II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2981 

To amend the National Housing Act to establish a mortgage insurance 

program for first responders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 7, 2021 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the National Housing Act to establish a mortgage 

insurance program for first responders, 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 ‘‘Homes for Every Local 

5 Protector, Educator, and Responder Act of 2021’’ or the 

6 ‘‘HELPER Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FHA MORTGAGE INSURANCE PROGRAM FOR MORT2 GAGES FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. 

3 Title II of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707 

4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 259. FHA MORTGAGE INSURANCE PROGRAM FOR 

7 MORTGAGES FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. 

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Subject to subsection (i), the Sec9 retary may, upon application by a mortgagee, insure any 

10 mortgage eligible for insurance under this section and, 

11 upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary may pre12 scribe, make commitments for the insurance of such mort13 gages prior to the date of their execution or disbursement. 

14 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE MORTGAGORS.—The mortgagor for a 

15 mortgage insured under this section shall, at the time the 

16 mortgage is executed, meet the following requirements: 

17 ‘‘(1) FIRST RESPONDER.—The mortgagor shall 

18 be— 

19 ‘‘(A)(i) employed full-time by a law en20 forcement agency of the Federal Government, a 

21 State (as such term is defined in section 201), 

22 or a unit of general local government; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) in carrying out such full-time employ24 ment, sworn to uphold, and make arrests for 

25 violations of, Federal, State, county, township, 


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1 or municipal laws, or authorized by law to su2 pervise sentenced criminal offenders; 

3 ‘‘(B) employed full-time as a firefighter, 

4 paramedic, or emergency medical technician by 

5 a fire department or emergency medical services 

6 responder unit of the Federal Government, a 

7 State, or a unit of general local government; or 

8 ‘‘(C) employed as a full-time teacher by a 

9 State-accredited public school or private school 

10 that provides direct services to students in 

11 grades pre-kindergarten through 12. 

12 ‘‘(2) YEARS OF SERVICE.—The mortgagor shall 

13 have been— 

14 ‘‘(A) employed as required under para15 graph (1) before application for a mortgage in16 sured under this section for 4 or more consecu17 tive years; or 

18 ‘‘(B) released from employment described 

19 in paragraph (1)(C) due to an occupation-con20 nected disability resulting directly from such 

21 duty or employment. 

22 ‘‘(3) INTENT FOR FUTURE SERVICE.—Except in 

23 the case of a mortgagor described in paragraph 

24 (2)(B), the mortgagor shall have certified that the 

25 mortgagor in good faith intends to continue employVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Oct 09, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2981.IS S2981

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1 ment as described in paragraph (1) for at least one 

2 year following the date of closing on the mortgage. 

3 ‘‘(4) GOOD STANDING.—The mortgagor shall be 

4 in good standing with respect to the employment re5 quired under paragraph (1) and not on probation or 

6 under investigation for conduct that, if determined 

7 to have occurred, is grounds for termination of em8 ployment. 

9 ‘‘(5) ACCEPTABLE RISK.—The mortgagor meets 

10 such requirements as the Secretary shall establish to 

11 ensure that insurance of the mortgage represents an 

12 acceptable risk to the Mutual Mortgage Insurance 

13 Fund. 

14 ‘‘(6) ACTUARIAL OBJECTIVES.—The mortgagor 

15 meets such underwriting requirements as the Sec16 retary shall establish to meet actuarial objectives 

17 identified by the Secretary, which may include avoid18 ing a positive subsidy rate or complying with the 

19 capital ratio requirement under section 205(f)(2). 

20 ‘‘(7) ONE-TIME USE.—The mortgagor shall 

21 never previously have been the mortgagor under a 

22 mortgage insured under this section. 

23 ‘‘(c) MORTGAGE TERMS.—A mortgage insured under 

24 this section shall comply with the following requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(1) USE OF PROCEEDS.—The proceeds of the 

2 mortgage shall be used only— 

3 ‘‘(A) to purchase, construct, or repair a 1- 

4 family residence, including a 1-family dwelling 

5 unit in a condominium project; or 

6 ‘‘(B) to purchase— 

7 ‘‘(i) a manufactured home to be per8 manently affixed to a lot that is owned by 

9 the mortgagor; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) a manufactured home and a lot 

11 to which the home will be permanently af12 fixed. 

