January marks the third year the CFPB has implemented certain rules for safer mortgages with improved protections. One characteristic that sets qualified mortgages and non-qualified mortgages apart is the debt-to-income ratio. For QMs, the DTI ratio should be 43% or less. If your DTI exceeds 43%, does that make your loan automatically nonqualified? Do non-qualified mortgages require DTI ratios, if at all?
Do you a hard time qualifying for a loan?»
DTI Ratios and QMs
The CFPB’s ability-to-repay (ATR) rule requires the lender to verify a borrower’s income and debt load. These elements are embodied by the DTI, which measures your income relative to your debt. The resulting ratio, if it’s higher or lower, signifies that you are capable of repaying the loan or living precariously.
Calculating the DTI is essentially adding up all your debts for the month, mortgage, car loan and others. Once you get the sum, you divide it with your gross monthly income. For instance, you make $6,000 in a month and $2,000 of that goes to your debt. Then your debt to income ratio is 33%. Actual results may vary among lenders who have their own calculations.
In the example above, the DTI ratio is less than 43% and thus eligible for a qualified mortgage. But even if the ratio exceeds 43%, one can still obtain a QM. The CFPB allows for these exceptions:
- Small creditors must evaluate the DTI but are permitted to underwrite QMs for those with a higher-than-43% DTI. For QM purposes, these are lenders whose loan portfolio is less than $2 billion the previous year and originated less than 500 closed-end residential mortgages subjected to the ATR requirements.
- Larger lenders can originate loans with the higher than required DTI ratios but they must have made a reasonable, good-faith determination per the CFPB rules that the borrower can repay the loan.
Moreover, the DTI cap or 43% does not apply to government-backed loans like FHA and VA, or those eligible to be sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These loans belong to GSE-eligible category of QMs.
Depending on your situation, you could get a mortgage loan.»
DTI Requirements for Non-QMs
Nonqualified loans are a go-to option when your DTI ratios are too high for a QM even with the exceptions. A high DTI ratio sends mixed signals to the lenders because your other debts could deter you from repaying your loan with them.
Accordingly, non-QM lenders allow for DTI ratios higher than 43% provided that your credit score/history is decent, your assets are adequate and verifiable, and your income is verifiable through documents other than the usual paperwork.
It’s thus not surprising why self-employed professionals and high net worth individuals are drawn to nonqualified loans. They are flexible enough to include borrowers whose debt-to-income ratios and income tend to shut them out of traditional mortgages.
Even with their less stringent guidelines, lenders of nonqualified loans are still required to do an ability-to-repay assessment.
By clicking this button, you can talk to lenders and explain your current situation.»