[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4229 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4229

 To amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to ensure 
     that borrowers under federally related mortgage loans have an 
               opportunity to inspect closing documents.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2009

 Ms. Bean (for herself and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to ensure 
     that borrowers under federally related mortgage loans have an 
               opportunity to inspect closing documents.

    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 ``Borrowers' Right to Inspect Closing 
Documents Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FURNISHING OF CLOSING DOCUMENTS TO BORROWER.

    Section 4 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 
U.S.C. 2603) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following new subsection:
    ``(b) Furnishing of Closing Documents to Borrower Three Days Before 
Settlement.--
            ``(1) Lender responsibilities.--The lender shall furnish to 
        the person conducting the settlement (in this subsection 
        referred to as the `settlement agent'), at least four business 
        days before the scheduled date of settlement, the completed 
        promissory note, deed of trust or other mortgage instrument, as 
        the case may be, all items that are needed to complete the 
        uniform settlement statement, the final Truth-in-Lending Act 
        disclosure, and the final closing instructions.
            ``(2) Furnishing of closing documents to borrowers.--
                    ``(A) Requirement.--Except as provided in 
                paragraphs (3) and (4), the settlement agent shall 
                furnish to the borrower, at least three business days 
                preceding the scheduled date of settlement and using 
                the method selected by the borrower pursuant to 
                subparagraph (B) of this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the completed documents set forth in 
                        paragraph (1), except for the final closing 
                        instructions, and
                            ``(ii) the completed uniform settlement 
                        statement,
                as long as the lender has timely provided the requisite 
                items and documents to the settlement agent. The 
                settlement agent shall not be responsible for the 
                lender's failure to comply with paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Methods of furnishing documents.--The 
                borrower may select to have the documents required 
                under subparagraph (A) furnished by--
                            ``(i) electronic mail, subject to the 
                        Electronic Signatures in Global and National 
                        Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.);
                            ``(ii) telephone facsimile machine; or
                            ``(iii) making the documents available for 
                        personal inspection at the office of the 
                        settlement agent and providing a copy of the 
                        documents to the borrower to retain.
            ``(3) Corrections.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any provision of 
                paragraph (2) to the contrary, the settlement agent may 
                make corrections to the uniform settlement statement 
                and any related documents prior to the scheduled date 
                of settlement, if--
                            ``(i) an update of the title search and 
                        examination of the prospective mortgaged 
                        property reveals any defects, liens, 
                        encumbrances, or other matters not discovered 
                        in previous searches;
                            ``(ii) subject to the lender's approval, 
                        the borrower's inspection of the prospective 
                        mortgaged property requires financial 
                        adjustments;
                            ``(iii) the borrower and lender agree to 
                        make material changes to the loan transaction; 
                        or
                            ``(iv) any other permissible corrections, 
                        as identified by regulation by the Secretary, 
                        are made.
                    ``(B) Timing.--The requirement under paragraph (2) 
                to provide completed documents and the completed 
                settlement statement at least three business days 
                before settlement shall not apply to any uniform 
                settlement statement and related documents corrected 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
            ``(4) Exemption by secretary.--The Secretary may exempt 
        from the requirements of this subsection the following 
        settlements:
                    ``(A) Settlements occurring in localities where the 
                final settlement statement is not customarily provided 
                at or before the date of settlement.
                    ``(B) Settlements under which compliance with the 
                requirements of this subsection is impractical.''.
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