I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2553 

To establish an interagency Task Force to analyze Federal collateral 

underwriting standards and guidance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2021 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. TORRES of New York) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency Task Force to analyze Federal 

collateral underwriting standards and guidance, 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 ‘‘Real Estate Valuation 

5 Fairness and Improvement Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Two Federal agencies, the Federal Home 

9 Owners’ Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing 

10 Administration played a major role in the developVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2553.IH H2553

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1 ment of the modern home mortgage origination in2 dustry. 

3 (2) Both Federal agencies explicitly considered 

4 the racial and ethnic make up of neighborhoods 

5 when underwriting loans and valuing the real estate 

6 to be used as home loan collateral. 

7 (3) Both agencies devalued property or refused 

8 to make loans secured by property in communities of 

9 color. 

10 (4) The harmful consequences of this discrimi11 nation remain unresolved. 

12 SEC. 3. REAL ESTATE VALUATION TASK FORCE. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Appraisal Subcommittee 

14 of the Financial Institutions Examination Council shall fa15 cilitate the establishment and convening of an Interagency 

16 Task Force on Real Estate Valuation (in this section re17 ferred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 

18 (b) MEMBERS.—The Task Force shall consist of the 

19 following members or their designees: 

20 (1) The Director of the Federal Housing Fi21 nance Agency. 

22 (2) The Chair of the Board of Directors of the 

23 Federal National Mortgage Association. 

24 (3) The Chair of the Board of Directors of the 

25 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. 


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1 (4) The President of the Government National 

2 Mortgage Association. 

3 (5) The Chairperson of the Board of Directors 

4 of one of the Federal home loan banks, selected by 

5 the Chairpersons of the Boards of Directors of all of 

6 the Federal home loan banks. 

7 (6) The Assistant Secretary of the Department 

8 of Housing and Urban Development who is the Fed9 eral Housing Commissioner. 

10 (7) The Undersecretary for Rural Development 

11 of the Department of Agriculture. 

12 (8) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

13 (9) The Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

14 Financial Protection, who shall serve as the Chair15 person of the Task Force. 

16 (10) The Comptroller of the Currency. 

17 (11) The Chairperson of the Board of Directors 

18 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

19 (12) The Chairman of the Board of Governors 

20 of the Federal Reserve System. 

21 (13) The Chairman of the National Credit 

22 Union Administration Board. 

23 (14) The Chairman of the State Liaison Com24 mittee. 

25 (c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 


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1 (1) harmonize to the greatest extent possible 

2 the various collateral underwriting standards and 

3 guidance of the agencies and entities represented on 

4 the Task Force governing residential and commer5 cial real estate valuations, including standards and 

6 guidance with respect to appraisals, non-traditional 

7 and alternative methods of providing real estate 

8 property evaluations such as automated valuation 

9 models, processes and procedures for managing re10 considerations of value by consumers, and standards 

11 and guidance with respect to common collateral un12 derwriting challenges, such as energy efficient hous13 ing and limited or inactive markets; 

14 (2) to the extent that standards or guidance de15 scribed under paragraph (1) are not harmonized, the 

16 Task Force shall issue a report to Congress explain17 ing why harmonization cannot or should not be im18 plemented; 

19 (3) establish specific definitions for limited or 

20 inactive housing markets in which comparable sales 

21 are limited or unavailable over a certain period of 

22 time, and establish greater flexibilities and guidance 

23 for appraisals and any underwriting processes asso24 ciated with appraisals conducted in such markets, 

25 such as the ability to consider market evidence for 


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1 similar properties in other geographic areas or uti2 lizing a range of value; 

3 (4) aggregate data across Task Force members 

4 and conduct a study to determine whether there are 

5 racial disparities at both the borrower and commu6 nity level in the valuation and price of the residential 

7 real estate to be used as collateral for mortgage ap8 plications processed by Task Force members; 

9 (5) identify specific causes of such racial dis10 parities and— 

11 (A) adopt changes to address such causes; 

12 or 

13 (B) if the Task Force determines that ad14 ditional statutory authority is needed to adopt 

15 such changes, issue a report to Congress de16 scribing the needed statutory authority; and 

17 (6) evaluate whether there are any barriers to 

18 entry that are disproportionately preventing minori19 ties from entering into the appraisal profession, such 

20 as current minimum requirements established by the 

21 Appraiser Qualifications Board, the cost and avail22 ability of education, the content of the State ap23 praiser exam questions, or the time it takes to finish 

24 training. 


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1 (d) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall convene regu2 larly, including with the advisory committee described 

3 under subsection (g), to carry out the duties under sub4 section (c) and submit the reports required under sub5 section (f). 

