Noting that current underwriting standards are too restrictive and may be holding back a housing recovery, a combination of 33 private firms and non-profit organizations have signed a letter to Richard Cordray, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), advocating for a broadly defined Qualified Mortgage (QM) policy, termed the Ability to Pay Regulation. As the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) tells MHProNews.com, non QMs are more costly and do not protect the borrower as well. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and many housing economists and analysts have echoed the same sentiment.

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