[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3897 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3897

    To provide permanent authority for the insurance of home equity 
conversion mortgages and promote consumer education in connection with 
                such mortgages, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 1996

Mr. Lazio of New York (for himself, Mr. Leach, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Baker 
of Louisiana, Mr. Castle, Mr. Weller, Mr. Hayworth, Mr. Bono, Mr. Ney, 
 Mr. Ehrlich, Mr. Cremeans, Mr. Fox of Pennsylvania, Mr. Heineman, Mr. 
  Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Engligh of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ensign, and Mr. 
  Flanagan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide permanent authority for the insurance of home equity 
conversion mortgages and promote consumer education in connection with 
                such mortgages, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Senior Citizens Homeownership 
Protection Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. PERMANENT HOME EQUITY CONVERSION MORTGAGE INSURANCE AUTHORITY.

    Section 255(g) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20(g)) 
is amended by striking the first 2 sentences.

SEC. 3. PERMISSION FOR MORTGAGEE TO ARRANGE FOR CONSUMER EDUCATION.

    Section 255 of the National Housing Act is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)(2), by striking subparagraph (B) and 
        inserting the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) has received adequate consumer education by a 
                third party as provided in subsection (f); and'';
            (2) in subsection (e), by striking paragraph (1) and 
        inserting the following new paragraph:
            ``(1) no later than the time of the loan application, a 
        disclosure form developed by the Secretary and information 
        regarding sources of the consumer education required in 
        subsection (d)(2)(B);'';
            (3) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by striking the first sentence and inserting 
                the following new sentence: ``The Secretary shall 
                provide or cause to be provided the consumer education 
                required in subsection (d)(2)(B) and shall set 
                standards for providers of consumer education to the 
                extent considered necessary by the Secretary.''; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following 
                new sentence:
``Nothing in this section shall prevent the mortgagee from requiring 
the mortgagor to provide reasonable compensation to the party that 
provided the consumer education required in subsection (d)(2)(B), 
including reimbursement from proceeds of the mortgage, as long as no 
payment or other thing of value is given in violation of section 8 of 
the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974.''.

SEC. 4. OTHER APPROACHES TO CONSUMER EDUCATION.

    The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall consult with 
consumer groups, industry representatives, representatives of 
counseling organizations, and other interested parties to identify 
approaches to consumer education other than the requirements of section 
255 of the National Housing Act that may be feasible and desirable for 
home equity conversion mortgages insured under section 255 and other 
types of reverse mortgages. The Secretary may adopt, in lieu of the 
consumer education required by section 255(f) of the National Housing 
Act, alternative approaches to consumer education that may be developed 
as a result of such consultations.

SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR COUNSELING AND CONSUMER EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

    (a) Authority To Use Assisted Housing Amounts.--To the extent and 
for the purposes specified in subsection (b), and in addition to any 
other amounts available for such purposes, the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development may use recaptured amounts initially appropriated for 
the account of the Department of Housing and Urban Development known as 
the Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing account.
    (b) Fiscal Year 1997.--Of the amounts described in subsection (a), 
up to a total of $1,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary for 
fiscal year 1997, in such amounts as the Secretary determines 
appropriate, for the following purposes in connection with home equity 
conversion mortgages insured under section 255 of the National Housing 
Act:
            (1) For housing counseling authorized by section 106 of the 
        Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968.
            (2) For transfer to the departmental salaries and expenses 
        account for consumer education and outreach activities.

SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    Section 255 of the National Housing Act is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``demonstration'';
            (2) in subsections (a) and (i)(1) by striking 
        ``demonstration'' each place it appears;
            (3) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``and'' after 
                the semicolon at the end;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'' at the 
                end and inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (3); and
            (4) by striking subsection (k).
                                 <all>