[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10884-H10886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SENIOR CITIZEN HOME EQUITY PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 329) providing for the concurrence by 
the House with an amendment to the Senate amendment to the House 
amendments to S. 562.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 329

       Resolved, That, upon the adoption of this resolution, the 
     House shall be considered to have taken from the Speaker's 
     table the bill S. 562, together with the Senate amendment to 
     the House amendment to the text of the bill, and to have 
     concurred in the Senate amendment with an amendment as 
     follows:
       In the matter proposed to be inserted by the Senate 
     amendment, at the end of section 304 add the following new 
     subsection:
       (c) Applicability.--This section shall apply only during 
     the period beginning on October 1, 1997, and ending at the 
     end of March 31, 1998.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Lazio] and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy] 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York [Mr. Lazio].
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Senior Citizens Home 
Equity Protection Act of 1997, which I introduced on April 10 as H.R. 
1297, the Senior Homeowners Mortgage Protection Act. This House 
originally passed this bill under suspension on September 16, with an 
overwhelming vote of support, 422 to 1. That is the kind of margin I 
like to win my bills by, Mr. Speaker.
  The core legislation was also included in the manager's amendment to 
H.R. 2, the Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act of 1997, which 
passed the House on May 14. Although the Senate did not act upon this 
bill

[[Page H10885]]

until Sunday, the House believes it is critical to enact these measures 
before the end of the year.
  In our efforts, I must commend the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], 
the chairman of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, for 
his support in providing greater protections for senior citizens 
seeking to obtain a home equity reverse mortgage. In partnership with 
the administration, we have constructed the bipartisan legislation 
before us today to provide security and peace of mind for thousands of 
senior citizens across America.
  Mr. Speaker, in short, the legislation ensures that senior homeowners 
will be protected from being charged excessive or unnecessary fees in 
the reverse mortgage application process.
  According to a HUD investigation earlier this year, seniors applying 
for reverse mortgages were being charged up to 10 percent of the total 
loan amount for estate planning services with third-party providers. In 
some cases, seniors have been charged as much as $10,000 for services 
that should be provided at no cost.
  Mr. Speaker, it is profoundly disturbing that such a valuable tool 
for senior citizens has been jeopardized by these predators. Our 
legislation will prevent these unscrupulous activities and will ensure 
that loan proceeds will go toward sustaining the quality of life for 
seniors throughout America.
  Mr. Speaker, our legislation also provides a 2-year extension of 
certain rural housing programs and a 2-year extension of the National 
Flood Insurance Program. This is very important in many different parts 
of the country, particularly the coastal areas. While these programs 
may not be Senate priorities, the House included the additional 
authority to ensure the continuity of services to needy Americans.
  Of particular significance is the extension of existing borrowing 
authority for the flood insurance program. Earlier this year, FEMA 
Director James Witt indicated that without the extension, FEMA might be 
forced to turn away families in the event of a significant disaster. 
Such a scenario is especially disturbing to families living in flood 
areas near rivers like the Ohio and Mississippi, as well as families 
living in coastal areas, particularly California, New York, and 
Florida.
  Since the legislation passed in the House, we have worked closely 
with our Senate counterparts to accommodate minor changes in the 
original House legislation. In particular, let me express my 
appreciation for the cooperation of the chairman of the Senate 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the chairman of 
the Senate Subcommittee on Housing Opportunity and Community 
Development, and their sincere efforts to move this legislation 
forward.
  I urge the Senate to pass this bill, with the minor changes we have 
made, without delay. The amendment before us today is generally the 
version that passed the House on September 16, with a few very minor 
changes included by the Senate. These changes include the modification 
of provisions dealing with public housing funding flexibility and mixed 
financial developments. These provisions help resolve budget scoring 
issues. The Senate also deleted two multifamily provisions included in 
the House bill in order to further study the effect of the provisions 
on tenant rent increases and on good owners.
  Additionally, a new provision was added which clarifies the owner's 
right to prepay a mortgage insured by the FHA. This provision is 
apparently necessary because the recently enacted fiscal year 1998 VA, 
HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act extended only a segment 
of the prepayment authority. Regarding this particular provision, the 
House believes it is appropriate to extend the necessary authority for 
a period of 6 months, sufficient time to allow for a more complete 
analysis of the impact of extending this provision on a more permanent 
basis.
  Finally, the Senate amendment makes a series of technical and 
clarifying changes to the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996. This law was enacted in the 104th Congress, 
and like any new major law, technical corrections are often necessary. 
These are appropriate.
  Mr. Speaker, the legislation before us today has the support of the 
administration, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy], my 
friend and colleague, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Housing 
and Community Opportunity, and numerous senior citizen organizations. I 
urge my colleagues here in the House and Members of the Senate to 
support passage of this critical legislation.
  Let me end, Mr. Speaker, by complimenting and thanking the gentleman 
from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy], the ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, for working 
tirelessly with me to ensure that we protect seniors, ensure that we 
have the flood insurance protection program in full force and effect 
for the next few months, as a matter of fact, for the next 2 years, and 
extend the opportunities for housing throughout America.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  First of all, Mr. Speaker, let me rise in strong support of this 
extended bill. I want to congratulate the gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Lazio], chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community 
Opportunity, on his efforts to make certain that this bill came to the 
floor before we broke up this session of Congress. This is an important 
series of protections that will be provided in this legislation, first 
and foremost, the senior citizens protection. This bill provides 
important provisions that will protect senior citizens from 
unscrupulous practices dealing with reverse mortgages.
  In recent years, scam artists have been charging seniors excessive 
and unnecessary fees in conjunction with HUD reverse mortgages, which 
allows seniors to borrow against equity in their home for needed 
expenses. The bill ends these scam practices by outlawing excessive 
fees and increasing disclosure provisions.
  I want to just briefly read a letter from the Secretary of HUD, 
Andrew Cuomo, who writes,

