
Loan terms that are longer than 30 years. While true no-doc loans are virtually non-existent, non-QM lenders do offer "alt-doc" and "lite-doc" mortgages to some borrowers, but they don't qualify as a QM. For a time, these were prevalent in both prime and subprime mortgage markets. At their face, these of course run afoul of ATR rules. Balloon mortgages are still allowed to be made by small lenders with assets under $2 billion or who make fewer than 500 residential mortgages per year. These were attractive to some borrowers as they often offered interest rates lower than comparable traditional 30-year loans. A typical balloon mortgage might see you make payments as though the loan has a 30-year repayment term, but the remaining outstanding balance of the loan becomes fully due and payable at the end of the seventh year.
ATR QM RULE FULL
Mortgages with "balloon" payments, which require the full repayment of the loan after just a few years' time. These payment structures were offered as a component on so-called " Option ARMs". Deferred interest is added back onto the loan amount, causing your loan's principal to increase over time, even though you are making payments. "Negative amortization", a process where you aren't making a large enough required payment to cover all of the interest due on the loan. These are still available in the market to some borrowers but they don't qualify as a QM. Interest-only payment plans were mostly applied to hybrid ARMs, but were also found on some fixed-rate mortgages for a time, too. The Qualified Mortgage definition bans loans with:Īn "interest-only" payment period, when you pay only the interest without paying down the principal, which is the amount of money you borrowed. In general, qualified mortgages don't allow for certain "risky" features or loan terms and are thought to be more stable and "safe" for borrowers. To be considered a QM, the loan being offered also needs to meet certain standards. OK, you're passed the ATR standard and can be offered a Qualified Mortgage. If you're wondering why lenders have been sticklers for documentation regarding your income and credit, ATR is the reason. If a lender fails to comply with ATR and the borrower can prove this in court, the lender could be liable for up to 3 years of the loan's interest costs, any charges and fees the borrower paid and the borrower's legal fees.

Your current or reasonably expected assets or income.For each application, the lender must review: The Ability-to-Repay rule outlines eight criteria the lender must use to determine if you can or cannot make mortgage payments.

If a lender makes a Qualified Mortgage available to you it means the lender met certain requirements and it’s assumed that the lender followed the ability-to-repay rule. These are made in conjunction with an Ability-to-Repay (ATR) standard that requires lenders to evaluate and ensure that a borrower will be able to meet his or her mortgage obligations.ĪTR requires that a lender make a good-faith effort to determine that you have the ability to repay your mortgage before you take it out.

A Qualified Mortgage (QM) is a defined class of mortgages that meet certain borrower and lender standards outlined in the Dodd-Frank regulation.
