Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, released the text of his pending regulatory relief bill last week. Among a handful of CFPB-related provisions is one that would grant qualified mortgage status under the bureau’s ability-to-repay rule for residential loans held in portfolio. However, as per the draft Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015, certain conditions would have to apply. To begin with, the lender/creditor would have to hold the loan in portfolio from its inception, or any acquirer of the loan must continue to hold it in portfolio. Additionally, the mortgage cannot have been acquired through securitization, nor can it have certain forbidden features, like negative amortization, interest-only provisions, or a loan ...