The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may announce its plans for a Qualified Residential Mortgage definition as early as this week, according to reports.

The bureau has been tasked with with QRM, or QM definition, which will direct lenders on ensuring a borrower’s ability to repay the loans they make. Many in the industry are concerned about the QM definition being too narrow and ruling too many borrowers out, which would have a cooling effect on the housing market in general.

A Bloomberg News report citing “two people briefed on the plans,” indicates the rule will be coming this week, announced through a field hearing scheduled for Thursday by the CFPB to be held in Baltimore.

The agency has held a number of field hearings since its inception to make announcements regarding regulations while interacting with consumers in the general public.

The rule has been debated hotly in recent months, with seven banks having written to the agency recently imploring the CFPB to release rules in a sensible order so as not to have to adapt to rules over and over.

A second hearing scheduled for January 17 will cover mortgage servicing rules, according to the Bloomberg report.

Read the report by Bloomberg News.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker