Department of Housing and Urban Development September 30, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) created new section 129C in the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA), which establishes minimum standards for considering a consumer's repayment ability for creditors originating certain closed- end, dwelling-secured mortgages, and generally prohibits a creditor from making a residential mortgage loan unless the creditor makes a reasonable and good-faith determination of a consumer's ability to repay the loan according to its terms. Section 129C provides lenders more certainty about meeting the ability-to-repay requirements when lenders make ``qualified mortgages,'' which are presumed to meet the requirements. Section 129C authorizes the agency with responsibility for compliance with TILA, which was initially the Federal Reserve Board and is now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), to issue a rule implementing these requirements. The CFPB has issued its rule implementing these requirements, referred to throughout this proposed rule as the CFPB final rule. The Dodd-Frank Act also charges HUD and three other Federal agencies with prescribing regulations defining the types of loans that these Federal agencies insure, guarantee, or administer, as applicable, that are qualified mortgages. Through this proposed rule, HUD submits for public comment its definition of ``qualified mortgage'' for the types of loans that HUD insures, guarantees, or administers that aligns with the statutory ability-to-repay criteria of TILA and the regulatory criteria of the CFPB's definition, without departing from HUD's statutory missions. In this rulemaking, HUD proposes that any forward single family mortgage insured or guaranteed by HUD shall meet the criteria of a qualified mortgage, as defined in this rule, and HUD seeks comment on all components of its definition.