[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15162-15164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     PROVIDING SURVIVING MILITARY SPOUSES WITH MORTGAGE PROTECTION

  Mr. RUNYAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1263) to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to 
provide surviving spouses with certain protections relating to 
mortgages and mortgage foreclosures, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1263

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXPANSION OF PROTECTIONS RELATING TO MORTGAGES AND 
                   MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES FOR SURVIVING SPOUSES.

       (a) Protection for Surviving Spouse.--Section 303 of the 
     Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 533) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(e) Protection for Surviving Spouse.--During the five-
     year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
     subsection, with respect to a servicemember who dies while in 
     military service and whose death is service-connected, this 
     section shall apply to the surviving spouse of the 
     servicemember if such spouse is the successor in interest to 
     property covered under subsection (a).''.
       (b) Effective Date.--Subsection (e) of section 303 of such 
     Act, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to a surviving 
     spouse of a servicemember whose death is on or after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR LENDING INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE 
                   CREDITORS FOR OBLIGATIONS AND LIABILITIES 
                   COVERED BY THE SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT.

       Section 207 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is 
     amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
     (e) and (f), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
     subsection (d):
       ``(d) Lending Institution Requirements.--
       ``(1) Compliance officers.--Each lending institution 
     subject to the requirements of this section shall designate 
     an employee of the institution as a compliance officer who is 
     responsible for ensuring the institution's compliance with 
     this section and for distributing information to 
     servicemembers whose obligations and liabilities are covered 
     by this section.
       ``(2) Toll-free telephone number.--During any fiscal year, 
     a lending institution subject to the requirements of this 
     section that had annual assets for the preceding fiscal year 
     of $10,000,000,000 or more shall maintain a toll-free 
     telephone number and shall make such telephone number 
     available on the primary Internet Web site of the 
     institution.''.

     SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF PROTECTIONS FOR SERVICEMEMBERS 
                   AGAINST MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES.

       (a) Extended Period of Protections.--
       (1) Stay of proceedings and period of adjustment of 
     obligations relating to real or personal property.--Section 
     303(b) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 
     533(b)) is amended by striking ``within 9 months'' and 
     inserting ``within 12 months''.
       (2) Period of relief from sale, foreclosure, or seizure.--
     Section 303(c) of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 533(c)) is amended 
     by striking ``within 9 months'' and inserting ``within 12 
     months''.
       (3) Sunset.-- The amendments made by paragraphs (1) and (2) 
     shall expire on December 31, 2017. Effective January 1, 2018, 
     the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of section 303 of 
     the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, as in effect on the day 
     before the date of the enactment of the Housing and Economic 
     Recovery Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-289), are hereby 
     revived.
       (b) Repeal of Superceded Provision.--Subsection (c) of 
     section 2203 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 
     (Public Law 110-289; 50 U.S.C. App. 533 note) is amended to 
     read as follows:
       ``(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection 
     (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Runyan) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. RUNYAN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the top duties of the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs is to help enforce and improve the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act, or SCRA, as it is designed to help ease economic and legal burdens 
on military personnel who are on active duty status. The SCRA is 
intended to postpone, suspend, or relieve certain civil obligations 
during a servicemember's period

[[Page 15163]]

of active duty. It accomplishes this, in part, by regulating certain 
legal actions against military personnel.
  H.R. 1263, as amended, makes several changes to strengthen the 
current protections. So in order to discuss these improvements, it is 
my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, the gentleman from Indiana, 
Marlin Stutzman.
  Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding.
  I also want to thank Ranking Member Mr. Filner and Mr. Braley for 
helping us move this important piece of legislation to improve the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA.
  Earlier this year, allegations surfaced of mortgage-related 
violations of the SCRA by JPMorgan Chase Bank and other lending 
institutions. These allegations alleged that these institutions were 
unlawfully foreclosing on servicemembers' homes and charging interest 
rates above the 6 percent cap required by SCRA.

