[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3642 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3642

To ensure that the underwriting standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 
   facilitate the use of property assessed clean energy programs to 
  finance the installation of renewable energy and energy efficiency 
                             improvements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 2010

Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mr. Begich) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure that the underwriting standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 
   facilitate the use of property assessed clean energy programs to 
  finance the installation of renewable energy and energy efficiency 
                             improvements.

    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 ``The PACE Assessment Protection Act 
of 2010''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PACE PROGRAMS BY FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC.

    (a) Adoption of Underwriting Standards.--Not later than the 
expiration of the 60-day period that begins upon the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Federal National Mortgage Association and 
the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shall adopt underwriting 
standards that are consistent with the Guidelines for Pilot PACE 
Financing Programs issued on May 7, 2010, by the Department of Energy. 
Liens or other property obligations that secure property taxes or 
assessments under a PACE program and are consistent with such standards 
shall be considered to comply with the Uniform Instruments of such 
Association and Corporation and shall not constitute a default on an 
existing mortgage or trigger the exercise of lender's remedies for a 
property with such a lien. With respect to a property that meets the 
underwriting criteria of the Association and the Corporation without 
consideration of the PACE program lien, the Association and the 
Corporation shall not require repayment of a PACE program tax or 
assessment in order for a property owner to finance, refinance or 
transfer the property. The underwriting standards shall provide that, 
in the event that a tax or assessment under a PACE program is 
delinquent, only the unpaid delinquent amount along with applicable 
penalties, interest and costs will be subject to foreclosure and not 
the entire amount.
    (b) Prohibition of Discrimination.--The Federal Housing Finance 
Agency, the Federal National Mortgage Association, and the Federal Home 
Loan Mortgage Corporation, and all Federal agencies and all entities 
chartered under Federal law shall not discriminate against communities 
implementing or participating in a PACE program, including by 
prohibiting lending within the community or requiring more restrictive 
underwriting criteria for properties within the community.
    (c) Definition of PACE Program.--For purposes of this section, the 
term ``PACE program'' means a property assessed clean energy program 
under which a State or political subdivision of a State levies taxes or 
assessments on residential, commercial, agricultural, and other real 
property to finance the installation of renewable energy and energy 
efficiency improvements.
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