR) regulations about to come into effect a new white paper from CoreLogic says. They will find a way to deliver qualified and non-qualified mortgages in a way that meets all the regulations, incorporates sound lending and consumer protections, and makes a profit.

The paper, ATR/QM Standards:  Foundation for a Sound Housing Market, written by Faith A. Schwartz, CoreLogic’s manager of government business and former director of HOPE NOW and Margarita S. Brose, a former director in Barclay Bank’s Operational Risk Management Group, is upbeat about the mortgage market, its regulatory environment, and the opportunities it presents.

They point to the current environment as resulting from President Obama’s goals for a new housing finance system; that private capital will be at its center, but it must maintain affordability and access to homeownership.  The Dodd-Frank Act (DFA) required lenders to assess the borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage loan and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) regulations have formulated the rules to guide this.