[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 172 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 172

 To assist teachers and public safety officers in obtaining affordable 
                                housing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2007

   Ms. Lee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To assist teachers and public safety officers in obtaining affordable 
                                housing.

    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 ``Community Partners Next Door Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. COMMUNITY PARTNERS NEXT DOOR PROGRAM.

    (a) Discount and Downpayment Assistance for Teachers and Public 
Safety Officers.--Section 204(h) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
1710(h)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through (10) as 
        paragraphs (8) through (11), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(7) 50 percent discount for teachers and public safety 
        officers purchasing properties that are eligible assets.--
                    ``(A) Discount.--A property that is an eligible 
                asset and is sold to a teacher or public safety officer 
                for use in accordance with subparagraph (B) shall be 
                sold at a price that is equal to 50 percent of the 
                appraised value of the eligible property (as determined 
                in accordance with paragraph (6)(B)). In the case of a 
                property eligible for both a discount under this 
                paragraph and a discount under paragraph (6), the 
                discount under paragraph (6) shall not apply.
                    ``(B) Primary residence.--An eligible property sold 
                pursuant to a discount under this paragraph shall be 
                used, for not less than the 3-year period beginning 
                upon such sale, as the primary residence of a teacher 
                or public safety officer.
                    ``(C) Sale methods.--The Secretary may sell an 
                eligible property pursuant to a discount under this 
                paragraph--
                            ``(i) to a unit of general local government 
                        or nonprofit organization (pursuant to 
                        paragraph (4) or otherwise), for resale or 
                        transfer to a teacher or public safety officer; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) directly to a purchaser who is a 
                        teacher or public safety officer.
                    ``(D) Resale.--In the case of any purchase by a 
                unit of general local government or nonprofit 
                organization of an eligible property sold at a 
                discounted price under this paragraph, the sale 
                agreement under paragraph (8) shall--
                            ``(i) require the purchasing unit of 
                        general local government or nonprofit 
                        organization to provide the full benefit of the 
                        discount to the teacher or public safety 
                        officer obtaining the property; and
                            ``(ii) in the case of a purchase involving 
                        multiple eligible assets, any of which is such 
                        an eligible property, designate the specific 
                        eligible property or properties to be subject 
                        to the requirements of subparagraph (B).
                    ``(E) Mortgage downpayment assistance.--If a 
                teacher or public safety officer purchases an eligible 
                property pursuant to a discounted sale price under this 
                paragraph and finances such purchase through a mortgage 
                insured under this title, notwithstanding any provision 
                of section 203 the downpayment on such mortgage shall 
                be $100.
                    ``(F) Higher fha loan limit for purchase of 
                eligible properties in high-cost areas.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any 
                        other provision of this title relating to the 
                        maximum amount of the principal obligation of a 
                        mortgage that may be insured under this title, 
                        in the case of an eligible property that is 
                        located in a high-cost area and is purchased 
                        pursuant to a discounted sale price under this 
                        paragraph, the Secretary may insure a mortgage 
                        for the purchase of such eligible property that 
                        involves a principal obligation (including such 
                        initial service charges, appraisal, inspection, 
                        and other fees as the Secretary shall approve) 
                        in an amount not exceeding 150 percent of the 
                        limitation on such principal obligation 
                        otherwise applicable under section 
                        203(b)(2)(A).
                            ``(ii) High-cost area.--For purposes of 
                        this subparagraph, the term `high-cost area' 
                        means any area for which the median 1-family 
                        house price in the area exceeds the maximum 
                        amount limitation on the principal obligation 
                        of a mortgage determined at such time under 
                        section 203(b)(2)(A)(ii).
                    ``(G) Prevention of undue profit.--The Secretary 
                shall issue regulations to prevent undue profit from 
                the resale of eligible properties in violation of the 
                requirement under subparagraph (B).
                    ``(H) Definitions.--For the purposes of this 
                paragraph, the following definitions shall apply:
                            ``(i) The term `eligible property' means an 
                        eligible asset described in paragraph (2)(A) of 
                        this subsection.
                            ``(ii) The term `public safety officer' has 
                        the meaning given such term in section 1204 of 
                        the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
                        of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b).
                            ``(iii) The term `teacher' means an 
                        individual who is employed on a part- or full-
                        time basis as a teacher, teacher assistant, or 
                        administrator in a public or private school 
                        that provides elementary or secondary 
                        education, as determined under State law, 
                        except that elementary education shall include 
                        pre-Kindergarten education, and except that 
                        secondary education shall not include any 
                        education beyond grade 12.
                    ``(I) Program integrity.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this paragraph, the Secretary may suspend 
                the applicability of this paragraph for such period as 
                the Secretary considers appropriate if the Secretary 
                determines such suspension is necessary because of 
                fraud or other issues regarding program integrity.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 204(h) of the National Housing 
Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(h)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)(B)(ii), by striking ``paragraph (7)'' 
        and inserting ``paragraph (8)'';
            (2) in paragraph (5)(B)(i), by striking ``paragraph (7)'' 
        and inserting ``paragraph (8)''; and
            (3) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ``paragraph (8)'' and 
        inserting ``paragraph (9)''.
    (c) Regulations.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations to 
implement the amendments made by this section.

SEC. 3. TEACHER AND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General, 
shall carry out a program of activities to inform and educate teachers 
and public safety officers of the availability and terms of the program 
established by the amendments made by section 2.
    (b) Eligible Activities.--Amounts made available for the program 
under this section may be used only for activities designed to 
accomplish the purpose specified in subsection (a), which may include 
public service announcements, bus tours, advertising in teacher or 
public safety officer journals, development of web sites, establishment 
of toll-free telephone numbers for providing information, and such 
other activities as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may 
consider appropriate.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for each 
of fiscal years 2008 through 2015 such sums as may be necessary for 
carrying out the program under this section.
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