[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2979 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2979

  To defer mortgage payment due dates and to prohibit creditors from 
 imposing late fees, increasing interest rates, or submitting adverse 
  credit information with regard to the account of a mortgage holder 
   whose principal residence has been severely impacted by a natural 
  disaster for up to a 90-day period following issuance of a disaster 
 declared by the President for the area in which the mortgage holder's 
        principal residence is located, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2011

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. Rothman of New Jersey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To defer mortgage payment due dates and to prohibit creditors from 
 imposing late fees, increasing interest rates, or submitting adverse 
  credit information with regard to the account of a mortgage holder 
   whose principal residence has been severely impacted by a natural 
  disaster for up to a 90-day period following issuance of a disaster 
 declared by the President for the area in which the mortgage holder's 
        principal residence is located, 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 ``Natural Disaster Emergency Mortgage 
Relief Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. TRUTH IN LENDING ACT AMENDMENTS.

    Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended--
            (1) by inserting after section 129H the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 129I. TEMPORARY MORTGAGE LOAN PAYMENT DEFERRAL DURING A NATURAL 
              DISASTER.

    ``(a) In General.--A consumer whose principal residence is located 
in an area determined by the State or local municipality in which the 
residence is located as being severely impacted by a natural disaster 
and in an area for which the President has declared a major disaster 
under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) may defer payments on a 
mortgage loan secured by such residence without penalty.
    ``(b) Deferment of Payments.--
            ``(1) Request.--A consumer who wishes to defer payments on 
        a mortgage loan under this section must notify the creditor of 
        the mortgage loan during the 30-day period beginning on the 
        date the President makes the declaration described under 
        subsection (a) and must specify the deferment period selected 
        by the consumer.
            ``(2) Deferment period.--A deferment of payments under this 
        section may only be for a 30-, 60-, or 90-day period, and the 
        period shall begin on the date that the President makes the 
        declaration described under subsection (a).
            ``(3) No payment during deferment period.--No payment that 
        would otherwise be due under the terms of the consumer's 
        mortgage loan shall be required to be paid during the deferment 
        period.
    ``(c) No Adverse Treatment of Consumer.--With respect to a mortgage 
loan for which payments have been deferred under this section--
            ``(1) a consumer may not be charged a late fee with respect 
        to payments on the mortgage loan made during the 10-day period 
        following the end of the deferment period;
            ``(2) no increase may be made in the annual percentage rate 
        applicable to any outstanding balance of the mortgage loan 
        during the deferment period, other than an increase in the 
        annual percentage rate due to a change in an index or rate of 
        interest--
                    ``(A) on which such annual percentage rate is 
                based;
                    ``(B) which is publicly available; and
                    ``(C) which is not under the control of the 
                creditor of the mortgage loan; and
            ``(3) the creditor of the mortgage loan may not report any 
        adverse information to a consumer reporting agency that 
        occurred as a result of a deferral of payment made under this 
        section.
    ``(d) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as 
limiting creditors of mortgage loans from permitting longer deferment 
periods than those specified in this section or taking any other 
mortgage relief measures that such creditors feel are appropriate.''; 
and
            (2) by amending the table of contents for such chapter by 
        inserting after the item relating to section 129H the following 
        new item:

``129I. Temporary mortgage loan payment deferral during a natural 
                            disaster.''.
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