I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2961

To provide mortgage assistance to firefighters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. MCCARTHY

of New York, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 

HOLDEN, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. 

DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. COOPER, Mr. 

STENHOLM, Mr. OWENS, and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To provide mortgage assistance to firefighters.

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 ‘‘Firefighters Affordable 

5 Housing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE FOR VOLUNTEER FIRE7 FIGHTERS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

9 Urban Development may make mortgage assistance pay10 ments under this section on behalf of volunteer firefighters 
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1 to reduce the interest rates on eligible mortgage loans 

2 under subsection (b) for such firefighters. 

3 (b) ELIGIBLE MORTGAGES.—Assistance may be pro4 vided under this section only for a mortgage loan that 

5 meets the following requirements: 

6 (1) FIREFIGHTER MORTGAGOR.—The mort7 gagor under the loan is a volunteer firefighter. 

8 (2) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The residence 

9 subject to the mortgage is a single family residence 

10 that is the principal residence of the mortgagor. 

11 (3) MAXIMUM MORTGAGE AMOUNT.—The prin12 cipal obligation of the mortgage loan does not exceed 

13 the principal amount eligible for insurance with re14 spect to the property under the National Housing 

15 Act. 

16 (4) RESPONSIBLE MORTGAGEE.—The mortgage 

17 has been made to, and is held by, a mortgagee that 

18 is federally insured or that is otherwise approved by 

19 the Secretary as responsible and able to service the 

20 mortgage properly. 

21 (c) INTEREST RATE BUYDOWNS.—Mortgage assist22 ance under this section shall be provided only in the form 

23 of a payment or payments to the mortgagee in amounts 

24 sufficient to decrease by 2 percent the annual rate of in25 terest payable on the mortgage by the eligible volunteer 
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1 firefighter who is the mortgagor. Such payments may be 

2 made on an up-front basis or an ongoing monthly basis, 

3 as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

4 (d) TERMS OF ASSISTANCE.—

5 (1) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall estab6 lish limitations on mortgage assistance payments 

7 under this section to ensure that a mortgagor may 

8 not receive the benefit of a reduced mortgage inter9 est from such payments for any portion of the term 

10 of a mortgage remaining after the occurrence of ei11 ther of the following: 

12 (A) FAILURE TO USE AS PRINCIPAL RESI13 DENCE.—The mortgagor ceases to comply with 

14 the requirement under subsection (b)(2). 

15 (B) TERMINATION OF DUTIES AS FIRE16 FIGHTER.—During the 10-year period begin17 ning upon the execution of the mortgage, the 

18 mortgagor ceases to comply with the require19 ment under subsection (b)(1). 

20 The Secretary may carry out his paragraph by ter21 minating any ongoing assistance payments under 

22 this section or by recapturing from the mortgagor 

23 the amount of any assistance payment made on an 

24 up-front basis that the Secretary determines is at25 tributable to reducing the interest rate for the por-
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1 tion of the mortgage term remaining after an occur2 rence described in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

3 (2) ONE-TIME ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

4 may make assistance payments under this subsection 

5 with respect only to a single mortgage loan of an eli6 gible volunteer firefighter. 

7 (e) APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall provide for 

8 volunteer firefighters to submit applications for mortgage 

9 assistance under this section and for review of such appli10 cations to determine eligibility for such assistance. Assist11 ance shall be made available on a first-come, first-served 

12 basis for applications eligible for such assistance. 

13 (f) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the Con14 gress, not later than 2 years after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, a report containing a description of the 

16 activities of the Secretary under the mortgage assistance 

17 program under this section and an analysis of the effec18 tiveness of such program in assisting home buyers that 

19 are eligible volunteer firefighters. 

20 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

21 following definitions shall apply: 

22 (1) PUBLIC AGENCY.—The term ‘‘public agen23 cy’’ means the United States, any State of the 

24 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com25 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the 
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1 Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Virgin Is2 lands, American Samoa, and any other territory or 

3 possession of the United States, or any unit of gen4 eral local government, department, agency, or in5 strumentality of any entity referred to in this para6 graph. 

7 (2) PUBLIC FIRE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘public 

8 fire service’’ means a public agency consisting of 

9 personnel, apparatus, and equipment which has as 

10 its primary purpose the provision of services to pro11 tect property and maintaining the safety and welfare 

12 of the public from the dangers of fire, regardless of 

13 whether the personnel of any such organization in14 clude paid employees. Such term includes a public 

15 agency that also provides ambulance services or res16 cue services. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

19 (4) SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE.—The term 

20 ‘‘single family residence’’ means a 1- to 4-family res21 idence. Such term includes a unit in a cooperative. 

