[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2725 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2725

   To modify the procedures for loan guarantees provided for Indian 
                    housing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 29, 2019

Mr. Rounds (for himself, Ms. Smith, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tester, Ms. McSally, 
  and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To modify the procedures for loan guarantees provided for Indian 
                    housing, 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 ``Native American Housing 
Affordability Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the extended timelines for approving lenders' 
        applications to participate in the program established under 
        section 184 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
        1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-13a) are unacceptably long;
            (2) those extended timelines inhibit the ability of lenders 
        to provide needed mortgage loans on Native American 
        reservations; and
            (3) it can take a significant amount of time for certain 
        Bureau of Indian Affairs Land Title and Records Offices to 
        issue final certified title status reports for mortgages issued 
        on Indian trust land under section 184 of the Housing and 
        Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-13a), which 
        delays the guarantee of the loan by the Department of Housing 
        and Urban Development.

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO LOAN GUARANTEES FOR INDIAN HOUSING.

    (a) Documentation Required for Indian Trust Land.--Section 184(c) 
of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-
13a(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Trailing documents.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may issue a 
                certificate of guarantee under this subsection for a 
                loan involving a security interest in Indian trust land 
                before the Secretary receives the trailing documents 
                required by the Secretary, including the final 
                certified title status report showing the recordation 
                by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the mortgage 
                relating to the loan, if the originating lender agrees 
                to indemnify the Secretary for any losses that may 
                result when--
                            ``(i) a claim payment is presented to the 
                        Secretary due to the default of the borrower on 
                        the loan; and
                            ``(ii) the required trailing documents are 
                        outstanding.
                    ``(B) Termination of indemnification agreement.--An 
                indemnification agreement between an originating lender 
                and the Secretary described in subparagraph (A) shall 
                only terminate upon receipt by the Secretary of the 
                trailing documents described in that subparagraph in a 
                form and manner that is acceptable to the Secretary.
                    ``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed as authorizing the Bureau 
                of Indian Affairs to delay the issuance of a final 
                certified title status report and recorded mortgage 
                relating to a loan closed on Indian trust land.''.
    (b) Reporting.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
shall--
            (1) report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
        Affairs and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and 
        the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on 
        Natural Resources of the House of Representatives on a 
        semiannual basis on the progress that the Secretary is making 
        to accelerate the processing of lender applications under 
        section 184 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
        1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-13a); and
            (2) if there is no improvement in accelerating those 
        processing timelines, submit to the committees described in 
        paragraph (1) a report explaining the lack of improvement.
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