II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 254 

To establish a Homeowner Assistance Fund at the Department of the 

Treasury. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. SINEMA, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CASEY, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. TESTER, Mr. OSSOFF, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a Homeowner Assistance Fund at the 

Department of the Treasury. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE FUND. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) CONFORMING LOAN LIMIT.—The term ‘‘con6 forming loan limit’’ means the applicable limitation 

7 governing the maximum original principal obligation 


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1 for a mortgage secured by a single-family residence, 

2 a mortgage secured by a 2-family residence, a mort3 gage secured by a 3-family residence, or a mortgage 

4 secured by a 4-family residence, as determined and 

5 adjusted annually under section 302(b)(2) of the 

6 Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act 

7 (12 U.S.C. 1717(b)(2)) and section 305(a)(2) of the 

8 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 

9 U.S.C. 1454(a)(2)). 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 household’’ means a household whose income does 

12 not exceed 150 percent of the area median income 

13 for their household size, as determined by the Sec14 retary of Housing and Urban Development. 

15 (3) MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘mortgage’’ means 

16 a mortgage— 

17 (A) that is secured by the principal resi18 dence of a borrower; and 

19 (B) the unpaid principal balance of which 

20 was, at the time of origination, not more than 

21 the conforming loan limit. 

22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

24 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

25 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 


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1 any territory of the United States, the Common2 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

3 Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 

4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab5 lished at the Department of the Treasury a Homeowner 

6 Assistance Fund to provide such funds as are appro7 priated in subsection (f) to State housing finance agencies 

8 and any entity named under subsection (j) for the purpose 

9 of preventing homeowner mortgage defaults, foreclosures, 

10 and displacements of individuals and families experiencing 

11 financial hardship after January 21, 2020. 

12 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

14 such criteria as are necessary to allocate the funds 

15 available within the Homeowner Assistance Fund to 

16 each State. The Secretary shall allocate such funds 

17 among all States taking into consideration the num18 ber of unemployment claims within a State relative 

19 to the nation-wide number of unemployment claims. 

20 (2) SMALL STATE MINIMUM.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State of the 

22 United States, the District of Columbia, and 

23 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall receive 

24 no less than $250,000,000 for the purposes es25 tablished in subsection (b). 


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1 (B) PRO RATA ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec2 retary shall adjust on a pro rata basis the 

3 amount of the payments for each State of the 

4 United States, the District of Columbia, and 

5 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under this 

6 subsection without regard to this subparagraph 

7 to the extent necessary to comply with the re8 quirements of subparagraph (A). 

9 (3) TERRITORY SET-ASIDE.—Notwithstanding 

10 any other provision of this section, of the amounts 

11 appropriated under subsection (f), the Secretary 

12 shall reserve $200,000,000 to be disbursed to Guam, 

13 American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the North14 ern Mariana Islands based on each such territory’s 

15 share of the combined total population of all such 

16 territories, as determined by the Secretary. For the 

17 purposes of this paragraph, population shall be de18 termined based on the most recent year for which 

19 data are available from the United States Census 

20 Bureau. 

21 (4) TRIBAL SET-ASIDE.—The Secretary shall 

22 allocate funds to an entity designated under sub23 section (j) pursuant to the requirements of that sub24 section. 

25 (d) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) INITIAL DISBURSEMENT.—The Secretary 

2 shall disburse to the State housing finance agencies 

3 and entities designated under subsection (j) not less 

than 1 4 ⁄2 of the amount made available pursuant to 

5 this section, and in accordance with the allocations 

6 established under subsections (c) and (j), not later 

7 than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

8 Act. The Secretary or designee shall enter into a 

9 contract with each State housing finance agency and 

10 each entity designated under subsection (j), which 

11 may be amended from time to time, establishing the 

12 terms of the use of such funds, in accordance with 

13 subsection (e), prior to the disbursement of such 

14 funds. 

15 (2) SECOND DISBURSEMENT.—The Secretary 

16 shall disburse all funds made available pursuant to 

17 this section, and in accordance with the allocations 

18 established under subsections (c) and (j), not later 

19 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

20 Act. 

21 (e) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUND.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds made available to 

23 State housing finance agencies and designated enti24 ties under subsection (j) pursuant to this section 

25 may be used to assist eligible households for the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Feb 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S254.IS S254

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1 poses established under subsection (b), which may 

2 include— 

3 (A) mortgage payment assistance; 

4 (B) financial assistance to allow a bor5 rower to reinstate their mortgage following a 

6 period of forbearance; 

7 (C) principal reduction; 

8 (D) payment assistance for— 

9 (i) utilities, including electric, gas, 

10 and water; 

11 (ii) internet service, including 

12 broadband internet access service, as de13 fined in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of 

14 Federal Regulations (or any successor reg15 ulation); and 

16 (iii) property taxes; 

17 (E) any program established under the 

18 Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for 

19 the Hardest Hit Housing Markets; 

20 (F) reimbursement of funds expended by a 

21 State or local government during the period be22 ginning on January 21, 2020, and ending on 

23 the date that the first funds are disbursed by 

24 the State under the Homeowner Assistance 

25 Fund, for the purpose of providing housing or 


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1 utility payment assistance to individuals or oth2 erwise providing funds to prevent foreclosure or 

3 eviction of a homeowner or tenant or prevent 

4 mortgage delinquency or loss of housing or util5 ities as a response to the coronavirus disease 

6 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic; and 

7 (G) any other assistance to prevent evic8 tion, mortgage delinquency or default, fore9 closure, or the loss of utility services for an eli10 gible household. 

