I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1360 

To exempt small seller financers from certain licensing requirements. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2017 

Mr. WILLIAMS (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, and Mr. BARR) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To exempt small seller financers from certain licensing 

requirements. 

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 ‘‘Seller Finance En5 hancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Real-estate seller financing is a transaction 

9 in which the owner of a real estate property provides 

10 financing for the buyer of that property and the 

11 buyer makes some form of a down payment to the 


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1 seller and then makes installment payments to the 

2 seller over a defined period of time. 

3 (2) Seller financers provide financing in lieu of 

4 the buyer choosing to obtain a loan from a bank. 

5 (3) The seller finance industry consists of small 

6 business owners who own real estate and provide fi7 nancing on those properties to underserved bor8 rowers who cannot or would prefer not to obtain tra9 ditional financing. 

10 SEC. 3. EXCEPTION FOR SELLER FINANCERS WITH RE11 SPECT TO LOAN ORIGINATOR LICENSE OR 

12 REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. 

13 Section 1504 of the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act 

14 of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5103) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR SELLER FINANCERS.—The re17 quirements of this title shall not apply to any person 

18 (other than a depository institution) who— 

19 ‘‘(1) originates not more than 24 residential 

20 mortgage loans in a 12-month period; and 

21 ‘‘(2) only originates residential mortgage loans 

22 that are with respect to property that is owned by 

23 such person.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON SELLER FINANCING. 

2 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban 

3 Development and the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

4 jointly carry out a study on— 

5 (1) the number of homes bought for under 

6 $150,000 or 60 percent of the median home value 

7 in a given community, whichever is lower, in the 

8 United States by utilizing seller financing; 

9 (2) the number of homes described under para10 graph (1) sold by licensed mortgage brokers; 

11 (3) the potential number of homes described 

12 under paragraph (1) which could be sold but aren’t, 

13 because seller financiers are unwilling, or from a 

14 practical standpoint unable, to comply with mort15 gage broker rules; and 

16 (4) the potential benefit to home values and 

17 wealth creation if more homes are able to be sold 

18 utilizing seller finance. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 1-year 

20 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

21 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the 

22 Secretary of the Treasury shall jointly issue a report to 

23 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

25 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing— 


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1 (1) all findings and determinations made in car2 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

3 and 

4 (2) data on the number of transactions utilizing 

5 seller financing 20 years, 15 years, 10 years, and 5 

6 years prior to the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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