I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7452 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide relief from hardship due 

to the COVID–19 pandemic to certain borrowers of rural development 

loans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide relief 

from hardship due to the COVID–19 pandemic to certain 

borrowers of rural development loans, 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 ‘‘Relief for Rural Devel5 opment Borrowers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUBSIDY FOR PAYMENTS AND LOAN DEFERMENT 

2 FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOANS. 

3 (a) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.—In this section, the 

4 term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Agriculture. 

5 (b) SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN LOAN PAYMENTS.— 

6 (1) DEFINITION OF COVERED LOAN.—In this 

7 subsection, the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means— 

8 (A) a business and industry guaranteed 

9 loan under section 310B(g) of the Consolidated 

10 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

11 1932(g)), other than such a loan guaranteed 

12 using amounts made available for the ‘‘Rural 

13 Business Program Account’’ by title I of divi14 sion B of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Eco15 nomic Security Act (Public Law 116–136); 

16 (B) a community facility guaranteed loan 

17 under section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm 

18 and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

19 1926(a)); and 

20 (C) a community facility direct loan under 

21 section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and 

22 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)). 

23 (2) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pay 

25 the principal, interest, and any associated fees 


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1 that are owed on a covered loan in a regular 

2 servicing status— 

3 (i) with respect to a covered loan 

4 made before the date of enactment of this 

5 Act and not on deferment, for the 6-month 

6 period beginning with the next payment 

7 due on the covered loan; 

8 (ii) with respect to a covered loan 

9 made before the date of enactment of this 

10 Act and on deferment, for the 6-month pe11 riod beginning with the next payment due 

12 on the covered loan after the deferment pe13 riod; and 

14 (iii) with respect to a covered loan 

15 made during the period beginning on the 

16 date of enactment of this Act and ending 

17 on the date that is 6 months after that 

18 date of enactment, for the 6-month period 

19 beginning with the first payment due on 

20 the covered loan. 

21 (B) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary 

22 shall begin making payments under subpara23 graph (A) on a covered loan not later than 30 

24 days after the date on which the first payment 

25 described in that subparagraph is due. 


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1 (C) APPLICATION OF PAYMENT.—Any pay2 ment made by the Secretary under subpara3 graph (A) shall be applied to the covered loan 

4 such that the borrower is relieved of the obliga5 tion to pay that amount. 

6 (3) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

7 shall— 

8 (A) communicate and coordinate with the 

9 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Of10 fice of the Comptroller of the Currency, and 

11 State bank regulators to encourage those enti12 ties to not require lenders to increase their re13 serves on account of receiving payments made 

14 by the Secretary under paragraph (2); 

15 (B) waive statutory limits on maximum 

16 loan maturities for any covered loan durations 

17 where the lender provides a deferral and ex18 tends the maturity of covered loans during the 

19 1-year period following the date of enactment of 

20 this Act; and 

21 (C) when necessary to provide more time 

22 because of the potential of higher volumes, trav23 el restrictions, and the inability to access some 

24 properties during the COVID–19 pandemic, ex25 tend lender site visit requirements to— 


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1 (i) not more than 60 days (which may 

2 be extended at the discretion of the Sec3 retary) after the occurrence of an adverse 

4 event, other than a payment default, caus5 ing a loan to be classified as in liquidation; 

6 and 

7 (ii) not more than 90 days after a 

8 payment default. 

9 (4) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section limits the 

10 authority of the Secretary to make payments pursu11 ant to paragraph (2) with respect to a covered loan 

12 solely because the covered loan has been sold in the 

13 secondary market. 

14 (c) SUBSIDY FOR OTHER LOAN PAYMENTS.— 

15 (1) DEFINITION OF COVERED LOAN.—In this 

16 subsection, the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means a rural 

17 development loan made or guaranteed by the Sec18 retary, other than a loan described in subparagraph 

19 (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (b)(1). 

20 (2) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS.— 

21 The Secretary shall pay the principal, interest, and 

22 fees, for a borrower of a covered loan the application 

23 of which is approved under paragraph (4)(B)— 

24 (A) with respect to a covered loan made 

25 before the date of enactment of this Act and 


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1 not otherwise on deferment, for the 6-month pe2 riod beginning with the next payment due on 

3 the covered loan; 

4 (B) with respect to a covered loan made 

5 before the date of enactment of this Act and 

6 otherwise on deferment, for the 6-month period 

7 beginning with the next payment due on the 

8 covered loan after the deferment period; and 

9 (C) with respect to a covered loan made 

10 during the period beginning on the date of en11 actment of this Act and ending on the date that 

12 is 6 months after that date of enactment, for 

13 the 6-month period beginning with the first 

14 payment due on the covered loan. 

15 (3) LOANS HELD BY OTHER LENDERS.—In the 

16 case of a covered loan held by a lender that is not 

17 the Secretary, the Secretary shall require the lender 

18 to provide the complete payment deferment relief de19 scribed in paragraph (2). 

20 (4) APPLICATIONS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—A borrower seeking 

22 payment subsidies under paragraph (2) or (3) 

23 shall submit to the Secretary an application in 

24 such manner and containing such information 

25 as the Secretary may require. 


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1 (B) DETERMINATIONS.—The Secretary 

2 shall approve an application submitted under 

3 subparagraph (A) by a borrower that, as deter4 mined by the Secretary and demonstrated in 

5 the application— 

6 (i) is unable to make payments on a 

7 covered loan because of a temporary cash 

8 flow disruption due to the COVID–19 pan9 demic; and 

10 (ii) makes a good faith certification 

11 that the current economic conditions have 

12 made payment deferment relief necessary. 

13 (5) SECONDARY MARKET.—With respect to a 

14 covered loan that is sold on the secondary market, 

15 if an investor declines to approve a deferral re16 quested by a lender under paragraph (3), the Sec17 retary shall exercise the authority to purchase the 

18 covered loan so that the borrower may receive a de19 ferral under this subsection. 

20 (6) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 shall provide guidance on the deferment process de23 scribed in this subsection. 

24 (d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may waive 

2 any requirement that a borrower of a covered loan 

3 reduce or eliminate a debt reserve established by the 

4 borrower, as a condition of granting a loan defer5 ment under this section. 

6 (2) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may provide 

7 such a waiver— 

8 (A) when a borrower is seeking deferment 

9 as the result of an inability to make payments 

10 on a covered loan (as defined in subsection 

11 (b)(1) because of a temporary cash flow disrup12 tion due to the COVID–19 pandemic, if paying 

13 down a reserve established by the borrower for 

14 debt servicing poses a threat to the continuing 

15 financial stability of the borrower; and 

16 (B) under other conditions as the Sec17 retary may deem necessary. 

Æ 


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