[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1985 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1985

           To improve access of senior homeowners to capital.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2007

 Mr. Allard (for himself and Mr. Reed) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To improve access of senior homeowners to capital.

    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 ``Capital Access for Senior Homeowners 
Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. HOME EQUITY CONVERSION MORTGAGES.

    (a) In General.--Section 255 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
1715z-20) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (g), by striking the first sentence;
            (2) in subsection (i)(1)(C), by striking ``limitations'' 
        and inserting ``limitation''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(o) Authority To Insure Home Purchase Mortgage.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision in 
        this section, the Secretary may insure, upon application by a 
        mortgagee, a home equity conversion mortgage upon such terms 
        and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, when the primary 
        purpose of the home equity conversion mortgage is to enable an 
        elderly mortgagor to purchase a 1- to 4-family dwelling in 
        which the mortgagor will occupy or occupies 1 of the units.
            ``(2) Limitation on principal obligation.--A home equity 
        conversion mortgage insured pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 
        involve a principal obligation that does not exceed the dollar 
        amount limitation determined under section 203(b)(2) for a 
        residence of the applicable size.''.
    (b) Mortgages for Cooperatives.--Subsection (b) of section 255 of 
the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) by inserting ``a first or subordinate mortgage 
                or lien'' before ``on all stock'';
                    (B) by inserting ``unit'' after ``dwelling''; and
                    (C) by inserting ``a first mortgage or first lien'' 
                before ``on a leasehold''; and
            (2) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``a first or subordinate 
        lien on'' before ``all stock''.
    (c) Study Regarding Program Costs and Credit Availability.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall conduct a study regarding the costs and 
        availability of credit under the home equity conversion 
        mortgages for elderly homeowners program under section 255 of 
        the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20) (in this 
        subsection referred to as the ``program'').
            (2) Purpose.--The purpose of the study required under 
        paragraph (1) is to help Congress analyze and determine the 
        effects of reducing or limiting the amounts of the costs or 
        fees under the program from the amounts charged under the 
        program as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (3) Content of report.--The study required under paragraph 
        (1) should focus on--
                    (A) the cost to mortgagors of participating in the 
                program;
                    (B) the financial soundness of the program;
                    (C) the availability of credit under the program; 
                and
                    (D) the costs to elderly homeowners participating 
                in the program, including--
                            (i) mortgage insurance premiums charged 
                        under the program;
                            (ii) up-front fees charged under the 
                        program; and
                            (iii) margin rates charged under the 
                        program.
            (4) Timing of report.--Not later than 12 months after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
        shall submit a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
        Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial 
        Services of the House of Representatives setting forth the 
        results and conclusions of the study required under paragraph 
        (1).
                                 <all>