What are the Proposed Standards for a QRM? The draft proposal issued by the federal government would set strict standards for borrowers. To qualify for QRM status borrowers must:
How will QRM Impact the Availability of Mortgages and Mortgage Products?
Because the proposed QRM regulations will impose higher down payment requirements (20 percent), will exclude closing costs from financing and will impose strict limitations on fees and debt-to-income ratios, QRM will likely have a pronounced impact on the availability of mortgages. In fact, a recent study issued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency noted that under the proposed standards only 30 percent of mortgages issued in 2009 would meet the new standards. Thus, if enacted as drafted, the proposed QRM standard will limit the pool of potential buyers which in turn will further depress the housing market.
I don't know how much this was actually signed into law, but if the impact is as this last paragraph says, it will effectively kill the housing market as we know it.
I will admit that the rules seem logical and sensible enough, but is anything coming out of the federal government ever logical and sensible? Usually when these kinds of laws are passed, these days, it is done with a sinister motive. I do not trust the current regime in the WH, especially anything with Dodd's name on it, and that has the signature of the current occupier in chief in the WH.