I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3067

To provide mortgage payment assistance for certain employees who are 

separated from employment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2003

Mr. GOODE (for himself and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To provide mortgage payment assistance for certain 

employees who are separated from employment.

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 ‘‘Homestead Preserva5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MORTGAGE PAYMENT ASSISTANCE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—To the extent 

8 that amounts are provided pursuant to subsection (f), the 

9 Secretary of Labor (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’) shall establish a program under which the Sec-
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1 retary shall award low-interest loans to eligible individuals 

2 to enable such individuals to continue to make mortgage 

3 payments with respect to the primary residences of such 

4 individuals. 

5 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual is eligible to receive 

6 a loan under the program established under subsection (a) 

7 if the individual—

8 (1) is—

9 (A) an adversely affected worker with re10 spect to whom a certification of eligibility has 

11 been issued by the Secretary of Labor under 

12 chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974 

13 (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.); or 

14 (B) an individual who would be an indi15 vidual described in subparagraph (A) but who 

16 resides in a State that has not entered into an 

17 agreement under section 239 of that Act (19 

18 U.S.C. 2311); 

19 (2) is a borrower under a loan which requires 

20 the individual to make monthly mortgage payments 

21 with respect to the primary place of residence of the 

22 individual; and 

23 (3) is receiving training under section 236 of 

24 the Trade Act of 1974, has received a job search al25 lowance under section 237 of that Act or a reloca-
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1 tion allowance under section 238 of that Act, or is 

2 receiving assistance under the Work Force Invest3 ment Act of 1998 or comparable assistance under 

4 any other Federal law. 

5 (c) LOAN REQUIREMENTS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A loan provided to an eligi7 ble individual under this section shall—

8 (A) be for a period of not to exceed 12 

9 months; 

10 (B) be for an amount that does not exceed 

11 the sum of—

12 (i) the amount of the monthly mort13 gage payment owed by the individual; and 

14 (ii) the number of months for which 

15 the loan is provided; 

16 (C) have an applicable rate of interest that 

17 equals 4 percent; 

18 (D) require repayment as provided for in 

19 subsection (d); and 

20 (E) be subject to such other terms and 

21 conditions as the Secretary determines appro22 priate. 

23 (2) ACCOUNT.—A loan awarded to an indi24 vidual under this section shall be deposited into an 

25 account from which a monthly mortgage payment 
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1 will be made in accordance with the terms and con2 ditions of such loan. 

3 (d) REPAYMENT.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual to which a 

5 loan has been awarded under this section shall be re6 quired to begin making repayments on the loan on 

7 the earlier of—

8 (A) the date on which the individual has 

9 been employed on a full-time basis for 6 con10 secutive months; or 

11 (B) the date that is 1 year after the date 

12 on which the loan has been approved under this 

13 section. 

14 (2) REPAYMENT PERIOD AND AMOUNT.—

15 (A) REPAYMENT PERIOD.—A loan awarded 

16 under this section shall be repaid on a monthly 

17 basis over the 5-year period beginning on the 

18 date determined under paragraph (1). 

19 (B) AMOUNT.—The amount of the month20 ly payment described in subparagraph (A) shall 

21 be determined by dividing the total amount pro22 vided under the loan (plus interest) by 60. 

23 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

24 this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit an 

25 individual from—
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1 (i) paying off a loan awarded under 

2 this section in less than 5 years; or 

3 (ii) paying a monthly amount under 

4 such loan in excess of the monthly amount 

5 determined under subparagraph (B) with 

6 respect to the loan. 

7 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 weeks after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pro9 mulgate regulations necessary to carry out this section, 

10 including regulations that permit an individual to certify 

11 that the individual is an eligible individual under sub12 section (b). 

13 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

15 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.

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