I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 125 

To authorize a pilot program to improve asset recovery levels, asset management, and homeownership retention with respect to delinquent singlefamily mortgages insured under the FHA mortgage insurance programs 

by providing for in-person contact outreach activities with mortgagors 

under such mortgages, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To authorize a pilot program to improve asset recovery levels, 

asset management, and homeownership retention with 

respect to delinquent single-family mortgages insured 

under the FHA mortgage insurance programs by providing for in-person contact outreach activities with mortgagors under such mortgages, 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 ‘‘FHA In-Person Serv5 icing Improvement Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 

3 Urban Development shall carry out a pilot program under 

4 this section to use the authority under section 204(a)(2) 

5 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(a)(2)) to 

6 make payments to a qualified entity or entities to com7 pensate for their costs of making in-person contact with 

8 mortgagors whose payments under covered mortgages are 

9 more than 60 days past due, for the purpose of— 

10 (1) identifying mortgagors eligible for loan 

11 modifications or refinances and providing packages 

12 to the mortgagee for such purposes; 

13 (2) identifying mortgagers not eligible for a 

14 loan modification or refinance but willing to engage 

15 in pre-foreclosure sales or deeds in lieu of fore16 closure, and providing information to the mortgagee 

17 in order to facilitate such actions; 

18 (3) identifying whether a home’s current occu19 pant is the mortgagor or a renter, and if not occu20 pied, taking steps to locate and make contact with 

21 the mortgagor; 

22 (4) providing information to the Secretary and 

23 the mortgagee regarding the condition of the home, 

24 in order to facilitate any actions needed to prevent 

25 the deterioration and loss of value of the home and 


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1 assist the Department more generally in its asset 

2 management responsibilities; and 

3 (5) providing all relevant information on mort4 gagors and homes to the mortgagee on the loan and 

5 the Secretary in a format, approved by the Sec6 retary, which helps improve asset management and 

7 maximize asset recovery of these delinquent loans. 

8 (b) QUALIFIED ENTITIES.—For purposes of this sec9 tion, the term ‘‘qualified entity’’ means a single entity or 

10 a consortia or partnership of entities that— 

11 (1) have experience in carrying out the activi12 ties identified in subsection (a); 

13 (2) are not affiliated with the mortgagor under 

14 any of the covered mortgages for which it is author15 ized to carry out actions under the pilot program 

16 under this section; and 

17 (3) comply with all relevant State and Federal 

18 laws. 

19 (c) SELECTION OF A QUALIFIED ENTITY OR ENTI20 TIES.— 

21 (1) SCOPE.—The Secretary shall have the dis22 cretion to select qualified entities to participate in 

23 the pilot program under this section. 

24 (2) CRITERIA.—Such selection shall be based 

25 on the qualifications and experience of the entity or 


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1 entities to carry out the specific activities identified 

2 in subsection (a), including the level of infrastruc3 ture capability in reporting detailed information on 

4 the mortgage loan, underlying property, and the 

5 mortgagor. 

6 (3) PARTICIPATING LOANS.—The Secretary 

7 shall make available not less than 50,000 and not 

8 more than 100,000 loans that meet the delinquency 

9 criteria of subsection (a) for this pilot program. 

10 (4) TIMING.—The Secretary shall select the 

11 qualified entity and entities and make available 

12 loans under the pilot for their performance within 

13 90 days of the enactment of the Act. 

14 (d) PAYMENTS.—Payments to the entity or entities 

15 selected to carry out the pilot program under this section 

16 may be based on— 

17 (1) a flat amount per covered mortgage; 

18 (2) a performance success basis based on— 

19 (A) completed packages; or 

20 (B) completed loan modifications, pre-fore21 closure sales, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure; 

22 or 

23 (3) a combination of the methods under para24 graphs (1) and (2). 


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1 (e) PROHIBITION ON FEES.—Entities selected to par2 ticipate in the pilot program under this section may not 

3 charge any fees or require any payments, directly or indi4 rectly, from the mortgagor or the mortgagee of a covered 

5 mortgage in connection any activities under the program. 

6 (f) HUD REVIEW AND REPORTING.—The Secretary 

7 shall publish periodic updates on the status of the pilot 

8 program under this section, commencing not later than 

9 30 days after the completion of actions under subsections 

10 (c)(1) and (c)(3), and thereafter not less often than every 

11 90 days until termination of the pilot program under sub12 section (h). Not later than 60 days after termination of 

13 the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the Con14 gress and make publicly available a final report on the 

15 pilot program, including information and analysis of per16 formance characteristics, which may include comparisons 

17 of estimated asset recovery levels under the pilot program 

18 compared to comparable loans not included in the pilot 

19 and loans that have gone through loan sales. 

20 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

21 following definitions shall apply: 

22 (1) COVERED MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘covered 

23 mortgage’’ means a mortgage on a 1- to 4-family 

24 residence insured under subsection (b) or (k) of sec25 tion 203, section 234(c), or 251 of the National 


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1 Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709 (b) or (k), 1715y(c), 

2 1715z–16). 

3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

5 (h) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may not make 

6 any payments under the pilot program under this section 

7 to any qualified entity for any in-person contact with a 

8 mortgagor that occurs after the expiration of the 24- 

9 month period beginning upon the completion of the actions 

10 under subsections (c)(1) and (c)(3). 

Æ 


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