I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1223 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to ensure that relocation 

of a servicemember to serve on active duty away from the 

servicemember’s principal residence does not prevent the servicemember 

from refinancing a mortgage on that principal residence. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2013 

Mr. HUNTER (for himself, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to ensure 

that relocation of a servicemember to serve on active 

duty away from the servicemember’s principal residence 

does not prevent the servicemember from refinancing 

a mortgage on that principal residence. 

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 ‘‘Fairness for Military 

5 Homeowners Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF RELOCATION OF MEMBERS OF THE 

2 ARMED FORCES FOR ACTIVE DUTY FOR PUR3 POSES OF MORTGAGE REFINANCING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Servicemembers 

5 Civil Relief Act is amended by inserting after section 303 

6 (50 U.S.C. App. 533) the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 303A. TREATMENT OF RELOCATION OF 

8 SERVICEMEMBERS FOR ACTIVE DUTY FOR 

9 PURPOSES OF MORTGAGE REFINANCING. 

10 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT OF ABSENCE FROM RESIDENCE

11 DUE TO ACTIVE DUTY.—While a servicemember who is 

12 the mortgagor under an existing mortgage does not reside 

13 in the residence that secures the existing mortgage be14 cause of a relocation described in subsection (c)(1)(B), if 

15 the servicemember inquires about or applies for a covered 

16 refinancing mortgage, the servicemember shall be consid17 ered, for all purposes relating to the covered refinancing 

18 mortgage (including such inquiry or application and eligi19 bility for, and compliance with, any underwriting criteria 

20 and standards regarding such covered refinancing mort21 gage) to occupy the residence that secures the existing 

22 mortgage to be paid or prepaid by such covered refi23 nancing mortgage as the principal residence of the service24 member during the period of such relocation. 

25 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

26 with respect to a servicemember who inquires about or apVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:21 Mar 22, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1223.IH H1223

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1 plies for a covered refinancing mortgage if, during the 5- 

2 year period preceding the date of such inquiry or applica3 tion, the servicemember entered into a covered refinancing 

4 mortgage pursuant to this section. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) EXISTING MORTGAGE.—The term ‘existing 

7 mortgage’ means a mortgage that is secured by a 1- 

8 to 4-family residence, including a condominium or a 

9 share in a cooperative ownership housing associa10 tion, that was the principal residence of a service11 member for a period that— 

12 ‘‘(A) had a duration of 13 consecutive 

13 months or longer; and 

14 ‘‘(B) ended upon the relocation of the serv15 icemember caused by the servicemember receiv16 ing military orders for a permanent change of 

17 station or to deploy with a military unit, or as 

18 an individual in support of a military operation, 

19 for a period of not less than 18 months that did 

20 not allow the servicemember to continue to oc21 cupy such residence as a principal residence. 

22 ‘‘(2) COVERED REFINANCING MORTGAGE.—The 

23 term ‘covered refinancing mortgage’ means any 

24 mortgage that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is made for the purpose of paying or 

2 prepaying, and extinguishing, the outstanding 

3 obligations under an existing mortgage or mort4 gages; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is secured by the same residence that 

6 secured such existing mortgage or mortgages.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting after 

9 the item relating to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘303A. Treatment of relocation of servicemembers for active duty for purposes 

of mortgage refinancing.’’. 

Æ 


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