New mortgage rules set to be unveiled Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will spell out how lenders must ensure that borrowers can repay their home loans.

The rules, which go into effect next January, were designed to enhance consumer safety without tightening credit standards beyond current levels, officials said Wednesday.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation overhaul changed lending rules to make banks legally responsible for determining that a borrower is able to repay a mortgage. The CFPB’s rules are intended to implement that change. The upshot is that banks are likely to narrow their loan offerings and rely more .

New mortgage rules unveiled today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spell out how lenders must ensure that borrowers can repay their home loans. The Wall Street Journal‘s Nick Timiraos and Alan Zibel report. Also, Bloomberg/BusinessWeek’s has an early scoop on CFPB’s QM and QRM policies.