I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 839 

To require the lender or servicer of a home mortgage, upon a request by 

the homeowner for a short sale, to make a prompt decision whether 

to allow the sale. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2013 

Mr. ROONEY (for himself and Mr. ANDREWS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the lender or servicer of a home mortgage, upon 

a request by the homeowner for a short sale, to make 

a prompt decision whether to allow the sale. 

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 ‘‘Prompt Notification 

5 of Short Sales Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

8 shall apply: 


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1 (a) RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN.—The term 

2 ‘‘residential mortgage loan’’ means any consumer credit 

3 transaction that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, 

4 or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwell5 ing or on residential real property that includes a dwelling, 

6 other than a consumer credit transaction under an open 

7 end credit plan or an extension of credit relating to a plan 

8 described in section 101(53D) of title 11, United States 

9 Code. 

10 (b) SECURITIZATION VEHICLE.—The term 

11 ‘‘securitization vehicle’’ means a trust, special purpose en12 tity, or other legal structure that is used to facilitate the 

13 issuing of securities, participation certificates, or similar 

14 instruments backed by or referring to a pool of assets that 

15 includes residential mortgage loans (or instruments that 

16 are related to residential mortgage loans, such as credit17 linked notes). 

18 (c) SERVICER.—The term ‘‘servicer’’ has the same 

19 meaning as in section 129A of the Truth in Lending Act 

20 (15 U.S.C. 1639a), except that such term includes a per21 son who makes or holds a residential mortgage loan (in22 cluding a pool of residential mortgage loans), if such per23 son also services the loan. 

24 (d) SHORT SALE.—The term ‘‘short sale’’ means the 

25 sale of the dwelling or residential real property that is subVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:17 Feb 27, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H839.IH H839

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1 ject to the mortgage, deed or trust, or other security inter2 est that secures a residential mortgage loan that— 

3 (1) will result in proceeds in an amount that is 

4 less than the remaining amount due under the mort5 gage loan; and 

6 (2) requires authorization by the securitization 

7 vehicle or other investment vehicle or holder of the 

8 mortgage loan, or the servicer acting on behalf of 

9 such a vehicle or holder. 

10 SEC. 3. PROMPT NOTIFICATIONS AND DECISION REGARD11 ING SHORT SALE. 

12 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR PROMPT NOTIFICATIONS, 

13 DECISIONS.— 

14 (1) NOTIFICATIONS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each servicer shall pro16 vide in writing to a mortgagor of a residential 

17 mortgage loan— 

18 (i) an acknowledgment of receipt of a 

19 written request of the mortgagor, not later 

20 than 3 days after the date of such receipt; 

21 (ii) a notice of any missing or incom22 plete information required with respect to 

23 such request, not later than 5 days after 

24 the date of such receipt; and 


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1 (iii) a definitive response to such re2 quest approving or denying such request, 

3 not later than 30 days after the date of 

4 such receipt. 

5 (B) EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—In 

6 any case in which a servicer is unable to provide 

7 a decision with respect to a written request of 

8 a mortgagor of a residential mortgage loan dur9 ing the 30-day period required by subparagraph 

10 (A), such period may be extended to not later 

11 than 60 days after the date of receipt of a com12 pleted application, except that the servicer shall, 

13 verbally or in writing— 

14 (i) notify the mortgagor during the 

15 initial 30-day period that the application is 

16 still under review; and 

17 (ii) each week thereafter provide to 

18 the mortgagor a status update indicating 

19 the reasons why a decision is pending be20 yond the required 30-day period. 

21 (C) APPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph (A) 

22 shall apply, except as provided in subsection 

23 (b), and notwithstanding any other provision of 

24 law or of any contract, including a contract be25 tween a servicer of a residential mortgage loan 


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1 and a securitization vehicle or other investment 

2 vehicle. 

3 (D) CONTENT.—A written response by a 

4 servicer under subparagraph (A) shall specify a 

5 decision on whether such request has been de6 nied, approved, or that such request has been 

7 approved subject to specified changes. 

8 (2) MORTGAGOR SUBMISSION.—Paragraph (1) 

9 shall apply in any case in which the mortgagor 

10 under a residential mortgage loan submits to the 

11 servicer thereof— 

12 (A) a written offer for a short sale of the 

13 dwelling or residential real property that is sub14 ject to the mortgage, deed of trust, or other se15 curity interest that secures the mortgage loan; 

16 and 

17 (B) all information required by the servicer 

18 in connection with such a request (including a 

19 copy of an executed contract between the owner 

20 of the dwelling or property and the prospective 

21 buyer that is subject to approval by the 

22 servicer). 

23 (3) CIVIL ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—An ag24 grieved individual may bring an action in a court of 

25 competent jurisdiction, asserting a violation of this 


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1 Act. Aggrieved individuals may be awarded all ap2 propriate relief, including equitable relief, and a 

3 monetary award of $1,000 per violation, plus reason4 able attorneys’ fees, or such higher amount as may 

5 be appropriate in the case of an established pattern 

6 or practice of such failures. 

7 (b) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN EXISTING MORT8 GAGES.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to 

9 any residential mortgage with respect to which the mort10 gagor and the mortgagee or servicer have entered into a 

11 written agreement before the date of enactment of this Act 

12 explicitly providing a procedure or terms for approval of 

13 a short sale. 

14 (c) TREATMENT OF OTHER TIME LIMITS.—This sec15 tion may not be construed to preempt, annul, or otherwise 

16 affect any other provision of law or of any contract or pro17 gram that provides a shorter period than is provided under 

18 subsection (a) for a decision by the servicer of a residential 

19 mortgage loan regarding a short sale of the dwelling or 

20 residential real property that is subject to the mortgage, 

21 deed or trust, or other security interest that secures the 

22 mortgage loan. 

Æ 


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