[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1498 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1498

To require the lender or servicer of a home mortgage, upon a request by 
 the homeowner for a short sale, to make a prompt decision whether to 
                            allow the sale.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 12, 2011

Mr. Rooney (for himself and Mr. Andrews) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the lender or servicer of a home mortgage, upon a request by 
 the homeowner for a short sale, to make a prompt decision whether to 
                            allow the sale.

    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 ``Prompt Decision for Qualification of 
Short Sale Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. PROMPT DECISION REGARDING SHORT SALE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 
1631 et seq.) is amended by inserting before section 130 (15 U.S.C. 
1640) the following new section:

``SEC. 129I. PROMPT DECISION REGARDING SHORT SALE.

    ``(a) Requirement.--Except as provided in subsection (b) and 
notwithstanding any other provision of law or of any contract, 
including a contract between a servicer of a residential mortgage loan 
and a securitization vehicle or other investment vehicle, if the 
mortgagor under a residential mortgage loan submits to the servicer of 
the mortgage loan a written request for a short sale of the dwelling or 
residential real property that is subject to the mortgage, deed or 
trust, or other security interest that secures the mortgage loan, and 
all information required by the servicer in connection with such a 
request (including a copy of an executed contract between the owner of 
the dwelling or property and the prospective buyer that is subject to 
approval by the servicer), and the mortgagor does not receive from the 
servicer, before the expiration of the 45-day period beginning upon 
receipt by the servicer of such request and information, a written 
notification of whether such request has been approved, that such 
request has been approved subject to specified changes, or that 
additional information is required for such a determination, such 
request shall be considered to have been approved by the servicer.
    ``(b) Inapplicability to Certain Existing Mortgages.--Subsection 
(a) shall not apply with respect to any residential mortgage with 
respect to which the mortgagor and the mortgagee or servicer have 
entered into a written agreement before the date of the enactment of 
the Prompt Decision for Qualification of Short Sale Act of 2011 
explicitly providing a procedure or terms for approval of a short sale.
    ``(c) Treatment of Other Time Limits.--This section may not be 
construed to preempt, annul, or otherwise affect any other provision of 
law or of any contract or program that provides a shorter period than 
is provided under subsection (a) for a decision by the servicer of a 
residential mortgage loan regarding a short sale of the dwelling or 
residential real property that is subject to the mortgage, deed or 
trust, or other security interest that secures the mortgage loan.
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            ``(1) Residential mortgage loan.--The term `residential 
        mortgage loan' means any consumer credit transaction that is 
        secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or other equivalent 
        consensual security interest on a dwelling or on residential 
        real property that includes a dwelling, other than a consumer 
        credit transaction under an open end credit plan or an 
        extension of credit relating to a plan described in section 
        101(53D) of title 11, United States Code.
            ``(2) Securitization vehicle.--The term `securitization 
        vehicle' means a trust, special purpose entity, or other legal 
        structure that is used to facilitate the issuing of securities, 
        participation certificates, or similar instruments backed by or 
        referring to a pool of assets that includes residential 
        mortgage loans (or instruments that are related to residential 
        mortgage loans, such as credit-linked notes).
            ``(3) Servicer.--The term `servicer' has the meaning 
        provided in section 129A, except that such term includes a 
        person who makes or holds a residential mortgage loan 
        (including a pool of residential mortgage loans) if such person 
        also services the loan.
            ``(4) Short sale.--The term `short sale' means the sale of 
        the dwelling or residential real property that is subject to 
        the mortgage, deed or trust, or other security interest that 
        secures a residential mortgage loan that--
                    ``(A) will result in proceeds in an amount that is 
                less than the remaining amount due under the mortgage 
                loan; and
                    ``(B) requires authorization by the securitization 
                vehicle or other investment vehicle or holder of the 
                mortgage loan, or the servicer acting on behalf of such 
                a vehicle or holder.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) of this 
section shall apply to any written request for a short sale made after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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