I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1499 

To ensure that homeowners who have mortgages insured by the FHA, or 

owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and whose homes 

are located in major disaster areas are notified of any forbearance relief 

in connection with such disaster that is offered or recommended by 

the FHA, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Federal National 

Mortgage Association, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2013 

Mr. JEFFRIES (for himself, Mr. GRIMM, and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To ensure that homeowners who have mortgages insured 

by the FHA, or owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae 

or Freddie Mac, and whose homes are located in major 

disaster areas are notified of any forbearance relief in 

connection with such disaster that is offered or recommended by the FHA, the Federal Housing Finance 

Agency, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or 

the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, 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, 


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•HR 1499 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster-Affected 

3 Homeowners Notification Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY AFFECTED HOME5 OWNERS OF MORTGAGE RELIEF. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT.—If, in connection with any major 

7 disaster declared pursuant to section 401 of the Robert 

8 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 5170), the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

10 Development, the Director of the Federal Housing Fi11 nance Agency, the Federal National Mortgage Association, 

12 or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation makes 

13 available forbearance relief with respect to any covered 

14 mortgage, or any such agency head or enterprise issues 

15 any notice or guidelines to mortgagees or servicers recom16 mending or requiring such relief, the applicable agency 

17 head shall— 

18 (1) provide, to each mortgagor under a covered 

19 mortgage, direct notification in accordance with sub20 section (b) of such relief made available, required, or 

21 recommended; and 

22 (2) provide, for areas subject to such disaster 

23 declaration, community-wide notification in accord24 ance with the guidelines issued under subsection (c) 

25 of such relief made available, required, or rec26 ommended. 


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•HR 1499 IH

1 (b) DIRECT NOTIFICATION.—Direct notification in 

2 accordance with this subsection is notification to the mort3 gagor under a covered mortgage— 

4 (1)(A) made by a telephone call to the mort5 gagor or by mail to the residence subject to the 

6 mortgage; and 

7 (B) by such other method of direct contact as 

8 may be provided in the guidelines issued pursuant to 

9 subsection (e); and 

10 (2) that clearly informs the mortgagor— 

11 (A) that the mortgage is a covered mort12 gage; 

13 (B) of the forbearance relief made avail14 able, required, or recommended; 

15 (C) of any moratorium on foreclosure with 

16 respect to covered mortgages; and 

17 (D) of how to obtain more information re18 garding such relief. 

19 (c) COMMUNITY-WIDE NOTIFICATION AND AWARE20 NESS MEASURES.—The applicable agency heads shall, 

21 pursuant to subsection (e), issue guidelines regarding 

22 measures designed to provide notice and awareness of any 

23 forbearance relief made available, required, or rec24 ommended in connection with a major disaster throughout 

25 the areas subject to such disaster declaration. Such guideVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:38 Apr 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1499.IH H1499

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•HR 1499 IH

1 lines may include requirements regarding the types of no2 tification measures, such as town hall meetings, public 

3 service announcements, public advertisements and the 

4 types of media used to convey such advertisements, and 

5 flyers and other community notices. 

6 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

7 following definitions shall apply: 

8 (1) APPLICABLE AGENCY HEAD.—The term 

9 ‘‘applicable agency head’’ means— 

10 (A) the Secretary, with respect to a cov11 ered mortgage described in paragraph (2)(B)(i); 

12 and 

13 (B) the Director, with respect to a covered 

14 mortgage described in paragraph (2)(B)(ii). 

15 (2) COVERED MORTGAGE.—The term ‘‘covered 

16 mortgage’’ means, with respect to any major dis17 aster declared pursuant to section 401 of the Robert 

18 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist19 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), a mortgage— 

20 (A) that is secured by a one- to four-family 

21 dwelling that— 

22 (i) is the principal residence of the 

23 mortgagor; and 

24 (ii) is located within an area for which 

25 such major disaster was declared; and 


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•HR 1499 IH

1 (B) that is— 

2 (i) insured under title II of the Na3 tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707 et 

4 seq.); or 

5 (ii) owned or guaranteed by the Fed6 eral National Mortgage Association or the 

7 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corpora8 tion. 

9 Any delinquency or default under a mortgage 

10 shall not affect the status of such mortgage as 

11 a covered mortgage. 

12 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

13 the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agen14 cy. 

15 (4) FORBEARANCE RELIEF.—The term ‘‘for16 bearance relief’’ means, with respect to a mortgage, 

17 any suspension or reduction of payments due under 

18 the mortgage, in any form and to any extent. 

19 (5) MORTGAGEE.—The term ‘‘mortgagee’’ 

20 means, with respect to a covered mortgage, the 

21 original lender under the mortgage and any affili22 ates, agents, subsidiaries, successors, or assignees of 

23 such lender, any subsequent purchaser, trustee, or 

24 transferee of the mortgage or credit instrument 

25 issued by such lender. 


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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

3 (e) GUIDELINES.—Not later than the expiration of 

4 the 30-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary and the Director shall jointly 

6 issue guidelines to carry out this section. 

7 (f) APPLICABILITY.—This Act shall apply with re8 spect to any major disaster declared pursuant to section 

9 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer10 gency Assistance Act in connection with Hurricane Sandy 

11 and any major disaster declared thereafter. 

Æ 


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