[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6366 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6366
To prevent foreclosure of home mortgages and provide for the affordable
refinancing of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through
mortgages having 50-year terms to maturity.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2012
Mr. Baca introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prevent foreclosure of home mortgages and provide for the affordable
refinancing of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through
mortgages having 50-year terms to maturity.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Flexible Refinancing for American
Families Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. AFFORDABLE 50-YEAR REFINANCING OF MORTGAGES OWNED OR GUARANTEED
BY FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC.
(a) Authority.--The Federal National Mortgage Association and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shall each carry out a program
under this section to provide for the refinancing of qualified
mortgages on single-family housing owned by such enterprise through a
refinancing mortgage having a 50-year term, and for the purchase of and
securitization of such refinancing mortgages, in accordance with this
section and policies and procedures that the Director of the Federal
Housing Finance Agency shall establish. Such program shall require such
refinancing of a qualified mortgage upon the request of the mortgagor
made to the applicable enterprise and a determination by the enterprise
that the mortgage is a qualified mortgage.
(b) Qualified Mortgage.--For purposes of this section, the term
``qualified mortgage'' means a mortgage, without regard to whether the
mortgagor is current on or in default on payments due under the
mortgage, that--
(1) is an existing first mortgage that was made for
purchase of, or refinancing another first mortgage on, a one-
to four-family dwelling, including a condominium or a share in
a cooperative ownership housing association, that is occupied
by the mortgagor as the principal residence of the mortgagor;
(2) is owned or guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage
Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; and
(3) was originated on or before the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(c) Refinancing Mortgage.--For purposes of this section, the term
``refinancing mortgage'' means a mortgage that meets the following
requirements:
(1) Refinancing of qualified mortgage.--The principal loan
amount repayment of which is secured by the mortgage shall be
used to satisfy all indebtedness under an existing qualified
mortgage.
(2) Single-family housing.--The property that is subject to
the mortgage shall be the same property that is subject to the
qualified mortgage being refinanced.
(3) 50-year term with 30-year call option.--The mortgage
shall have a term to maturity of 50 years from the date of the
beginning of the amortization of the mortgage and shall fully
amortize over such term, except that the mortgagee may, at the
sole option of the mortgagee, require payment in full of all
amounts of principal and interest owed under the mortgage on
the date that is 30 years after the date of the beginning of
the amortization of the mortgage, but only if the mortgagee
provides written notice to the mortgagor of such acceleration
of indebtedness not fewer than 90 days in advance of such
acceleration.
(4) Interest rate.--The mortgage shall bear interest at a
single rate that is fixed for the entire term of the mortgage,
which shall be equivalent to the premium received by the
enterprise on the qualified mortgage being refinanced plus the
cost of selling a newly issued mortgage having comparable risk
and term to maturity in a mortgage-backed security, as such
rate may be increased to the extent necessary to cover, over
the term to maturity of the mortgage, any fee paid to the
servicer pursuant to subsection (d), the cost of any title
insurance coverage issued in connection with the mortgage, and,
as determined by the Director, a portion of any administrative
costs of the program under this section as may attributable to
the mortgage.
(5) Waiver of prepayment penalties.--All penalties for
prepayment or refinancing of the qualified mortgage that is
refinanced by the mortgage, and all fees and penalties related
to the default or delinquency on such mortgage, shall have been
waived or forgiven.
(6) Prohibition on borrower fees.--The servicer conducting
the refinancing shall not charge the mortgagor any fee for the
refinancing of the qualified mortgage through the refinancing
mortgage.
(7) Title insurance.--The fee for title insurance coverage
issued in connection with the mortgage shall be reasonable in
comparison with fees for such coverage available in the market
for mortgages having similar terms.
(d) Fee to Servicer.--For each qualified mortgage of an enterprise
that the servicer of the qualified mortgage refinances through a
refinancing mortgage pursuant to this section, the enterprise shall pay
the servicer a fee not exceeding $1,000.
(e) No Appraisal.--The enterprises may not require an appraisal of
the property subject to a refinancing mortgage to be conducted in
connection with such refinancing.
(f) Termination.--The requirement under subsection (a) for the
enterprises to refinance qualified mortgages shall not apply to any
request for refinancing made after the expiration of the one-year
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
(2) Enterprise.--The term ``enterprise'' means the Federal
National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation.
(h) Regulations.--The Director shall issue any regulations or
guidance necessary to carry out the program under this section.
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