(Image source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ) BY STEVEN SPARKMAN ANCHOR JAMAL ANDRESS The Consumer Financial Protections Bureau issued new mortgage rules Thursday to help cut down on risky lending. The rules require lenders to verify that borrowers can actually repay their loans. “Teaser” interest rates are a thing of the past, as are “Low-Doc” loans, or loans with few or no background and credit checks. The biggest change comes in the form of a new class of loan, the strict new “qualified mortgage.” The Bureau’s director told Bloomberg recent history shows tight new standards are necessary. “We know that we had a problem in the last decade that led to a tremendous financial crisis in this country. And the problem was caused by reckless lending, and the reckless lending was bad in the end not just for lenders but for borrowers.” A “qualified mortgage” is one where the borrowers credit, income and assets are all assessed before the loan is signed. Both borrowers and lenders get extra legal protection if a loan qualifies. The new rules are getting mixed reviews from industry experts: praised for reinforcing common sense measures, criticized for things it missed. But analysts are all able to agree: it’s going to be much harder to get a loan than it was 5 years ago. (Via The Washington Times , The Wall Street Journal ) “Everybody knows that the lending environment was far too loose. Anybody could walk in seven years ago. You didn’t have to prove any income, it was a no-doc loan, you could probably get it with no down payment.” ( Video via CNN ) There are a few common complaints about the rules, like that they may be too strict. A writer for TIME thinks the Bureau is trying to shoehorn all mortgages into one box. “[N]on-traditional mortgages still make sense for a homebuyer who, say, has relatively little income but will collect a windfall in a few years. One size does not fit all. Exotic mortgages have their place, small though it may be.” The rules aren’t expected to do the housing market any favors, especially since first-time homebuyers are the biggest movers in the market, and also the most likely to be denied a loan under the new rules. A writer for CBS paints a pretty grim picture of the market, damning it with faint praise by saying: “The good news is that homes in the U.S. are nearly as affordable as they've ever been. If we have to actually be able to afford our homes, it's a good thing they cost less than they used to.” The rules are scheduled to go into effect in January of 2014.