11 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not greater 

12 than 10 percent of the amount allocated to a State 

13 or an entity pursuant to subsections (c) or (j) may 

14 be used by a State housing financing agency or an 

15 entity for administrative expenses. Any amounts al16 located to administrative expenses that are no longer 

17 necessary for administrative expenses may be used 

18 in accordance with paragraph (1). 

19 (f) APPROPRIATION.—There is appropriated, out of 

20 amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for 

21 the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, to remain 

22 available until expended or transferred or credited under 

23 subsection (h) or subsection (j), $75,000,000,000 to the 

24 Homeowner Assistance Fund established under subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 (g) USE OF HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY INNOVATION

2 FUND FOR THE HARDEST HIT HOUSING MARKETS

3 FUNDS.—A State housing finance agency may reallocate 

4 any administrative or programmatic funds it has received 

5 as an allocation from the Housing Finance Agency Inno6 vation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets created 

7 pursuant to section 101(a) of the Emergency Economic 

8 Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211(a)) that have 

9 not been otherwise allocated or disbursed as of the date 

10 of enactment of this Act to supplement any administrative 

11 or programmatic funds received from the Homeowner As12 sistance Fund. Such reallocated funds shall not be consid13 ered when allocating resources from the Homeowner As14 sistance Fund using the process established under sub15 section (c) and shall remain available for the uses per16 mitted in subsection (e) and under the terms and condi17 tions established by the contract with the Secretary cre18 ated pursuant to subsection (d)(1) and the terms of sub19 section (h). 

20 (h) RESCISSION OF FUNDS.—Any funds that have 

21 not been allocated by a State housing finance agency to 

22 provide assistance as described under subsection (e) by 

23 December 31, 2030, shall be reallocated by the Secretary 

24 in the following manner: 


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1 (1) 65 percent shall be transferred or credited 

2 to the Housing Trust Fund established under sec3 tion 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Fi4 nancial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 

5 U.S.C. 4568). 

6 (2) 35 percent shall be transferred or credited 

7 to the Capital Magnet Fund under section 1339 of 

8 the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 

9 and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4569). 

10 (i) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

11 shall provide public reports not less frequently than quar12 terly regarding the use of funds provided by the Home13 owner Assistance Fund. Such reports shall include the fol14 lowing data by State or entity receiving funds pursuant 

15 to subsection (j) and by program within each State or enti16 ty receiving funds pursuant to subsection (j), both for the 

17 past quarter and for the life of the program— 

18 (1) the amount of funds allocated; 

19 (2) the amount of funds disbursed; 

20 (3) the number of households and individuals 

21 assisted; 

22 (4) the acceptance rate of applicants; 

23 (5) the average amount of assistance provided 

24 per household receiving assistance; 


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1 (6) the average length of assistance provided 

2 per household receiving assistance; 

3 (7) the income ranges of households for each 

4 household receiving assistance; 

5 (8) demographic information about each house6 hold receiving assistance, including race, ethnicity, 

7 and service member status; and 

8 (9) the outcome 12 months after the household 

9 has received assistance. 

10 (j) TRIBAL SET-ASIDE.— 

11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 (A) DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME

13 LANDS.—The term ‘‘Department of Hawaiian 

14 Home Lands’’ has the meaning given the term 

15 in section 801 of the Native American Housing 

16 Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 

17 (42 U.S.C. 4221). 

18 (B) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eli19 gible recipient’’ means any entity eligible to re20 ceive a grant under section 101 of the Native 

21 American Housing Assistance and Self-Deter22 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4111). 

23 (2) SET-ASIDE.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

25 other provision of this section, of the amounts 


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1 appropriated under subsection (f), the Secretary 

2 shall use 5 percent to make grants to eligible 

3 recipients for the purposes described in sub4 section (e)(1). 

5 (B) NATIVE HAWAIIAN SET-ASIDE.—Of the 

6 funds set aside under subparagraph (A), the 

7 Secretary shall use 0.3 percent to make grants 

8 to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands 

9 for the purposes described in subsection (e)(1). 

10 (3) REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 (A) ALLOCATION.—Except for the funds 

12 set aside under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary 

13 shall allocate the funds set aside under para14 graph (2)(A) using the allocation formula de15 scribed in subpart D of part 1000 of title 24, 

16 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu17 lations). 

18 (B) NATIVE HAWAIIANS.—The Secretary 

19 shall use the funds made available under para20 graph (2)(B) in accordance with part 1006 of 

21 title 24, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc22 cessor regulations). 

23 (4) RESCISSION.—The Secretary shall transfer 

24 any funds made available under paragraph (2) that 

25 have not been allocated by an eligible recipient or 


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1 the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, as appli2 cable, to provide the assistance described in sub3 section (e)(1) by December 31, 2030, to the Sec4 retary of Housing and Urban Development to carry 

5 out the Native American Housing Assistance and 

6 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et 

7 seq.). 

Æ 


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