CFPB Seeks to Delay Mandatory Compliance of General QM Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed to delay the mandatory compliance date of the General Qualified Mortgage (QM) final rule from July 1, 2021 to Oct. 1, 2022.
In a press release, the agency said it is extending the compliance date to “ensure home owners struggling with the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have the options they need.”
The General QM final rule would replace the current requirement for General QM loans that the consumer’s debt-to-income ratio (DTI) not exceed 43%, with a limit based on the loan’s pricing. In adopting a price-based approach to replace the specific DTI limit for General QM loans, the CFPB determined that a loan’s price is a strong indicator of a consumer’s ability to repay and is a more holistic and flexible measure of a consumer’s ability to repay than DTI alone.
A loan meets the general QM definition if its annual percentage rate exceeds the average prime offer rate (APOR) for a comparable transaction by less than 2.25 percentage points.
In addition, the General QM final rule:
- Provides higher pricing thresholds for loans with smaller loan amounts, for certain manufactured housing loans, and for subordinate-lien transactions.
- Retains the General QM loan definition’s existing product-feature and underwriting requirements and limits on points and fees.
- Requires lenders to consider a consumer’s DTI ratio or residual income, income or assets other than the value of the dwelling, and debts and removes appendix Q and provides more flexible options for creditors to verify the consumer’s income or assets other than the value of the dwelling and the consumer’s debts for QM loans.
QM loans are presumed to be made based on the lender’s reasonable determination of the home owner’s ability to repay the loan.
The CFPB said that extending the mandatory compliance date of the General QM final rule “would allow lenders more time to offer QM loans based on the home owners’ debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, and not solely based on a pricing cut-off. Extending the compliance date of the General QM final rule would also give lenders more time to use the GSE Patch, which provides QM status to loans that are eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.”
Latest from NAHBNow
Aug 29, 2025
NAHB's Monthly Update Features Canadian Lumber Duties Talking PointsThe update provides the latest messaging framework to help members articulate housing priorities and latest news related to the Canadian lumber imports and builder sentiment.
Aug 28, 2025
Podcast: Congressional Priorities and the Trump Economy Heading into FallOn the latest episode of NAHB podcast Housing Developments, NAHB CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez discuss how the rest of the year looks as Congress gets ready to return to Washington next week.
Latest Economic News
Aug 29, 2025
Multifamily Absorption Rises in the Second QuarterThe percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion rose in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA).
Aug 28, 2025
Mortgage Rates Move Lower, Hitting 10-Month LowAverage mortgage rates in August continued their steady decline and are now at their lowest rate since last November.
Aug 27, 2025
Wood-Framed Home Share Increased in 2024Wood framing continues to dominate the U.S. single-family home construction market, according to NAHB analysis of 2024 Census Bureau data.