II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1974 

To require the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to amend its 

regulations relating to qualified mortgages, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Ms. HEITKAMP introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

to amend its regulations relating to qualified 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 ‘‘Relationship Lending 

5 Preservation Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. QUALIFIED MORTGAGE AMENDMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘affiliate’’ has the meaning given 

9 the term in section 2(k) of the Bank Holding Com10 pany Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841(k)); 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the Bureau of 

2 Consumer Financial Protection; 

3 (3) the terms ‘‘community financial institution’’ 

4 and ‘‘Federal Home Loan Bank System’’ have the 

5 meanings given those terms in section 2 of the Fed6 eral Home Loan Bank Act (12 U.S.C. 1422); 

7 (4) the term ‘‘creditor’’ has the meaning given 

8 that term in section 103 of the Truth in Lending 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 1602); 

10 (5) the term ‘‘Federal Home Loan Bank’’ 

11 means a bank established under the authority of the 

12 Federal Home Loan Bank Act (12 U.S.C. 1421 et 

13 seq.); and 

14 (6) the term ‘‘qualified mortgage’’ has the 

15 meaning given that term in section 129C(b)(2)(A) of 

16 the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 1639c(b)(2)(A)). 

18 (b) REQUIREMENT TO ISSUE REGULATIONS.—Not 

19 later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this 

20 Act, the Bureau shall issue regulations that provide that 

21 the term ‘‘qualified mortgage’’ includes any mortgage loan 

22 that— 

23 (1) is extended by a creditor that— 


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1 (A) together with its affiliates, has less 

2 than $10,000,000,000 in total consolidated as3 sets; and 

4 (B) is a member of a Federal Home Loan 

5 Bank; 

6 (2) meets the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), 

7 (iv), (v), (vii), and (viii) of section 129C(b)(2)(A) of 

8 the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 1639c(b)(2)(A)); 

10 (3) is eligible to be purchased by a Federal 

11 Home Loan Bank pursuant to requirements estab12 lished by the Federal Home Loan Bank, including 

13 underwriting and documentation requirements; and 

14 (4) is eligible to be purchased and is held by a 

15 Federal Home Loan Bank pursuant to regulations 

16 issued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. 

17 (c) ASSESSMENT OF REGULATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall conduct, 

19 in consultation with the Federal Housing Finance 

20 Agency, an assessment of the regulations issued 

21 under subsection (b), which shall— 

22 (A) address, among other relevant factors, 

23 the usage of the regulations by community fi24 nancial institutions, the impact of the regula25 tions on access to residential mortgage loans, 


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1 and whether the Federal Home Loan Banks 

2 have established underwriting and documenta3 tion requirements; and 

4 (B) reflect available evidence and any data 

5 that the Bureau reasonably may collect. 

6 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 

7 date on which the Bureau issues the regulations 

8 under subsection (b), the Bureau shall publish and 

9 submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

10 Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

11 Financial Services of the House of Representatives 

12 a report on the assessment conducted under para13 graph (1). 

14 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT REQUIRED.—Before pub15 lishing the report under paragraph (2), the Bureau 

16 shall invite public comment on recommendations for 

17 modifying, expanding, or eliminating the regulations 

18 issued under subsection (b). 

19 (d) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—Beginning 5 years 

20 after the date on which the Bureau issues the regulations 

21 under subsection (b), the Bureau may revise those regula22 tions if the Bureau determines that the revision is nec23 essary— 

24 (1) to protect the safety of mortgage loan bor25 rowers or lenders; or 


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1 (2) to increase access to mortgage credit. 

Æ 


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