Skin in the Game: Risk Retention Proposal Published

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury,  Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission; Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have released a proposal to define Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM). QRMs are home loans that will be exempt from the requirement that mortgage lenders retain a 5 percent share of each loan they originate that is packaged for securitization – keeping “skin in the game.”  </p

The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill already identified loans guaranteed or originated through FHA, VA, and USDA as qualified for exemption but left other products, including loans written by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, up to federal regulators to determine. Under the proposed definition released today,  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will indeed be exempt from risk retention regs at least while the GSEs are under government control. When/If Fannie and Freddie are released from conservatorship their exemption status will be revisited. For non-agency loans to meet the QRM definition and avoid being subject to risk retention regs, they must have down payments of 20% or more and DTI of 28% / 36% or less. Also, QRMs will not include products that add complexity and risk tornmortgage loans, such as terms permitting negative amortization, interest-onlyrnpayments, or programs with significant payment shock potential. </p