[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1724 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1724

 To establish a competitive grant program in the Department of Justice 
  to be administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance which shall 
    assist local criminal prosecutor's offices in investigating and 
                prosecuting crimes of real estate fraud.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 29, 2009

   Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Reed) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a competitive grant program in the Department of Justice 
  to be administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance which shall 
    assist local criminal prosecutor's offices in investigating and 
                prosecuting crimes of real estate fraud.

    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 ``Fighting Real Estate Fraud Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General is authorized to make grants 
on a competitive basis through the Bureau of Justice Assistance in 
accordance with the formula established in section 5 of this Act, to 
States, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments 
(referred to in this Act as the ``applicant'') for the purpose of 
assisting the offices of State and local criminal prosecutors in 
investigating and prosecuting real estate fraud.
    (b) Real Estate Fraud.--In this Act, the term ``real estate fraud'' 
includes crimes involving purposeful misrepresentations, forgeries, 
omissions to general applications, tax returns, financial statements, 
appraisals and valuations, verifications of deposit and employment, 
escrow and closing documents, credit reports, and any actions that may 
defraud a secured creditor.

SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Each applicant desiring a grant under this Act 
shall submit an application to the Attorney General at such time, in 
such a manner, and accompanied by such information as the Attorney 
General may reasonably require.
    (b) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to subsection 
(a) shall--
            (1) describe the activities for which assistance under this 
        Act is sought;
            (2) include information determined by the Attorney General 
        to be relevant in demonstrating the applicant's need for 
        funding;
            (3) attest that funds shall go only to the hiring, 
        training, and employing of staff dedicated to the investigation 
        and prosecution of real estate fraud; and
            (4) provide such additional assurances as the Attorney 
        General determines to be essential to ensure compliance with 
        the requirements of this Act.

SEC. 4. LIMITS ON FUNDING.

    Funds received pursuant to a grant under this Act may not be 
expended to offset a reduction in any other source of funds.

SEC. 5. FORMULA.

    (a) Allocation Between States and Units of Local Government and 
Indian Tribal Governments.--Of the amounts authorized to be 
appropriated under section 8--
            (1) 70 percent of such amounts shall be allocated for 
        direct grants to units of local government and Indian tribal 
        governments; and
            (2) 30 percent of such amounts shall be allocated for 
        direct grants to States.
    (b) Allocation Between Large and Small Localities and Indian Tribal 
Governments.--Of the amounts allocated under subsection (a)(1)--
            (1) 50 percent of such amounts shall be allocated for 
        grants pursuant to applications submitted by units of local 
        government or Indian tribal governments having jurisdiction 
        over areas with populations exceeding 150,000; and
            (2) 50 percent of such amounts shall be allocated for 
        grants pursuant to applications submitted by units of local 
        government or Indian tribal governments having jurisdiction 
        over areas with populations of 150,000 or less.

SEC. 6. RULES.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Attorney General shall promulgate rules regarding the grant 
program authorized by this Act.

SEC. 7. GAO REPORT.

    Not later than April 1, 2012, the Comptroller General shall submit 
a report to Congress regarding the effectiveness of the grant program 
authorized by this Act as determined by the number of real estate fraud 
cases investigated and prosecuted resulting from this Act.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2011 and 2012.
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