[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3146 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3146

  To make improvements to the FHA mortgage insurance programs of the 
  Department of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2009

 Mr. Adler of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Lee of New York, Mr. Himes, 
and Mr. Lance) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To make improvements to the FHA mortgage insurance programs of the 
  Department of Housing and Urban Development, 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 ``21 Century FHA Housing Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. MORTGAGE INSURANCE FOR CONDOMINIUMS.

    Section 203 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(y) Inapplicability of Environmental Review Provisions.--In 
insuring, under this section, any mortgage described in section 
201(a)(C), the Secretary shall not be subject to the conditions of, or 
review under, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 or any 
other provision of law that furthers the purposes of such Act.''.

SEC. 3. ENERGY EFFICIENT MORTGAGES.

    Section 106(a)(2)(C) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 
12712 note) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(A)'' each 
        place such term appears; and
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking ``203(b)(2)(B)'' and 
        inserting ``203(b)(2)(A)(ii)''.

SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF WORKFORCE AND RESOURCES.

    Section 202 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1708) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(g) Personnel.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 502(a) of the 
        Housing Act of 1948 (12 U.S.C. 1701c(a)), the Secretary may 
        appoint and fix the compensation of such officers and employees 
        of the Department as the Secretary considers necessary to carry 
        out the functions of the Secretary under this Act and any other 
        functions of the Federal Housing Administration. Such officers 
        and employees may be paid without regard to the provisions of 
        chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United 
        States Code, relating to classification and General Schedule 
        pay rates.
            ``(2) Comparability of compensation with federal financial 
        regulatory agencies.--In fixing and directing compensation 
        under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult with, and 
        maintain comparability with compensation of officers and 
        employees of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Board of 
        Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal 
        Deposit Insurance Corporation.
            ``(3) Personnel of other federal agencies.--In carrying out 
        the functions referred to in paragraph (1), the Secretary may 
        use information, services, staff, and facilities of any 
        executive agency, independent agency, or department on a 
        reimbursable basis, with the consent of such agency or 
        department.
            ``(4) Outside experts and consultants.--The Secretary may 
        procure temporary and intermittent services under section 
        3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, to assist the work of 
        the Department in carrying out the functions referred to in 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(h) Information Technology.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out any program under this 
        Act or any other program of the Federal Housing Administration, 
        the Secretary may utilize any amounts as may be made available 
        for such programs to ensure that an appropriate level of 
        investment in information technology is maintained in order for 
        the Secretary to upgrade the technology systems of the 
        Department used in carrying out the functions referred to in 
        subsection (g)(1).
            ``(2) Use of premium-generated income.--To the extent that 
        income derived in any fiscal year from premium fees charged 
        under section 203(c) is in excess of the level of income 
        estimated for that such year for such premium fees and assumed 
        in the baseline projection prepared by the Director of the 
        Office of Management and Budget for inclusion in the 
        President's annual budget request, not more than $72,000,000 of 
        such excess amounts may be used from such amounts for the 
        purpose of carrying out this subsection.
    ``(i) Training and Education Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development shall carry out a comprehensive training and 
        education program to improve the service provided by personnel 
        of the Department carrying out functions referred to in 
        subsection (g)(1) to users of the mortgage insurance programs 
        under this Act and any other FHA mortgage insurance programs.
            ``(2) Topics.--The training and education program under 
        this subsection shall--
                    ``(A) have as its primary goal improving the 
                quality and consistency of responses provided by such 
                personnel of the Department headquarters and other 
                offices and centers of the Department regarding 
                regulations, handbooks, mortgagee letters, and other 
                guidance; and
                    ``(B) be designed to--
                            ``(i) ensure that lenders participating in 
                        the FHA programs may rely on information 
                        provided by one office or center of the 
                        Department when doing business with a different 
                        office or center; and
                            ``(ii) prevent such lenders from soliciting 
                        answers to the same question from different 
                        offices or centers of the Department in an 
                        attempt to obtain an answer that is 
                        satisfactory to the lender, by ensuring 
                        consistent responses from different offices and 
                        centers.''.

