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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 989

To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out

a 3 year pilot program to assist law enforcement officers purchasing

homes in locally-designated at-risk areas.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 13, 2001

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mrs. MCCARTHY of

New York, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. DAVIS of

Illinois, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HORN, Mr.

ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr.

HALL of Texas, and Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

to carry out a 3 year pilot program to assist law enforcement officers purchasing homes in locally-designated atrisk areas.

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

3 SECTION 1. LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER HOMEOWNER4 SHIP PILOT PROGRAM.

5 (a) ASSISTANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI6 CERS.—For the 3 years following the date of the enact-
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1 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban

2 Development shall carry out a pilot program to assist Fed3 eral, State, and local law enforcement officers purchasing

4 homes in locally-designated at-risk areas in accordance

5 with this Act.

6 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for assistance under

7 this Act, a law enforcement officer shall—

8 (1) have completed not less than 6 months of

9 service as a law enforcement officer as of the date

10 that the law enforcement officer applies for such as11 sistance; and

12 (2) agree, in writing, to use the residence pur13 chased with such assistance as the primary residence

14 of the law enforcement officer for not less than 3

15 years after the date of purchase.

16 (c) MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE.—If a law enforcement

17 officer purchases a home in locally-designated at-risk area

18 and finances such purchase through a mortgage insured

19 under title II of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.

20 1707 et seq.), notwithstanding any provision of section

21 203 or any other provision of the National Housing Act,

22 the following shall apply:

23 (1) DOWNPAYMENT.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be no

25 downpayment required if the purchase price of
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1 the property is not more than the reasonable

2 value of the property, as determined by the Sec3 retary.

4 (B) PURCHASE PRICE EXCEEDS VALUE.—

5 If the purchase price of the property exceeds

6 the reasonable value of the property, as deter7 mined by the Secretary, the required downpay8 ment shall be the difference between such rea9 sonable value and the purchase price.

10 (2) CLOSING COSTS.—The closing costs and

11 origination fee for such mortgage may be included in

12 the loan amount.

13 (3) INSURANCE PREMIUM PAYMENT.—There

14 shall be 1 insurance premium payment due on the

15 mortgage. Such insurance premium payment—

16 (A) shall be equal to 1 percent of the loan

17 amount;

18 (B) shall be due and considered earned by

19 the Secretary at the time of the loan closing;

20 and

21 (C) may be included in the loan amount

22 and paid from the loan proceeds.

23 (d) LOCALLY-DESIGNATED AT-RISK AREA.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any unit of local govern25 ment may request that the Secretary designate any
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1 area within the jurisdiction of that unit of local gov2 ernment as a locally-designated at-risk area for pur3 poses of this Act if the proposed area—

4 (A) has a crime rate that is significantly

5 higher than the crime rate of the non-des6 ignated area that is within the jurisdiction of

7 the unit of local government; and

8 (B) has a population that is not more than

9 25 percent of the total population of area with10 in the jurisdiction of the unit of local govern11 ment.

12 (2) DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION OF RE13 QUEST.—Not later than 60 days after receiving a re14 quest under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ap15 prove or disapprove the request.

16 (e) SUNSET.—The Secretary shall not approve any

17 application for assistance under this Act that is received

18 by the Secretary more than 3 years after the date of the

19 enactment of this Act.

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