The CFPB on Monday finalized several changes to mortgage rules it proposed in January.
For credit unions, the most important change increased the small creditor exemption from qualified mortgage rules from 500 total loans per year to 2,000. Loans held in a credit union's portfolio, or its affiliates, will not be included in the total, the CFPB said in a release.
However, the new rule also includes the assets of a lender's mortgage-originating affiliates in its asset limit for small creditor status. That limit is $2 billion.
NAFCU Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt praised the CFPB's move to increase the small creditor origination threshold to 2,000, but said she has ongoing concerns about the inclusion of affiliate assets in the small creditor threshold.
"We are carefully analyzing the impact of this affiliate addition to the asset calculation," she said in a statement.
The finalized rule also expanded the definition of rural to include census blocks not located in urban areas as defined by the Census Bureau. The CFPB added two new safe harbors for determining whether a property location meets the definition of rural: An automated address look-up tool available on the Census Bureau's website and a new automated tool that will be provided on the CFPB's website.
The rule also created a one-year qualifying period for rural or underserved lender status and provided additional implementation time for small creditors.
CUNA said it welcomed the move.
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