       If this bill had not been moved to adjournment, thousands 
     of senior citizens would continue to be at risk of being 
     defrauded. Many cash-poor elderly families have significant 
     untapped equity in their homes. And HUD's home equity 
     conversion mortgage program allows them to tap into this 
     resource to meet medical costs, living expenses, and other 
     needs, without selling their longtime home.

  I know that the outrages that have been perpetrated need to be fixed, 
and we need to stop them from being able to seek profits by charging 
the elderly excessive fees. This program will make HUD benefits 
available at no charge.
  Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the committee ought to again take credit 
for making certain that this bill did come to the House floor in an 
appropriate time frame, because without this action taken on the floor 
today, more senior citizens would have been taken advantage of. In 
addition, it provides many improvements and extenders on existing 
housing programs.
  For instance, the rural housing program. The bill extends affordable 
rural renting housing programs, including section 515 and 538 rental 
housing programs, in the underserved areas of the rural housing 
programs.

                              {time}  1545

  It also extends the multifamily programs. The bill extends federally 
assisted multifamily housing programs, including an expansion of a 
multifamily risk sharing program. The public housing provisions will 
also be extended, including the ceiling on minimum rent provisions as 
well as the suspension of various outdated rules.
  It includes an important provision that extends greater financing 
flexibility for mixed income housing under the HOPE 6 program, critical 
for projects in cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia and Boston and 
others. It also extends the critical National Flood Insurance program, 
which I know we will be working on even more in the coming year in 
terms of some of the issues that have come forward regarding some of 
the very large and expensive and difficult flood and other natural 
disaster problems that are facing our country.
  Third, it provides Indian housing. The bill makes technical 
corrections to the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act.
  Finally, the bill clarifies the rights of owners of section 8 housing 
to prepay their mortgage, a clarification

[[Page H10886]]

made necessary by this year's failure to fund the preservation program. 
While the House bill differs slightly from the Senate bill in its time 
extension, I am quite hopeful that the Senate will concur with this 
small change.
  Mr. Speaker, the Department of Housing and Urban Development supports 
this legislation and has sent a letter indicating its support. The bill 
is also endorsed by the AARP. The legislation represents the hard work 
of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services which authorizes the 
housing programs. If we fail to take action today, many of the 
important provisions will be delayed for many, many months to come at 
the least. Therefore, I urge the adoption of this legislation.
  Again, let me thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Lazio] for the 
hard work that he and his staff and the staff on the Democratic side 
have put into bringing this bill about today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. I would like to thank again the gentleman from Massachusetts 
[Mr. Kennedy] for his hard work on this. This will be the third time 
actually that these provisions protecting seniors will have passed on 
the House floor. We have some additional provisions I think that will 
be helpful, in particular the flood insurance provisions which have 
been mentioned by both myself and by the gentleman from Massachusetts 
[Mr. Kennedy].
  Mr. Speaker, let me take this opportunity if I can to bid farewell to 
somebody who has served Congress very well, very admirably and will be 
missed I know on both sides of the aisle, and that is Kelsay Meek, who 
has been the staff director I know of the committee and has served with 
distinction. I know we have already had plenty of opportunity to 
acknowledge the contributions that the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 
Gonzalez] has made to this body and to America. I want to reiterate 
again my respect for him, and again, my hat off to Kelsay Meek and wish 
him good luck in his future endeavors.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume. I want to just let the chairman of the Subcommittee 
on Housing and Economic Opportunities know how much I appreciate his 
mentioning not only Kelsay Meek. Obviously this has come as a result of 
the retirement of one of the great Members and great advocates of 
housing policies in this country, Henry Gonzalez, who is going back to 
Texas and leaves a tremendous staff that has been dedicated to him.
  Kelsay is the leader of that staff, and someone whom I have come to 
know and deeply appreciate in terms of his knowledge of housing issues 
and his deep commitment to protecting the very, very poor people of 
this country, but he also has many other members of his staff that are 
also moving on. We wish all of those the best, and are delighted that 
many of the members of the staff are going to be staying to do battle 
with others on the other side of the aisle at times in the future.
  I do want to also acknowledge, while we have just a moment on the 
House floor, the fact that I know the gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Lazio] and I will miss the gentleman from New York [Mr. Flake], a dear 
friend who is leaving the committee, another fine member of the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services who did tremendous work on 
housing issues over the course of his career. I know he is going back 
to the city of New York. It is the first time I have had a chance to 
just acknowledge the loss of a deep personal friend here in the House 
who will be going back but serving a higher calling than perhaps even 
we in the House of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the committee for his actions, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore [Mr. Snowbarger]. The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Lazio] that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 
329.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________