I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1764 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 26, 2009 Ms. Matsui (for herself, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Berkley, and Ms. Sutton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require that amounts of assistance provided to financial institutions under the Troubled Asset Relief Program of the Secretary of the Treasury that are returned be used only for assistance for homeowners in accordance with the Making Home Affordable Program of the Secretary.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Helping Homeowners in Distressed Communities Act of 2009.

2.

Limitation on use of returned amounts

Section 109 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (d)

Use of returned amounts for homeowner assistance

(1)

Limitation on use

Notwithstanding any other provision of this title or any other law, the Secretary may not use any amounts of assistance provided under this title to or for any financial institution that, prior to any use of such amounts, are voluntarily returned to the Secretary, except that such amounts may be used, as provided under this title, to refinance and modify mortgages of homeowners in accordance with the Making Home Affordable Program established by the Secretary. (2)

Allocation

Any returned amounts used in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be allocated for such use only for areas disproportionately affected by home mortgage foreclosures, as determined by the Secretary. .