I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2938 

To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize 

the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a loan 

repayment program for certain architects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2015 

Mr. PERLMUTTER (for himself, Mr. ROSS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. 

ASHFORD, and Mr. NOLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Housing and Community Development Act 

of 1974 to authorize the Secretary of Housing and 

Urban Development to carry out a loan repayment program for certain architects, 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 ‘‘National Design Serv5 ices Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ARCHITECT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

2 Title I of the Housing and Community Development 

3 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 5322. ARCHITECT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may establish 

7 and carry out a loan repayment program for eligible archi8 tects (in this section referred to as the ‘loan repayment 

9 program’) who provide eligible design services on behalf 

10 of a Community Design Center. 

11 ‘‘(b) CONTRACT.—To be eligible to participate in the 

12 loan repayment program, an eligible architect shall enter 

13 into a written contract with the Secretary that contains— 

14 ‘‘(1) an agreement under which— 

15 ‘‘(A) the eligible architect agrees to provide 

16 eligible design services on behalf of a Commu17 nity Design Center for a period of not shorter 

18 than 1 year; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary agrees to make pay20 ments on the principal and interest of quali21 fying educational loans of the eligible architect 

22 in an amount to be determined by the Secretary 

23 for the period of time the eligible architect pro24 vides such eligible design services; 

25 ‘‘(2) a provision that any financial obligation of 

26 the United States arising out of a contract entered 


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1 into under this subsection and any obligation of the 

2 eligible architect which is conditioned thereon, is 

3 contingent upon funds being appropriated for the 

4 loan repayment program under this section; and 

5 ‘‘(3) a statement of the damages to which the 

6 United States is entitled under subsection (f) if the 

7 eligible architect breaches the contract. 

8 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE DESIGN SERVICES.—The term ‘eligi9 ble design services’ means research or design services as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(1) The design, including the preparation of 

12 construction documents, of housing facilities, 

13 schools, health clinics, libraries, community centers, 

14 and other public facilities (except for buildings used 

15 for the general conduct of government). 

16 ‘‘(2) The development of comprehensive long17 range community development plans. 

18 ‘‘(3) The development of plans for neighbor19 hoods that are appropriate for rehabilitation or con20 servation activities, including neighborhoods that are 

21 blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating. 

22 ‘‘(4) The preservation or rehabilitation of his23 toric sites. 

24 ‘‘(5) The design, including the preparation of 

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1 ergy and water efficiency and conservation improve2 ments. 

3 ‘‘(6) Assessment of the safety of structures that 

4 are in disrepair or have been damaged as the result 

5 of natural or manmade disasters. 

6 ‘‘(7) The design of improvements that remove 

7 architectural barriers which restrict the mobility of 

8 elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities. 

9 ‘‘(8) Plans for the redevelopment of traditional 

10 main streets and business districts. 

11 ‘‘(9) Other activities as the Secretary may de12 termine. 

13 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—The Secretary shall provide for 

14 an eligible architect to submit an application to participate 

15 in the loan repayment program to the Secretary at such 

16 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

17 the Secretary may require which shall include— 

18 ‘‘(1) proof of employment by a Community De19 sign Center for a period of not less than 1 year; 

20 ‘‘(2) a statement of the amount of compensa21 tion the eligible architect will receive from the Com22 munity Design Center; and 

23 ‘‘(3) a contract entered into pursuant to sub24 section (b). 


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1 ‘‘(e) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select, from 

2 applications submitted under subsection (d), eligible archi3 tects to participate in the loan repayment program. 

4 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—The Sec6 retary may enter into a contract with another Fed7 eral agency to assist in the administration of this 

8 program. 

9 ‘‘(2) BREACH.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A contract described 

11 in subsection (b) shall provide remedies for any 

12 breach of such contract by an eligible architect, 

13 including repayment or partial repayment of fi14 nancial assistance received with interest. 

15 ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS RECOVERED.—Funds re16 covered under this paragraph shall be credited 

17 to the account available to carry out this sec18 tion and shall remain available until expended. 

19 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.—The Secretary may grant 

20 a waiver of any repayment obligation for breach 

21 of contract in the event of extreme hardship or 

22 extreme need, as determined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall develop 

24 regulations to determine the amount of loan repay25 ment for 1 year of service by an eligible architect. 


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1 In making the determination, the Secretary shall 

2 maximize the number of contracts that can be pro3 vided under the program from the amounts appro4 priated for such contracts. 

5 ‘‘(4) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL LOANS.—Loan 

6 repayments provided under this section may consist 

7 of payments on behalf of eligible architects of the 

8 principal and interest on government and commer9 cial loans received by the eligible architect for at10 tendance at an accredited masters program in archi11 tecture, which loans were made for— 

12 ‘‘(A) tuition expenses; 

13 ‘‘(B) all other reasonable educational ex14 penses, including fees, books, technology, and 

15 studio expenses incurred by the eligible archi16 tect; or 

17 ‘‘(C) reasonable living expenses as deter18 mined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(5) REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

20 may contract with an eligible architect’s loan pro21 vider for the payment to the loan provider, on behalf 

22 of the eligible architect, of the amount of a loan re23 payment described in paragraph (3). 

24 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

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1 pare building plans or construction documents that do not 

2 comply with applicable State and local laws and regula3 tions related to building codes and permits. 

4 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the following 

5 definitions shall apply: 

6 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY DESIGN CENTER.—The term 

7 ‘Community Design Center’ means a non-profit or8 ganization operated and managed by a licensed ar9 chitect that conducts research and provides eligible 

10 design services for community development projects. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ARCHITECT.—The term ‘eligible 

12 architect’ means an individual who— 

13 ‘‘(A) has completed an accredited masters 

14 program in architecture; or 

15 ‘‘(B) is an intern architect who has com16 pleted an accredited masters program in archi17 tecture and is enrolled in the Intern Develop18 ment Program of the National Council of Archi19 tectural Registration Boards. 

20 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

21 the several States, the District of Columbia, and any 

22 territory or possession of the United States. 

23 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

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1 tion such sums as may be necessary, to remain available 

2 until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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