GOP Candidate Opines on the Qualified Mortgage. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney briefly delved into one of the mortgage industry’s hottest issues during the first debate he had with President Obama, citing the CFPB’s pending ability-to-repay rule, asserting that banks have become reluctant to originate new mortgage loans because of delays and uncertainty surrounding the qualified mortgage definition. “You say we were giving mortgages to people who weren’t qualified. That’s exactly right. That’s one of the big reason for the great financial calamity we had,”...