by. Nicholas Ballasy

CFPB Director Richard Cordray said while there has been some confusion among small financial institutions over the bureau’s new mortgage rules, credit unions should not let anything get in the way of serving their members.

“We recognize that credit unions and other smaller servicers typically are not the problem. You typically operate according to a very different business model based on strong customer service,” Cordray said during a webinar with NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz on Wednesday.

For this reason, Cordray said the CFPB provided exemptions from a substantial chunk of the mortgage servicing rules for credit unions that service 5,000 or fewer loans originated or owned by the servicer itself or its affiliates.

He encouraged credit unions to provide feedback to the CFPB before deciding to change their mortgage practices.

“One of the comments I’ve heard at times from smaller institutions is that they’re going to consider getting out of the mortgage business because they don’t want to be making mortgages that are not qualified mortgages,” said Cordray, referring to the Ability-To-Repay/QM rule.

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