I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1710 

To provide emergency assistance to homeowners to respond to the coronavirus 

pandemic, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia (for himself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations 

A BILL 

To provide emergency assistance to homeowners to respond 

to the coronavirus pandemic, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Home5 owner Assistance Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE FUND. 

7 (a) APPROPRIATION.—There is appropriated, out of 

8 amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for 

9 the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, to remain 

10 available until September 30, 2025, $9,961,000,000 to the 


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1 Homeowner Assistance Fund established under subsection 

2 (c) for qualified expenses that meet the purposes estab3 lished under subsection (c) and expenses described in sub4 section (d)(1). 

5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) CONFORMING LOAN LIMIT.—The term ‘‘con7 forming loan limit’’ means the applicable limitation 

8 governing the maximum original principal obligation 

9 of a mortgage secured by a single-family residence, 

10 a mortgage secured by a 2-family residence, a mort11 gage secured by a 3-family residence, or a mortgage 

12 secured by a 4-family residence, as determined and 

13 adjusted annually under section 302(b)(2) of the 

14 Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act 

15 (12 U.S.C. 1717(b)(2)) and section 305(a)(2) of the 

16 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 

17 U.S.C. 1454(a)(2)). 

18 (2) DWELLING.—The term ‘‘dwelling’’ means 

19 any building, structure, or portion thereof which is 

20 occupied as, or designed or intended for occupancy 

21 as, a residence by one or more individuals. 

22 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means— 

24 (A) a State; or 


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1 (B) any entity eligible for payment under 

2 subsection (f). 

3 (4) MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘mortgage’’ means 

4 any credit transaction— 

5 (A) that is secured by a mortgage, deed of 

6 trust, or other consensual security interest on a 

7 principal residence of a borrower that is (i) a 1- 

8 to 4-unit dwelling, or (ii) residential real prop9 erty that includes a 1- to 4-unit dwelling; and 

10 (B) the unpaid principal balance of which 

11 was, at the time of origination, not more than 

12 the conforming loan limit. 

13 (5) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 

14 Homeowner Assistance Fund established under sub15 section (c). 

16 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

18 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

19 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

20 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 

21 Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 

22 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

23 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT; QUALIFIED EXPENSES.— 

25 There is established in the Department of the TreasVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1710.IH H1710

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1 ury a Homeowner Assistance Fund to mitigate fi2 nancial hardships associated with the coronavirus 

3 pandemic by providing such funds as are appro4 priated by subsection (a) to eligible entities, and to 

5 require an eligible entity that receives funds pursu6 ant to this section to periodically submit to the Sec7 retary a report that describes the activities carried 

8 out by the eligible entity using the funds provided 

9 under this section, for the purpose of preventing 

10 homeowner mortgage delinquencies, defaults, fore11 closures, loss of utilities or home energy services, 

12 and displacements of homeowners experiencing fi13 nancial hardship after January 21, 2020, through 

14 qualified expenses related to mortgages and housing, 

15 which include— 

16 (A) mortgage payment assistance; 

17 (B) financial assistance to allow a home18 owner to reinstate a mortgage or to pay other 

19 housing related costs related to a period of for20 bearance, delinquency, or default; 

21 (C) principal reduction; 

22 (D) facilitating interest rate reductions; 

23 (E) payment assistance for— 

24 (i) utilities, including electric, gas, 

25 and water; 


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1 (ii) internet service, including 

2 broadband internet access service, as de3 fined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of 

4 Federal Regulations (or any successor reg5 ulation); 

6 (iii) property taxes; 

7 (iv) homeowner’s insurance, flood in8 surance, and mortgage insurance; and 

9 (v) homeowner’s association, condo10 minium association fees, or common 

11 charges; 

12 (F) reimbursement of funds expended by a 

13 State, local government, or designated entity 

14 under subsection (e) during the period begin15 ning on January 21, 2020, and ending on the 

16 date that the first funds are disbursed by the 

17 eligible entity under the Homeowner Assistance 

18 Fund, for the purpose of providing housing or 

19 utility payment assistance to individuals or oth20 erwise providing funds to prevent foreclosure or 

21 eviction of a homeowner or tenant or prevent 

22 mortgage delinquency or loss of housing or util23 ities as a response to the coronavirus disease 

24 (COVID) pandemic; and 


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1 (G) any other assistance to promote hous2 ing stability for homeowners, including pre3 venting eviction, mortgage delinquency or de4 fault, foreclosure, or the loss of utility or home 

5 energy services, as determined by the Secretary. 

6 (2) TARGETING.—Not less than 60 percent of 

7 amounts made to each eligible entity allocated 

8 amounts under subsection (d) or (e) shall be used 

9 for qualified expenses that assist homeowners having 

10 incomes equal to or less than 100 percent of the 

11 area median income for their household size or equal 

12 to or less than 100 percent of the median income for 

13 the United States, as determined by the Secretary of 

14 Housing and Urban Development, whichever is 

15 greater. The eligible entity shall prioritize remaining 

16 funds to populations or geographies experiencing the 

17 greatest need. 