SEC. 5. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Review of Delinquencies and Lender Monitoring.--Section 202 of 
the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1708), as amended by the preceding 
provisions of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(j) Risk Management Improvement.--
            ``(1) Review of delinquencies among recent originations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct an 
                ongoing review of mortgages on single family housing 
                originated during the preceding 12 months and insured 
                pursuant to this Act under which the mortgagor has 
                become 60 or more days delinquent with respect to 
                payment under the mortgage during the first 90 days of 
                the term of the mortgage to determine which mortgages 
                should not have been originated or insured and the 
                characteristics of such mortgages, and which lenders 
                have relatively high incidences of such delinquent 
                mortgages;
                    ``(B) Sufficient resources.--There is authorized to 
                be appropriated to the Secretary for each of fiscal 
                years 2010 through 2014 the amount necessary to provide 
                90 additional full-time equivalent positions for the 
                Department, or for entering into such contracts as are 
                necessary, to conduct reviews in accordance with the 
                requirements of this section.
            ``(2) Lender monitoring.--In conducting monitoring and 
        analysis of the performance of lenders for mortgages on single 
        family housing insured under this Act, the Secretary shall 
        utilize a one-year period for such monitoring and analysis, to 
        promote earlier identification of problem lenders and allow 
        earlier intervention and sanctions.''.
    (b) Analysis of Mortgage Performance.--Section 203(g)(2) of the 
Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (12 U.S.C. 1708 note) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) analyze the portion of mortgages randomly reviewed 
        pursuant to subparagraph (B) on the basis of performance.''.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ADEQUATE CAPITAL FLOW FOR MORTGAGE 
              LOANS.

    (a) Congressional Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) warehouse lending, which provides short-term lines of 
        credit to non-depository lenders for mortgage loans that are 
        eventually sold into the secondary market to Fannie Mae, 
        Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, is a critical link in the housing 
        finance chain;
            (2) according to data obtained pursuant to the Home 
        Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, nondepository lenders that 
        utilize warehouse lines of credit account for as much as 40 
        percent of all residential mortgage loans in the United States, 
        and nearly 55 percent of FHA loans, which are increasingly 
        popular;
            (3) it is estimated that since 2006 warehouse lending 
        capacity available to the mortgage lending industry has 
        declined by nearly 90 percent to the current level of 
        approximately $20 billion to $25 billion;
            (4) based upon projected 2009 lending volume, there could 
        be a shortfall of hundreds of billions of dollars in home 
        mortgage availability caused by a lack of warehouse lending 
        capacity; and
            (5) unless Federal regulators promptly address the issue, 
        borrowers seeking to take advantage of today's low interest 
        rates will face rising costs and reduced credit access, which 
        could undermine the housing market recovery.
    (b) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Housing 
        and Urban Development, and the Director of the Federal Housing 
        Finance Agency should use their existing authorities under the 
        Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Housing and 
        Economic Recovery Act of 2008, and other statutory and 
        regulatory authorities to provide financial support and 
        assistance to facilitate increased warehouse credit capacity by 
        qualified warehouse lenders;
            (2) such financial support and assistance should--
                    (A) be used only to expand the amount of credit or 
                lending capacity made available to qualified mortgage 
                lenders by qualified warehouse lenders for the purpose 
                of funding residential mortgage loans;
                    (B) be provided in such form and manner as such 
                Secretaries or the Director, as applicable, consider 
                appropriate, which might include direct loans, 
                guarantees, credit enhancement, and other incentives; 
                and
                    (C) comply with other requirements established by 
                such Secretaries or the Director, as applicable.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            (1) Qualified mortgage lender.--The term ``qualified 
        mortgage lender'' means an entity that--
                    (A) is engaged in the business of making mortgage 
                loans for one- to four-family residences that are--
                            (i) insured under title II of the National 
                        Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707 et seq.);
                            (ii) guaranteed, insured, or made under 
                        chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code;
                            (iii) made, guaranteed, or insured under 
                        title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 
                        1471 et seq.); or
                            (iv) eligible for purchase by the Federal 
                        National Mortgage Association or the Federal 
                        Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; and
                    (B) is not a depository institution.
            (2) Qualified warehouse lender.--The term ``qualified 
        warehouse lender'' means an entity that extends credit to 
        qualified mortgage lenders for the purpose of originating 
        mortgage loans described in paragraph (1)(A), or that otherwise 
        facilitates the origination of such loans by a qualified 
        mortgage lender.

SEC. 7. FORECLOSURE AVOIDANCE INITIATIVES.

    Section 230 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715u) is 
amended by inserting after subsection (d) the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Foreclosure Avoidance Demonstration Programs.--The Secretary 
may carry out such demonstration programs as the Secretary from time to 
time determines are appropriate to demonstrate the effectiveness of 
alternative methods of avoiding foreclosure on mortgages insured under 
this title, including methods involving short sales and deeds in lieu 
of foreclosure, and such methods may involve partial or full payment of 
insurance benefits to the mortgagee.''.
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