[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1712 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1712

To prevent foreclosure of home mortgages and provide for the affordable 
      refinancing of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 24, 2013

 Mr. McNerney (for himself, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Costa, Mr. Honda, and Mr. 
 Johnson of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prevent foreclosure of home mortgages and provide for the affordable 
      refinancing of mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    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 ``Housing Opportunity and Mortgage 
Equity Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. AFFORDABLE REFINANCING OF MORTGAGES OWNED OR GUARANTEED BY 
              FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC.

    (a) Authority.--The Federal National Mortgage Association and the 
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shall each carry out a program 
under this section to provide for the refinancing of qualified 
mortgages on single-family housing owned by such enterprise through a 
refinancing mortgage, and for the purchase of and securitization of 
such refinancing mortgages, in accordance with this section and 
policies and procedures that the Director of the Federal Housing 
Finance Agency shall establish. Such program shall require such 
refinancing of a qualified mortgage upon the request of the mortgagor 
made to the applicable enterprise and a determination by the enterprise 
that the mortgage is a qualified mortgage.
    (b) Qualified Mortgage.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``qualified mortgage'' means a mortgage, without regard to whether the 
mortgagor is current on or in default on payments due under the 
mortgage, that--
            (1) is an existing first mortgage that was made for 
        purchase of, or refinancing another first mortgage on, a one- 
        to four-family dwelling, including a condominium or a share in 
        a cooperative ownership housing association, that is occupied 
        by the mortgagor as the principal residence of the mortgagor;
            (2) is owned or guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage 
        Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; and
            (3) was originated on or before the date of the enactment 
        of this Act.
    (c) Refinancing Mortgage.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``refinancing mortgage'' means a mortgage that meets the following 
requirements:
            (1) Refinancing of qualified mortgage.--The principal loan 
        amount repayment of which is secured by the mortgage shall be 
        used to satisfy all indebtedness under an existing qualified 
        mortgage.
            (2) Single-family housing.--The property that is subject to 
        the mortgage shall be the same property that is subject to the 
        qualified mortgage being refinanced.
            (3) Interest rate.--The mortgage shall bear interest at a 
        single rate that is fixed for the entire term of the mortgage, 
        which shall be equivalent to the premium received by the 
        enterprise on the qualified mortgage being refinanced plus the 
        cost of selling a newly issued mortgage having comparable risk 
        and term to maturity in a mortgage-backed security, as such 
        rate may be increased to the extent necessary to cover, over 
        the term to maturity of the mortgage, any fee paid to the 
        servicer pursuant to subsection (d), the cost of any title 
        insurance coverage issued in connection with the mortgage, and, 
        as determined by the Director, a portion of any administrative 
        costs of the program under this section as may be attributable 
        to the mortgage.
            (4) Waiver of prepayment penalties.--All penalties for 
        prepayment or refinancing of the qualified mortgage that is 
        refinanced by the mortgage, and all fees and penalties related 
        to the default or delinquency on such mortgage, shall have been 
        waived or forgiven.
            (5) Term to maturity.--The mortgage shall have a term to 
        maturity of not more than 40 years from the date of the 
        beginning of the amortization of the mortgage.
            (6) Prohibition on borrower fees.--The servicer conducting 
        the refinancing shall not charge the mortgagor any fee for the 
        refinancing of the qualified mortgage through the refinancing 
        mortgage.
            (7) Title insurance.--The fee for title insurance coverage 
        issued in connection with the mortgage shall be reasonable in 
        comparison with fees for such coverage available in the market 
        for mortgages having similar terms.
    (d) Fee to Servicer.--The Director may, in the Director's sole 
discretion, require each enterprise to pay to the servicer of a 
qualified mortgage a fee, in such amount as the Director considers 
appropriate, for each qualified mortgage of an enterprise that the 
servicer refinances through a refinancing mortgage pursuant to this 
section.
    (e) No Appraisal.--The enterprises may not require an appraisal of 
the property subject to a refinancing mortgage to be conducted in 
connection with such refinancing.
    (f) Termination.--The requirement under subsection (a) for the 
enterprises to refinance qualified mortgages shall not apply to any 
request for refinancing made after the expiration of the one-year 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 
the Director may, by notice published before the expiration of such 
period, extend such period for such additional time as the Director 
considers appropriate.
    (g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
            (2) Enterprise.--The term ``enterprise'' means the Federal 
        National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan 
        Mortgage Corporation.
    (h) Regulations.--The Director shall issue any regulations or 
guidance necessary to carry out the program under this section.
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