The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has delayed the mandatory compliance date of the General Qualified Mortgage final rule from July 1 to Oct. 1, 2022.

The CFPB said in a statement yesterday that the delay would “help ensure access to responsible, affordable mortgage credit, and preserve flexibility for consumers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects.”

“So many consumers have been hit hard by the pandemic and the economic downturn, and we want to ensure that responsible, affordable mortgages remain available,” CFPB Acting Director Dave Uejio said in a statement Tuesday. “As the mortgage market navigates an uncertain and challenging time, extending the date by which lenders must comply with the CFPB’s new General QM definition will help provide options and flexibility for both lenders and borrowers.”

The CFPB had announced in March its plan to delay the rule. The General QM final rule is part of the agency’s work to protect homeowners from “debt traps and unaffordable, irresponsible mortgage lending,” the CFPB said.

Under the statute, QM loans are presumed to be made based on the lender’s reasonable determination of the homeowner’s ability to repay the loan. The CFPB said delaying the mandatory compliance date of the General QM final rule would allow lenders more time to offer QM loans based on the homeowners’ debt-to-income ratio and not solely based on certain pricing thresholds.

The delay also gives lenders more time to use the Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) Patch, which provides QM status to loans that are eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The CFPB noted, however, that the availability of the GSE Patch after July 1 could be limited because of recent revisions to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements entered into by the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.