The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced yesterday that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will limit purchases of mortgages to “qualified mortgages” under the ability-to-repay rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  Fannie and Freddie will apply the QM standards to mortgages with applications dated from January 10, 2014.

“Effectively, this means Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not purchase interest-only loans, loans with 40-year terms, or those with points and fees exceeding the thresholds established by the rule,” the FHFA said. Apparently, Fannie and Freddie also will stop purchases of loans with points and fees over 3 percent.