I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5496 

To require the holder of a subordinate lien on the property that secures 

a federally related mortgage loan, upon a request by the homeowner 

for a short sale, to make a timely decision whether to allow the sale. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 

Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself, Mr. NUGENT, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the holder of a subordinate lien on the property 

that secures a federally related mortgage loan, upon a 

request by the homeowner for a short sale, to make 

a timely 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 ‘‘Fast Help For Home5 owners Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR PROMPT DECISION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend3 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

4 before section 130 (15 U.S.C. 1640) the following new sec5 tion: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 129I. PROMPT DECISIONMAKING REGARDING SHORT 

7 SALE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of the 

9 10-calendar-day period beginning on the date of receipt 

10 of a written request from a mortgagor of a federally re11 lated mortgage loan that meets the requirements of sub12 section (c), a servicer shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) notify in writing each holder of a subordi14 nate lien on the residential real property that se15 cures such loan of such request; and 

16 ‘‘(2) submit to each such holder a copy of such 

17 request. 

18 ‘‘(b) TIMELY RESPONSE TO SERVICER NOTIFICATION

19 REQUIRED.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) TIMELY RESPONSE REQUIRED.—Ex22 cept as provided in subsection (d) and notwith23 standing any other provision of law or of any 

24 contract, including a contract between a 

25 servicer of a federally related mortgage loan 

26 and a securitization vehicle or other investment 


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1 vehicle, a holder of a subordinate lien that is 

2 notified by a servicer under subsection (a) shall 

3 respond in writing to such servicer not later 

4 than the end of the 45-calendar-day period be5 ginning on the date of receipt of such notifica6 tion. 

7 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If the hold8 er of a subordinate lien that is notified by a 

9 servicer under subsection (a) does not respond 

10 within the 45-calendar-day period described in 

11 subparagraph (A), the request from a mort12 gagor described in subsection (a) shall be con13 sidered to have been approved by the such hold14 er. 

15 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—A written response by such 

16 holder under subsection (a) shall specify a decision 

17 on whether the request described in such subsection 

18 has been denied, approved, or that such request has 

19 been approved subject to specified changes. 

20 ‘‘(c) MORTGAGOR SUBMISSION.—Subsection (a) shall 

21 apply in any case in which the mortgagor of a federally 

22 related mortgage loan submits to the servicer thereof— 

23 ‘‘(1) a written offer for a short sale of the 

24 dwelling or residential real property that is subject 


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1 to a mortgage, deed of trust, or other security inter2 est that secures the mortgage loan; and 

3 ‘‘(2) all information required by the servicer in 

4 connection with such a request (including a copy of 

5 an executed contract between the owner of the dwell6 ing or property and the prospective buyer that is 

7 subject to approval by the servicer). 

8 ‘‘(d) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN EXISTING MORT9 GAGES.—This section shall not apply to any federally re10 lated mortgage loan with respect to which the mortgagor 

11 and the mortgagee or servicer have entered into a written 

12 agreement before the date of the enactment of the Fast 

13 Help For Homeowners Act explicitly providing a proce14 dure or terms for approval of a short sale. 

15 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF OTHER TIME LIMITS.—This 

16 section may not be construed to preempt, annul, or other17 wise affect any other provision of law or of any contract 

18 or program that provides a shorter period than is provided 

19 under subsection (b) for a decision to be made by a holder 

20 of a subordinate lien described in subsection (a)(1) regard21 ing a short sale. 

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

23 following definitions shall apply: 

24 ‘‘(1) FEDERALLY RELATED MORTGAGE LOAN.— 

25 The term ‘federally related mortgage loan’ has the 


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1 same meaning as is given in section 3 of the Real 

2 Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 

3 U.S.C. 2602). 

4 ‘‘(2) SECURITIZATION VEHICLE.—The term 

5 ‘securitization vehicle’ means a trust, special purpose 

6 entity, or other legal structure that is used to facili7 tate the issuing of securities, participation certifi8 cates, or similar instruments backed by or referring 

9 to a pool of assets that includes federally related 

10 mortgage loans (or instruments that are related to 

11 federally related mortgage loans, such as credit12 linked notes). 

13 ‘‘(3) SERVICER.—The term ‘servicer’ has the 

14 same meaning as in section 129A, except that such 

15 term includes a person who makes or holds a feder16 ally related mortgage loan (including a pool of feder17 ally related mortgage loans), if such person also 

18 services the loan. 

19 ‘‘(4) SHORT SALE.—The term ‘short sale’ 

20 means the sale of the dwelling or residential real 

21 property that is subject to the mortgage, deed or 

22 trust, or other security interest that secures a feder23 ally related mortgage loan that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) will result in proceeds in an amount 

2 that is less than the remaining amount due 

3 under the mortgage loan; and 

4 ‘‘(B) requires authorization by the 

5 securitization vehicle or other investment vehicle 

6 or holder of the mortgage loan, or the servicer 

7 acting on behalf of such a vehicle or holder.’’. 

8 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub9 section (a) shall apply to any written request for a short 

10 sale made after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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