18 (d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

19 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—Of any amounts made 

20 available under this section, the Secretary shall re21 serve— 

22 (A) to the Department of the Treasury, an 

23 amount not to exceed $40,000,000 to admin24 ister and oversee the Fund, and to provide tech25 nical assistance to eligible entities for the creVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1710.IH H1710

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1 ation and implementation of State and tribal 

2 programs to administer assistance from the 

3 Fund; and 

4 (B) to the Inspector General of the De5 partment of the Treasury, an amount not to ex6 ceed $2,600,000 for oversight of the program 

7 under this section. 

8 (2) FOR STATES.—After the application of 

9 paragraphs (1), (4), and (5) of this subsection and 

10 subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, the Sec11 retary shall establish such criteria as are necessary 

12 to allocate the remaining funds available within the 

13 Homeowner Assistance Fund to each State of the 

14 United States, the District of Columbia, and the 

15 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, taking into consider16 ation, for such State relative to all States of the 

17 United States, the District of Columbia, and the 

18 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as of the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act— 

20 (A) the number of individuals who are un21 employed; 

22 (B) the total number or mortgagors with— 

23 (i) mortgage payments that are more 

24 than 30 days past due; or 

25 (ii) mortgages in foreclosure. 


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1 (3) SMALL STATE MINIMUM.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State of the 

3 United States, the District of Columbia, and 

4 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall receive 

5 no less than $40,000,000 for the purposes es6 tablished in (b). 

7 (B) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec8 retary shall adjust on a pro rata basis the 

9 amount of the payments for each State of the 

10 United States, the District of Columbia, and 

11 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico determined 

12 under this subsection without regard to this 

13 subparagraph to the extent necessary to comply 

14 with the requirements of subparagraph (A). 

15 (4) TERRITORY SET-ASIDE.—Notwithstanding 

16 any other provision of this section, of the amounts 

17 appropriated under subsection (d), the Secretary 

18 shall reserve $30,000,000 to be disbursed to eligible 

19 entities for Guam, American Samoa, the United 

20 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

21 Northern Mariana Islands based on each such terri22 tory’s share of the combined total population of all 

23 such territories, as determined by the Secretary. For 

24 the purposes of this paragraph, population shall be 

25 determined based on the most recent year for which 


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1 data are available from the United States Census 

2 Bureau. 

3 (5) TRIBAL SET-ASIDE.—The Secretary shall 

4 allocate funds to any eligible entity designated under 

5 subsection (f) pursuant to the requirements of that 

6 subsection. 

7 (e) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO STATES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

9 payments, beginning not later than 45 days after en10 actment of this Act, from amounts allocated under 

11 subsection (d) to eligible entities that have notified 

12 the Secretary that they request to receive payment 

13 from the Fund and that the eligible entity will use 

14 such payments in compliance with this section. 

15 (2) REALLOCATION.—If a State does not re16 quest allocated funds by the 90th day after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, such State shall not be eli18 gible for a payment from the Secretary pursuant to 

19 this section, and the Secretary shall reallocate any 

20 funds that were not requested by such State among 

21 the States that have requested funds by the 90th 

22 day after the date of enactment of this Act. For any 

23 such reallocation of funds, the Secretary shall ad24 here to the requirements of subsection (d), except 

25 for paragraph (1), to the greatest extent possible, 


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1 provided that the Secretary shall also take into con2 sideration in determining such reallocation a State’s 

3 remaining need and a State’s record of using pay4 ments from the Fund to serve homeowners at dis5 proportionate risk of mortgage default, foreclosure, 

6 or displacement, including homeowners having in7 comes equal to or less than 100 percent of the area 

8 median income for their household size or 100 per9 cent of the median income for the United States, as 

10 determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

11 Development, whichever is greater, and minority 

12 homeowners. 

13 (f) TRIBAL SET-ASIDE.— 

14 (1) SET-ASIDE.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of this section, of the amounts appro16 priated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall use 

17 5 percent to make payments to entities that are eli18 gible for payments under clauses (i) and (ii) of sec19 tion 501(b)(2)(A) of subtitle A of title V of division 

20 N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

21 (Public Law 116–260) for the purposes described in 

22 subsection (c). 

23 (2) ALLOCATION AND PAYMENT.—The Sec24 retary shall allocate the funds set aside under para25 graph (1) using the allocation formulas described in 


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1 clauses (i) and (ii) of section 501(b)(2)(A) of sub2 title A of title V of division N of the Consolidated 

3 Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), 

4 and shall make payments of such amounts to enti5 ties eligible for payment under clauses (i) and (ii) of 

6 section 501(b)(2)(A) of subtitle A of title V of divi7 sion N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

8 (Public Law 116–260) that notify the Secretary that 

9 they intend to receive payments allocated by the Sec10 retary for purposes described under subsection (c) 

11 and will use such payments in compliance with this 

12 section. 

13 (3) ADJUSTMENT.—Allocations provided under 

14 this subsection may be further adjusted as provided 

15 by section 501(b)(2)(B) of subtitle A of title V of di16 vision N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

17 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 

Æ 


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