22 (5) VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘volunteer 

24 firefighter’’ means an individual who—
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1 (i)(I) carries out duties for a public 

2 fire service that consist primarily of work 

3 directly connected with—

4 (aa) the control and extinguish5 ment of fires or the maintenance and 

6 use of firefighting apparatus and 

7 equipment; or 

8 (bb) if the public fire service for 

9 which the individual carries out duties 

10 provides ambulance or rescue services, 

11 the provision of ambulance or rescue 

12 services or the maintenance of ambu13 lance or rescue apparatus or equip14 ment; and 

15 (II) does not receive any remuneration 

16 in the form of pay, salary, or wages for 

17 conducting the duties referred to in sub18 clause (I); or 

19 (ii) otherwise serves on a volunteer 

20 basis as a firefighter, as determined by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 (B) ALLOWABLE BENEFITS.—An indi23 vidual described in subparagraph (A) shall not 

24 be excluded from treatment under this section 

25 as a volunteer firefighter because such indi-
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1 vidual is provided, in connection with the duties 

2 referred to in subparagraph (A)—

3 (i) reimbursement or allowance for ex4 penses actually incurred; 

5 (ii) insurance coverage for injuries 

6 proximately caused by such duties; 

7 (iii) food and lodging while on service 

8 for such duties; or 

9 (iv) any other benefits that the Sec10 retary determines are appropriate for pur11 poses of this section. 

12 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue any 

13 regulations necessary to carry out this section. 

14 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated for assistance payments 

16 under this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

17 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. 

18 SEC. 3. REDUCED FHA DOWNPAYMENT REQUIREMENTS 

19 FOR LOANS FOR PROFESSIONAL FIRE20 FIGHTERS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(b) of the National 

22 Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)) is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(10) REDUCED DOWNPAYMENT REQUIRE25 MENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para2 graph (2), in the case of a mortgage described 

3 in subparagraph (B)—

4 ‘‘(i) the mortgage shall involve a prin5 cipal obligation in an amount that does not 

6 exceed the sum of 99 percent of the ap7 praised value of the property and the total 

8 amount of initial service charges, ap9 praisal, inspection, and other fees (as the 

10 Secretary shall approve) paid in connection 

11 with the mortgage; 

12 ‘‘(ii) no other provision of this sub13 section limiting the principal obligation of 

14 the mortgage based upon a percentage of 

15 the appraised value of the property subject 

16 to the mortgage shall apply; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the matter in paragraph (9) that 

18 precedes the first proviso shall not apply 

19 and the mortgage shall be executed by a 

20 mortgagor who shall have paid on account 

21 of the property at least 1 percent of the 

22 cost of acquisition (as determined by the 

23 Secretary) in cash or its equivalent. 

24 ‘‘(B) MORTGAGES COVERED.—A mortgage 

25 described in this subparagraph is a mortgage—
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1 ‘‘(i) under which the mortgagor—

2 ‘‘(I) is a firefighter; and 

3 ‘‘(II) has not, during the 12-

4 month period ending upon the insur5 ance of the mortgage, had any present 

6 ownership interest in a principal resi7 dence located in the jurisdiction de8 scribed in clause (ii); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) made for a property that is lo10 cated within the jurisdiction served by the 

11 public fire service or rescue or ambulance 

12 agency that employs the mortgagor. 

13 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

14 paragraph, the following definitions shall apply: 

15 ‘‘(i) FIREFIGHTER.—The term ‘fire16 fighter’ means an individual—

17 ‘‘(I) who is employed on a full18 time basis by a public fire service or 

19 a private firefighting brigade; and 

20 ‘‘(II) the duties of whose position 

21 are primarily to perform work directly 

22 connected with (aa) the control and 

23 extinguishment of fires or the mainte24 nance and use of firefighting appa25 ratus and equipment, or (bb) if the 
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1 public fire service or private fire2 fighting brigade employing the indi3 vidual provides ambulance or rescue 

4 services, the provision of ambulance or 

5 rescue services or the maintenance of 

6 ambulance or rescue apparatus or 

7 equipment. 

8 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC AGENCY.—The term 

9 ‘public agency’ means the United States, 

10 any State of the United States, the Dis11 trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

12 Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the 

13 Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Vir14 gin Islands, American Samoa, and any 

15 other territory or possession of the United 

16 States, or any unit of general local govern17 ment, department, agency, or instrumen18 tality of any entity referred to in this sub19 paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC FIRE SERVICE.—The 

21 term ‘public fire service’ means a public 

22 agency consisting of personnel, apparatus, 

23 and equipment which has as its primary 

24 purpose the provision of services to protect 

25 property and maintaining the safety and 
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1 welfare of the public from the dangers of 

2 fire. Such term includes a public agency 

3 that also provides ambulance service or 

4 rescue services.’’. 

5 (b) DEFERRAL AND REDUCTION OF UP-FRONT PRE6 MIUM.—Section 203(c) of the National Housing Act (12 

7 U.S.C. 1709(c)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 

9 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3) 

11 and notwithstanding’’; and 

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

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) DEFERRAL AND REDUCTION OF UP-FRONT PRE15 MIUM.—In the case of any mortgage described in sub16 section (b)(10)(B): 

17 ‘‘(A) Paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection (relat18 ing to collection of up-front premium payments) 

19 shall not apply. 

20 ‘‘(B) If, at any time during the 5-year period 

21 beginning on the date of the insurance of the mort22 gage, the mortgagor ceases to be a firefighter (as 

23 such term is defined in subsection (b)(10)(C)) or 

24 pays the principal obligation of the mortgage in full, 

25 the Secretary shall at such time collect a single pre-
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1 mium payment in an amount equal to the amount 

2 of the single premium payment that, but for this 

3 paragraph, would have been required under para4 graph (2)(A) of this subsection with respect to the 

5 mortgage, as reduced by 20 percent of such amount 

6 for each successive 12-month period completed dur7 ing such 5-year period before such cessation or pre8 payment occurs.’’.

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