The US Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Reserve and other regulatory agencies have assured lenders that the new mortgage rules, which are set to be effective from 2014, will allow them to comply with the fair-lending laws.
Earlier, the CFPB planned to enforce a new mortgage rule in January 2014, when mortgage lenders will be required to check whether borrowers can repay their loans.
However, lenders pointed out that the new requirement may not allow them to lend to certain minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics, thus leading to violation of fair lending standards.
The regulators said as long as companies are following the government-mandated standards, they will not come under scrutiny over lending patterns to such minorities groups.
CFPB said lenders who made qualified mortgages, loans with no risky features that are made to borrowers with relatively little debt, would receive some protection from lawsuits related to the ability-to-repay rule.
CFPB director Richard Cordray said the government is trying to help the industry comply with the new lending rules.
"Many of you and your colleagues have told us that you need certainty in order to plan and in order to execute," he said.
"In no single market is certainty more important than in the recovering mortgage market."
