Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, used a recent hearing by the House Financial Services Committee as an opportunity to promote a bill that would grant qualified mortgage status to loans held in portfolio. He was particularly critical of an exemption in QM standards that currently applies to mortgages eligible for purchase by the government-sponsored enterprises. Such loans can have debt-to-income ratios above 43 percent and still be deemed safe-harbor QMs. “The policy is counterproductive ...