6 (e) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Each agency and 

7 entity represented on the Task Force shall share with the 

8 Task Force any data of the agency or entity necessary 

9 for the Task Force to carry out the duties of the Task 

10 Force under this Act. 

11 (f) REPORTS.— 

12 (1) INITIAL.—The Chairperson of the Task 

13 Force shall submit a report to the Congress not 

14 later than the expiration of the 24-month period be15 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act de16 tailing the findings and any actions taken to further 

17 the duties of the Task Force as of such time and de18 scribing any planned efforts and activities. 

19 (2) ONGOING.—Periodically after the submis20 sion of the report pursuant to paragraph (1), the 

21 Chairperson shall submit reports to the Congress 

22 setting forth updates of the findings and actions 

23 taken to further the duties of the Task Force. 

24 (g) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Task Force shall 

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1 spect to the duties of the Task Force. The advisory com2 mittee shall consist of— 

3 (1) at least 2 civil rights advocates; 

4 (2) at least 2 consumer advocates; 

5 (3) at least 2 real estate appraisers (or rep6 resentatives of real estate appraiser trade groups); 

7 (4) at least 1 small lender (or representative of 

8 a trade group for small lenders); 

9 (5) at least 1 representative of a trade group 

10 that represents private investors; 

11 (6) at least 2 representatives of appraisal man12 agement companies or trade groups for such compa13 nies; 

14 (7) at least 2 individuals who are industry ex15 perts on alternative valuation models; and 

16 (8) at least 1 representative of the organization 

17 that adopts the appraisal standards and appraiser 

18 qualification criteria under title XI of the Financial 

19 Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act 

20 of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 3331 et seq.). 

21 (h) SUNSET.—The Task Force shall terminate upon 

22 the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROMOTING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE AP2 PRAISAL PROFESSION. 

3 The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and 

4 Enforcement Act of 1989 is amended— 

5 (1) in section 1103(a) (12 U.S.C. 3332(a))— 

6 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe9 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

10 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

12 (D) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘a semicolon; 

14 and’’; and 

15 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(7) administer the grant program under sec18 tion 1122(j).’’; 

19 (2) in section 1106 (12 U.S.C. 3335)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ be21 fore ‘‘The Appraisal Subcommittee’’; 

22 (B) by striking the comma after ‘‘com23 ment’’; 

24 (C) by inserting before ‘‘Any regulations’’ 

25 the following: 

26 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—’’; and 


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1 (D) in subsection (a) (as so designated by 

2 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph), by adding 

3 at the end the following: ‘‘The Appraisal Sub4 committee may coordinate, and enter into 

5 agreements, with private industry stakeholders 

6 (including appraisal management companies 

7 and industry associations) to facilitate activities 

8 and practices that ensure diversity among indi9 viduals newly hired as appraisers in their first 

10 employment positions in the appraisal indus11 try.’’; and 

12 (3) in section 1122 (12 U.S.C. 3351), by add13 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(j) GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY AND

15 INCLUSION IN THE APPRAISAL PROFESSION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Appraisal Sub17 committee shall carry out a program under this sub18 section to makes grants to State agencies, nonprofit 

19 organizations, and institutions of higher education to 

20 promote diversity and inclusion in the appraisal pro21 fession. 

22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Activities carried 

23 out with amounts from a grant under this Act shall 

24 be designed to promote diversity and inclusion in the 

25 appraisal profession, and may include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) funding scholarships; 

2 ‘‘(B) providing training and education; 

3 ‘‘(C) providing implicit bias training for 

4 appraisers; and 

5 ‘‘(D) other activities as determined appro6 priate to further the purposes of this grant pro7 gram by the Appraisal Subcommittee. 

8 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—In making 

9 grants under this subsection, the Appraisal Sub10 committee shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) allocate 50 percent of the funds made 

12 available to Historically Black Colleges and 

13 Universities or universities with degree pro14 grams approved by the Appraiser Qualifications 

15 Board or a relevant State regulatory agency 

16 for— 

17 ‘‘(i) scholarships for students of color 

18 who want to pursue a career in real estate 

19 appraisal; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) subsidizing living expenses for 

21 those students while in training; and 

22 ‘‘(B) allocate 20 percent of the funds to 

23 cover the cost of fulfilling the experience re24 quirements or other applicable requirements 

25 that the students described under subparagraph 


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1 (A) will need to complete in order to become 

2 appraisers. 

3 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Appraisal 

4 Subcommittee may use 1 percent of amounts appro5 priated pursuant to paragraph (6) to cover the ad6 ministrative costs of carrying out this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—For each fiscal year during 

8 which grants are made under the program under 

9 this subsection, the Appraisal Subcommittee shall 

10 submit a report to the Congress regarding imple11 mentation of the program and describing the grants 

12 made, activities conducted using grant amounts, and 

13 the number of individuals served by such grants, 

14 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, and gender. 

15 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ap17 praisal Subcommittee for grants under this sub18 section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

19 through 2026.’’. 

Æ 


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