1.This Act may be cited as the
Housing Opportunity and Mortgage
Equity Act of 2009
.
2.
(a)The Federal National Mortgage Association
and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shall each carry out a program
under this section to purchase and securitize qualified new mortgages on
single-family housing, in accordance with this section and policies and
procedures that the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency shall
establish.
(b)Requirement To
purchase qualified new mortgagesIf a lender proffers to an enterprise, in
accordance with requirements established by the Director, a mortgage or
mortgages for purchase under this section, the enterprise shall make a
determination of whether such mortgage or mortgages are qualified new
mortgages. Subject to subsection (e), if the enterprise determines that such
mortgage or mortgages meet the requirements for qualified new mortgages, the
enterprise shall make a commitment to purchase, and shall purchase, the
mortgage or mortgages.
(c)For purposes of
this section, the term qualified new mortgage
means a mortgage
that meets the following requirements:
(1)The property subject to the mortgage shall be a one- to
four-family dwelling, including a condominium or a share in a cooperative
ownership housing association.
(2)The mortgagor under the mortgage shall occupy the
property subject to the mortgage as his or her principal residence.
(3)Interest rate;
term to maturityThe mortgage shall—
(A)bear interest at a
single rate that is fixed for the entire term of the mortgage, which shall not
exceed an annual rate that is 1.6 percentage points higher than the average
annual rate of interest paid on obligations of the United States most recently
issued by the Secretary of the Treasury and having 10-year maturities;
and
(B)have a term to
maturity of not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years from the date of
the beginning of the amortization of the mortgage.
(4)The mortgage shall meet such underwriting standards as
the Director shall require.
(5)The principal loan amount repayment of which is secured
by the mortgage shall be used to purchase the property that is subject to the
qualified new mortgage.
(6)The mortgage was originated on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(d)
(1)Each enterprise shall, upon such terms and
conditions as it may prescribe, set aside any qualified new mortgages purchased
by it under this section and, upon approval of the Secretary of the Treasury,
issue and sell securities based upon such mortgages set aside.
(2)Securities
issued under this subsection may be in the form of debt obligations or trust
certificates of beneficial interest, or both.
(3)Securities
issued under this subsection shall have such maturities and bear such rate or
rates of interest as may be determined by the enterprise with the approval of
the Secretary.
(4)Securities
issued by an enterprise under this subsection shall, to the same extent as
securities which are direct obligations of or obligations guaranteed as to
principal and interest by the United States, be deemed to be exempt securities
within the meaning of laws administered by the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
(5)Principal and
interest paymentsMortgages set aside pursuant to this subsection
shall at all times be adequate to enable the issuing enterprise to make timely
principal and interest payments on the securities issued and sold pursuant to
this subsection.
(6)Each enterprise shall insert appropriate language in
all of the securities issued under this subsection clearly indicating that such
securities, together with the interest thereon, are not guaranteed by the
United States and do not constitute a debt or obligation of the United States
or any agency or instrumentality thereof other than the enterprise.
(e)The requirement under subsection (b) for
the enterprises to purchase mortgages shall not apply to any mortgage proferred
to an enterprise after the expiration of the two-year period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act.
3.Affordable refinancing
of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
(a)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 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
refinancing mortgageFor
purposes of this section, the term qualified mortgage
means a
mortgage that meets the following requirements:
(1)The property subject to the mortgage shall be a one- to
four-family dwelling, including a condominium or a share in a cooperative
ownership housing association.
(2)Refinancing of
GSE-owned mortgagesThe principal loan amount repayment of which
is secured by the mortgage shall be used to satisfy all indebtedness under an
existing first mortgage that—
(A)was made for
purchase of, or refinancing another first mortgage on, the same property that
is subject to the qualified refinancing mortgage;
(B)is owned by the
Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation; and
(C)was originated on
or before January 1, 2008.
(3)The mortgage shall bear interest at a single rate that is
fixed for the entire term of the mortgage, which shall not exceed an annual
rate that is 1.6 percentage points higher than the average annual rate of
interest paid on obligations of the United States most recently issued by the
Secretary of the Treasury and having 10-year maturities.
(4)Waiver of
prepayment penaltiesAll penalties for prepayment or refinancing
of the underlying mortgage refinanced by the mortgage, and all fees and
penalties related to the default or delinquency on such mortgage, shall have
been waived or forgiven.
(c)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 two-year period beginning on
the date of the enactment of this Act.
4.
(a)Subject to subsection (e), the Secretary
may purchase securities issued by the enterprises pursuant to the programs
under this Act and such other obligations as may be issued by the enterprises
for purposes of carrying out the programs under this Act.
(b)For the purpose of purchasing any such securities and
obligations, the Secretary may use as a public debt transaction the proceeds
from the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United
States Code, and the purposes for which securities are issued under such
chapter are hereby extended to include any purchase by the Secretary of such
obligations under this section.
(c)Characteristics
of obligationsObligations issued and purchased pursuant to this
section shall be in such forms and denominations, bear such maturities, bear
interest at such rate, and be subject to such other terms and conditions, as
the Secretary shall determine. In determining the term to maturity of such
obligations, the Secretary shall take into consideration the terms to maturity
of the various securities issued by the enterprises pursuant to the programs
under this Act and the terms to maturity and possibility of prepayment of
mortgages purchased and securitized under such programs.
(d)All
redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of obligations under this
section shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United
States.
(e)The aggregate
principal amount of outstanding obligations and securities purchased under
subsection (a) by the Secretary and held at any one time may not exceed
$10,000,000,000.
5.For purposes of this Act, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1)The
term Director
means the Director of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency.
(2)The
term enterprise
means the Federal National Mortgage Association
and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
(3)The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of the Treasury.