                              {time}  1950

  On February 9, 2011, the full committee held an oversight hearing to 
review these allegations and received testimony from Captain Jonathon 
Rowles, United States Marine Corps, and Mrs. Julia Rowles about the 
trouble that they had with JPMorgan Chase when they tried to assert 
their rights under SCRA. They commented that when they called the toll-
free number provided by the bank, their employees were woefully 
inadequate in their knowledge of SCRA and there didn't seem to be 
anyone in charge to ensure that the bank was complying with the rules.
  In response to this hearing and the committee's continued oversight 
of SCRA abuses, section 2 of this bill clarifies requirements for banks 
to comply with SCRA provisions related to foreclosures and maximum 
interest rates. The section requires all lending institutions affected 
by SCRA to employ and/or designate an SCRA compliance officer. This 
will make it clear that all banks and other lending institutions must 
take SCRA seriously and have at least one person responsible to ensure 
their institution's compliance. The section further requires banks that 
have annual assets of $10 billion to have a toll-free hotline for 
servicemembers to call and ask questions about their mortgage and SCRA. 
I want to thank Mr. Johnson of Ohio for originally proposing this 
provision in H.R. 2329.
  Section 1 and section 3 of the bill expand foreclosure protections 
under SCRA for servicemembers and surviving spouses. The section 
prohibits foreclosure within 12 months of a servicemember coming off 
active duty or for a surviving spouse 12 months following the 
servicemember's death on active duty or as a result of a service-
connected injury.
  When a servicemember separates from the armed services, they need 
sufficient time to establish good economic footing to be successful. 
Some military families experience difficulties--often related to owning 
a home where the servicemember is stationed--in the transition from the 
military to the civilian world. By providing this expansion, we will be 
providing more time and options for the estimated 9,000 servicemembers 
who face foreclosure every year. These are important protections that 
help our servicemembers and their families who have already given so 
much in defense of our country and for our freedoms.
  Once again, I thank the chairman of the VA Committee and the ranking 
member for moving this bill forward, and I urge all Members to support 
H.R. 1263, as amended.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We know how JPMorgan Chase and other banks overcharged thousands of 
veterans and then improperly foreclosed on dozens of families, the most 
notable case being of Captain Jonathon Rowles and his family who 
testified very movingly before our committee.
  Now in the news, we have information that some of the biggest banks 
and mortgage companies have defrauded veterans and taxpayers out of 
hundreds of millions of dollars by charging illegal fees in veterans' 
home refinancing loans, just, of course, to add to their problems. I 
think some of those folks who did that did it knowingly, they did it 
against the law, and they ought to be in jail today.
  But when a servicemember separates from the armed services, they need 
sufficient time to establish good economic footing to be successful. We 
know that at times, military families have had a difficult time making 
a transition from the military to the civilian world; therefore, we 
ought to provide enough time for them to work with their lender, get a 
new loan, if necessary, or, in a worst-case scenario, sell their home. 
A home is often a veteran's largest financial asset, and they should 
have an opportunity to capitalize on their equity and avoid a negative 
mark on their credit history when they have the means to do so with 
their own home.
  Mr. Speaker, this is why my bill here will extend mortgage 
foreclosure protection to 1 year for those who are separating from 
service, and it extends those protections to our servicemembers' 
widows. The bill also includes a requirement for lending institutions 
with over $10 billion in assets to have a compliance officer and a 
toll-free number for veterans to call. We should require lending 
institutions to be informed about the protections for our military and 
to have a number that they can call for information and help with their 
loan.
  I would now like to yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley).
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, in May of this year, I introduced 
the Protecting Veterans' Homes Act after reading in the news and 
hearing in the Veterans' Affairs Committee that recently returned 
soldiers were facing foreclosure on their homes. And I thank the 
chairman of our Economic Opportunity Subcommittee for his inspiring 
words about this problem.
  I rise today to talk about the responsibility this government has to 
protect our heroes who have recently returned from Afghanistan and 
Iraq. I am pleased that today the Protecting Veterans' Homes Act is 
being considered as part of this bill. We had a legislative hearing on 
this bill in the Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity 
on July 7, where I have the honor to serve as ranking member, and at 
that time we heard from the American Legion, the Reserve Officers 
Association, the Reserve Enlisted Association, Paralyzed Veterans of 
America, the VFW, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the 
Gold Star Wives of America. All acknowledged the need to protect 
returning servicemembers and veterans from foreclosure, and all have 
endorsed this legislation.
  This bipartisan bill will help servicemembers who return from combat 
and are facing foreclosure stay in their homes and ensure that 
surviving military spouses have additional protections that prevent 
foreclosure on their homes. Furthermore, this bill establishes that 
lending institutions have compliance officers to provide information to 
veterans and servicemembers about foreclosure protections available to 
them.
  The Protecting Veterans' Homes Act would protect veterans from being 
foreclosed upon by banks and would give those soldiers, like the Iowa 
National Guard soldiers returning from Afghanistan, the peace of mind 
knowing that they will have more opportunities to protect themselves 
from unwanted foreclosures. Too often, these soldiers return from 
combat only to face new challenges here at home. Whether it's due to an 
injury or a financial crisis caused by long deployments and time off 
from their civilian jobs, our veterans deserve to know that we're 
standing up for them, and this bill will make sure they have time to 
get back on their feet.
  Currently, similar protections are set to expire in December of 2012. 
The Protecting Veterans' Homes Act would make these protections 
permanent and would extend the grace period from 9 months to a full 
year for servicemembers and veterans returning from deployments. This 
will allow them to work with their lenders, secure new loans, secure 
employment, get over a

