I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4219 

To amend section 1451 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act to establish programs to provide counseling to homebuyers 

regarding voluntary home inspections and to train counselors to provide 

such counseling, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2012 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend section 1451 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to establish programs 

to provide counseling to homebuyers regarding voluntary 

home inspections and to train counselors to provide such 

counseling, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Protection 

5 Home Inspection Counseling Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HOME INSPECTION COUNSELING. 

2 Section 1451 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 

3 and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 1701x–1) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) by striking the subsection designation 

7 and all that follows through ‘‘Each’’ and insert8 ing the following: 

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT FOR FHA-APPROVED LEND10 ERS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Each’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE; MORTGAGEE LETTER.— 

15 Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period 

16 beginning upon the date of the enactment of the 

17 Consumer Protection Home Inspection Counseling 

18 Act of 2012, the Secretary shall publish a Mortgagee 

19 Letter informing mortgagees of their obligation 

20 under paragraph (1).’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) by striking the subsection designation 

23 and all that follows through ‘‘Each’’ and insert24 ing the following: 

25 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR HUD-APPROVED COUN26 SELING AGENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF MATERIALS.—Each’’; 

2 (B) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (C) and 

3 (D) of’’; and 

4 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR HOUSING COUN7 SELORS.—Each person providing counseling for a 

8 housing counseling entity authorized, certified, or 

9 funded in whole or in part under section 106 of the 

10 Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 

11 U.S.C. 1701x) shall be trained through the vol12 untary home inspection training module established 

13 pursuant to subsection (d), shall distribute the coun14 seling aids to be developed under this section, and 

15 shall explain the materials specified in subsection 

16 (a)(1) and other aids and materials set forth in this 

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP

19 COUNSELING PROGRAMS.—Any homeownership 

20 counseling program required under, or provided in 

21 connection with, any program administered by the 

22 Department of Housing and Urban Development 

23 shall be provided only by organizations or counselors 

24 certified by the Secretary pursuant to this section as 


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1 competent to provide voluntary home inspection 

2 counseling. 

3 ‘‘(4) SANCTIONS.—The Secretary may withhold, 

4 withdraw, or suspend housing counseling certifi5 cations for any housing counselor or counseling enti6 ty that fails to meet the requirements of this sec7 tion.’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (d)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

13 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

14 through (4) (as so amended) as subparagraphs 

15 (A) through (D), respectively, and realigning 

16 such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) so as 

17 to be indented 4 ems from the left margin; 

18 (D) by striking the subsection designation 

19 and all that follows through ‘‘shall include—’’ 

20 and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(d) TRAINING.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es23 tablish a comprehensive program to train staff of 

24 the Department, contractors, individuals, and enti25 ties that provide housing counseling under programs 


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1 authorized, certified, or funded under section 106 of 

2 the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 

3 (12 U.S.C. 1701x) to also provide counseling to con4 sumers on voluntary home inspection. 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The training program 

6 established pursuant to this subsection shall include 

7 development of a training module to train counselors 

8 as well as counseling aids to be used by housing 

9 counselors and suitable for distribution to con10 sumers. The training materials shall be written in 

11 plain language and shall be comprehensible to un12 trained consumers with or without ongoing assist13 ance from housing counselors. Training provided 

14 under the program shall include—’’; 

15 (E) in paragraph (2), as added by the 

16 amendment made by subparagraph (D) of this 

17 paragraph, by adding at the end the following 

18 new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(E) Internet website references and infor20 mation sufficient for counselors and home21 buyers to locate and select a local professional 

22 home inspector.’’; and 

23 (F) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONTENT.—At a minimum, the home in2 spection counseling program established under this 

3 subsection, and the training module and counseling 

4 aids developed under this subsection, shall convey 

5 the following information: 

6 ‘‘(A) That a home inspection in connection 

7 with purchase of a home is voluntary, but not 

8 mandatory, which means that the homebuyer 

9 must make a personal choice whether to obtain 

10 a home inspection. 

11 ‘‘(B) That the Department of Housing and 

12 Urban Development recommends that home13 buyers obtain a voluntary home inspection. 

14 ‘‘(C) That a home inspection is an in-depth 

15 technical and objective examination of the phys16 ical structure and internal systems of the home, 

17 from the foundation to the roof, and should be 

18 performed by a trained and experienced profes19 sional home inspector. 

20 ‘‘(D) That a home inspection is not re21 quired in the case of an FHA loan insured 

22 under title II of the National Housing Act (12 

23 U.S.C. 1707 et seq.) and that a home inspec24 tion is not performed by FHA. 


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1 ‘‘(E) That in most cases, no home inspec2 tion will be performed unless the homebuyer re3 quests one. 

4 ‘‘(F) That it is the burden of the home5 buyer to arrange for a home inspection if one 

6 is requested. 

7 ‘‘(G) That an appraisal is not equivalent to 

8 a home inspection. 

9 ‘‘(H) That if the homebuyer chooses to ob10 tain a home inspection, it is generally to the 

11 homebuyer’s benefit to do so as early as pos12 sible. 

13 ‘‘(I) That the homebuyer may ask to make 

14 the transaction contingent on the outcome of 

15 the home inspection and that the homebuyer 

16 may realize substantial financial benefits from 

17 the home inspection, including from identifying 

18 possible repairs that could be performed and 

19 paid for by the seller prior to the closing. 

20 ‘‘(J) That the homebuyer should consider 

21 requesting a voluntary home inspection. 

22 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE MATERIALS.—The 

23 Secretary shall develop, in consultation with national 

24 professional home inspector associations, additional 

25 guidance materials to educate housing counselors on 


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1 how to advise consumers how to locate, interview, 

2 and select a professional home inspector, and on how 

3 consumers may independently locate, interview, and 

4 select a professional home inspector. The Secretary 

5 shall require that these materials be made available 

6 to counselors providing housing counseling under the 

7 programs referred to in this section.’’; and 

8 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections: 

10 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION OF COUNSELORS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PROTOCOL.—The Secretary shall, in the 

12 discretion of the Secretary, develop a new inde13 pendent protocol, or amend existing protocols, to 

14 certify that housing counselors whose activities are 

15 authorized, certified, or funded in whole or in part 

16 under section 106 of the Housing and Urban Devel17 opment Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x) have suc18 cessfully completed training using the voluntary 

19 home inspection training module and counseling aids 

20 established and developed pursuant to this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR MATERIALS AND

22 FORMS.—The Secretary shall establish standards 

23 and requirements for voluntary home inspection 

24 counseling materials and forms to be used, as appro25 priate, by organizations providing voluntary home 


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1 inspection counseling. Such standards shall conform 

2 with the content requirements under this section. 

3 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than the expiration of the 

4 12-month period beginning upon the date of the enact5 ment of the Consumer Protection Home Inspection Coun6 seling Act of 2012, the Secretary shall submit a report 

7 to the Congress describing the actions that have been un8 dertaken to comply with this section, disclosing the actions 

9 that are required under this section but have not at such 

10 time been addressed, assessing the results of this section 

11 that have been achieved at such time, identifying areas 

12 for improvement in the implementation of this section, and 

13 making recommendations to enhance implementation of 

14 this section.’’. 

Æ 


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