II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 170 

To provide for the affordable refinancing of mortgages held by Fannie Mae 

and Freddie Mac. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 2011 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the affordable refinancing of mortgages held 

by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

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 ‘‘Helping Responsible 

5 Homeowners Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AFFORDABLE REFINANCING OF MORTGAGES 

7 OWNED OR GUARANTEED BY FANNIE MAE 

8 AND FREDDIE MAC. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act, the following 

10 definitions shall apply: 


tjames on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 170 IS

1 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agen3 cy. 

4 (2) ENTERPRISE.—The term ‘‘enterprise’’ 

5 means the Federal National Mortgage Association 

6 and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. 

7 (3) QUALIFIED MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘quali8 fied mortgage’’ means a mortgage that— 

9 (A) is an existing first mortgage that was 

10 made for purchase of, or refinancing another 

11 first mortgage on, a one- to four-family dwell12 ing, including a condominium or a share in a 

13 cooperative ownership housing association, that 

14 is occupied by the mortgagor as the principal 

15 residence of the mortgagor; 

16 (B) is owned or guaranteed by the Federal 

17 National Mortgage Association or the Federal 

18 Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; and 

19 (C) the mortgagor is current on payments 

20 due under the mortgage. 

21 (4) REFINANCING MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘refi22 nancing mortgage’’ means a mortgage that meets 

23 the following requirements: 

24 (A) REFINANCING OF QUALIFIED MORT25 GAGE.—The principal loan amount repayment 


tjames on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 170 IS

1 of which is secured by the mortgage shall be 

2 used to satisfy all indebtedness under an exist3 ing qualified mortgage and any closing costs 

4 from the refinancing of the mortgage that the 

5 mortgagor chooses to include in the refinanced 

6 mortgage. 

7 (B) SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING.—The prop8 erty that is subject to the mortgage shall be the 

9 same property that is subject to the qualified 

10 mortgage being refinanced. 

11 (C) INTEREST RATE.—The mortgage shall 

12 bear a fair rate of interest, which shall not ex13 ceed 40 basis points above the required net 

14 yield for a 60-day commitment to purchase a 

15 prime conventional conforming fixed rate mort16 gage as published by the Federal National 

17 Mortgage Association or the Federal Home 

18 Loan Mortgage Corporation at the time the in19 terest rate is locked in. 

20 (D) LOAN TO VALUE.—The mortgage shall 

21 not be limited by the loan-to-value ratio. 

22 (E) WAIVER OF PREPAYMENT PEN23 ALTIES.—All penalties for prepayment or refi24 nancing of the qualified mortgage that is refi25 nanced by the mortgage, and all fees and penVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:08 Feb 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S170.IS S170

tjames on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 170 IS

1 alties related to the default or delinquency on 

2 such mortgage, shall have been waived or for3 given. 

4 (F) TERM TO MATURITY.—The mortgage 

5 shall have a term to maturity of not more than 

6 40 years from the date of the beginning of the 

7 amortization of the mortgage. 

8 (b) AUTHORITY.—The Federal National Mortgage 

9 Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Cor10 poration shall each carry out a program under this section 

11 to provide for the refinancing of qualified mortgages on 

12 single-family housing owned by such enterprise through a 

13 refinancing mortgage, and for the purchase of and 

14 securitization of such refinancing mortgages, in accord15 ance with this section and policies and procedures that the 

16 Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency shall es17 tablish. Such program shall require the Federal National 

18 Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mort19 gage Corporation to purchase or guarantee the refinancing 

20 mortgage used to refinance a qualified mortgage upon the 

21 request of the mortgagee. 

22 (c) PROHIBITION ON LOAN LEVEL PRICE ADJUST23 MENTS AND POST SETTLEMENT DELIVERY FEES.—In 

24 carrying out the program established under this section, 

25 the Federal National Mortgage Association and the FedVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:08 Feb 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S170.IS S170

tjames on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 170 IS

1 eral Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shall not charge 

2 the mortgagee any up-front fee beyond the standard guar3 antee fee for the refinancing of the qualified mortgage 

4 through the refinancing mortgage. 

5 (d) RESUBORDINATION OF SECOND LIENS.—For any 

6 servicer or creditor holding a second lien on a qualified 

7 mortgage who refuses to resubordinate that lien, thereby 

8 preventing the refinancing of the qualified mortgage, new 

9 mortgages originated by that servicer or creditor shall be 

10 ineligible for purchase or guarantee by the Federal Na11 tional Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan 

12 Mortgage Corporation. 

13 (e) TERMINATION.—The requirement for an enter14 prise to refinance qualified mortgages under this section 

15 shall not apply to any request for refinancing made after 

16 the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act. Notwithstanding the prior 

18 sentence, the Director, at his or her discretion, may extend 

19 the program established under this section, and the re20 quirements of such program shall apply during any such 

21 extension, in 1-year increments. 

22 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Director shall issue any reg23 ulations or guidance necessary to carry out the program 

24 established under this section. 


tjames on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 170 IS

1 SEC. 3. NOTICE OF THE REFINANCING PROGRAM. 

2 The Federal National Mortgage Association and the 

3 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation shall require 

4 each servicer of a mortgage owned or guaranteed by each 

5 such enterprise to inform each borrower of such mortgage 

6 of the refinancing program authorized and established 

7 under section 2. 

8 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

9 The Director shall, as part of the monthly Fore10 closure Prevention & Refinance Report published by the 

11 Director, include information on the progress of the refi12 nancing program authorized and established under section 

13 2. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BILLS