[[Page 15164]]

family tragedy, deal with a serious family health issue, or, in a 
worst-case scenario, be able to sell their home and avoid possible 
foreclosure, bankruptcy, or damage to their credit rating. That's why 
this bill is so important, and I ask all Members to support it.
  Mr. FILNER. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I 
would urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RUNYAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on 
H.R. 1263.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Foxx). Is there objection to the request 
of the gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 1263, ``to amend Service Members' Civil Relief Act.'' This 
legislation would provide surviving spouses of service members with 
certain protections relating to mortgages and mortgage foreclosures.
  The proposed bill to amend Service Members Civil Relief Act will 
afford surviving spouses of service members who die while in the 
military and whose death is service-connected, the same protections 
against sale, foreclosure, and seizure of property currently applicable 
to their husbands who while in military service are unable to meet an 
obligation on real or personal property. It is in a spirit of deep 
gratitude and appreciation that I fight to provide for the surviving 
spouses of our deceased military men and women, in order to provide 
them with the tools they need to maintain ownership of their homestead 
after supporting members of our community who served our country. It is 
the responsibility of all Members of Congress and the Administration to 
fulfill our moral obligation to those men and women who have fought to 
protect our freedom and democracy, and the families that supported 
their courageous lives.
  In the State of Texas, we have nearly 1.7 million veterans, and 18th 
District is home to 32,000 of them. Of the 200,000 veterans of military 
service who live and work in Houston, more than 13,000 are veterans 
from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. Additionally, there are almost 34,000 soldiers from Texas 
currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am pained by the numbers 
of fine men and women who have lost their lives during their 
deployment.
  As of August 2, 4,683 brave Americans have died in Iraq and 
Afghanistan since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom 
(Afghanistan) on October 7, 2001 and Operation Iraqi Freedom, which 
began with the invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003. Of the total deaths, 
3,708 were due to hostile fire, and the remainder due to non-hostile 
actions (such as accident, suicide, or illness).
  In August, 66 American troops died in violence, the bulk of them 
during a devastating helicopter crash on Aug. 6, which killed 30 
special operations troops and eight Afghans on a high-risk raid. The 66 
deaths were the highest count for that war since July 2010, when 65 
Americans were killed. Nora Bensahel, a military strategist with the 
Center for a New American Security, said the numbers may not mean as 
much as they seem. ``In Afghanistan, the number of people killed 
overall was very high, but that doesn't say much about number of 
attacks--half of those [killed] were from a single incident--a 
particularly devastating one,'' referring to the Aug. 6 crash.
  Monthly American casualties in Iraq have largely been in the single 
digits for several years now, but the war there has not been without 
perils: last July, 14 American servicemen died amid fighting there, 
many of whom leave spouses and children behind.
  According to the Department of Labor, as of June 2011 there have been 
more than 2,500 coalition troops that have now been killed--with 1,644 
of them being American. Further, the Defense Manpower Data Center 
Statistical Analysis Division has identified 3,215 Americans killed in 
the Iraq war, with 23 having been from Texas. This legislation 
addresses a need to find ways to provide mortgage assistance to the 
surviving spouses of the men and women who have fought for our country.
  After dedicating their lives to serving our country it is important 
to assist the family members of deceased service members.
  In order to address this obstacle to employment, The Veterans 
Opportunity Work Act (VOW) makes the Transition Assistance Program 
mandatory. The Department of Labor must thereby create a system by 
which licensure and certifications are translatable to those available 
at the state level. This is done in an effort to address the barriers 
between the skills and training received in the military and 
requirements for civilian licenses and other credentials.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1263, to amend 
Service Members Civil Relief Act.
  Mr. RUNYAN. I encourage all Members to support H.R. 1263, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Runyan) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1263, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to amend the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide surviving spouses with 
certain protections relating to mortgages and mortgage foreclosures, 
and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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