13 ‘‘(2) SECURITY.—The mortgage shall be se14 cured by an interest in the residence for which the 

15 proceeds are used. 

16 ‘‘(3) NO DOWNPAYMENT.—Subject to para17 graph (5) of this subsection, the mortgage may in18 volve an original principal obligation in an amount 

19 up to 100 percent of the cost of acquisition of the 

20 residence involved (including charges and fees re21 ferred to in such paragraph (5) and the premium 

22 pursuant to subsection (d)(1)) and shall not require 

23 that the mortgagor shall pay any amount, in cash or 

24 its equivalent, on account of the property. 

25 ‘‘(4) USE AS PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The residence se2 curing the mortgage shall be occupied, during 

3 the term of the mortgage, by the mortgagor as 

4 the mortgagor’s principal residence. 

5 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—The mortgagor 

6 shall certify compliance with subparagraph (A) 

7 upon the execution of the mortgage and annu8 ally during the period specified in such subpara9 graph. 

10 ‘‘(5) LOAN LIMITS.—The mortgage shall involve 

11 an original principal obligation (including such ini12 tial service charges, appraisal, inspection, and other 

13 fees to the extent allowable in connection with a 

14 mortgage insured under section 203) not exceeding 

15 the amount allowable with respect to a mortgage in16 sured under section 203(h). 

17 ‘‘(6) CLOSING COSTS.—The Secretary shall pro18 vide that the seller of a residence acquired using a 

19 mortgage insured under this section may pay all or 

20 a part of any closing costs associated with such sale, 

21 subject to such limits as the Secretary shall estab22 lish. 

23 ‘‘(7) MORTGAGEE.—A mortgage insured under 

24 this section shall be originated by a mortgagee ap25 proved by Secretary under this title. 


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1 ‘‘(8) INTEREST.—A mortgage insured under 

2 this section shall bear interest at rate agreed to by 

3 the mortgagor and mortgagee, which may be adjust4 able. 

5 ‘‘(d) MORTGAGE INSURANCE PREMIUM.— 

6 ‘‘(1) UP-FRONT PREMIUM.—Subject to para7 graph (2), the Secretary shall establish and collect 

8 an insurance premium in connection with each mort9 gage insured under this section, at the time and in 

10 the manner provided under section 203(c)(2)(A), ex11 cept that such premiums shall be in an amount 

12 equal to 3.6 percent of the amount of the original 

13 insured principal obligation of the mortgage. 

14 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO ADJUST.—The Secretary 

15 may adjust the percentages specified in paragraph 

16 (1) from time to time by increasing or decreasing 

17 such percentages as the Secretary considers nec18 essary, based on the performance of mortgages in19 sured under this section and market conditions. 

20 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF MONTHLY PREMIUMS.—A 

21 mortgage insured under this section shall not be 

22 subject to a monthly insurance premium, including 

23 a premium under section 203(c)(2)(B). 

24 ‘‘(e) EXTENT OF INSURANCE.—Mortgage insurance 

25 under this section shall provide insurance of the mortgage 


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1 in the same amount as would be guaranteed under section 

2 3703(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code, for a loan 

3 guaranteed under chapter 37 of such title having an origi4 nal principal obligation in the same amount as such mort5 gage. 

6 ‘‘(f) PROCEDURE UPON DEFAULT.—In the event of 

7 default in the payment of any mortgage insured under this 

8 section, such mortgage shall be subject to the same re9 quirements, conditions, and procedures applicable under 

10 this title to mortgages insured under section 203 that are 

11 in default. 

12 ‘‘(g) MMIF.—A mortgage insured under this section 

13 shall be an obligation of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance 

14 Fund established under section 202(a). 

15 ‘‘(h) REAUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.—The authority 

16 to enter into new commitments to insure mortgages under 

17 this section shall expire upon the conclusion of the 5-year 

18 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this sec19 tion unless otherwise specifically provided by law.’’. 

Æ 


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