I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 172 

To assist teachers and public safety officers in obtaining affordable housing. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Ms. LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To assist teachers and public safety officers in obtaining 

affordable housing. 

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 ‘‘Community Partners 

5 Next Door Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY PARTNERS NEXT DOOR PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DISCOUNT AND DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR

8 TEACHERS AND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS.—Section 

9 204(h) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(h)) 

10 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

2 (10) as paragraphs (8) through (11), respectively; 

3 and 

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol5 lowing new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(7) 50 PERCENT DISCOUNT FOR TEACHERS

7 AND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS PURCHASING PROP8 ERTIES THAT ARE ELIGIBLE ASSETS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DISCOUNT.—A property that is an el10 igible asset and is sold to a teacher or public 

11 safety officer for use in accordance with sub12 paragraph (B) shall be sold at a price that is 

13 equal to 50 percent of the appraised value of 

14 the eligible property (as determined in accord15 ance with paragraph (6)(B)). In the case of a 

16 property eligible for both a discount under this 

17 paragraph and a discount under paragraph (6), 

18 the discount under paragraph (6) shall not 

19 apply. 

20 ‘‘(B) PRIMARY RESIDENCE.—An eligible 

21 property sold pursuant to a discount under this 

22 paragraph shall be used, for not less than the 

23 3-year period beginning upon such sale, as the 

24 primary residence of a teacher or public safety 

25 officer. 


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1 ‘‘(C) SALE METHODS.—The Secretary may 

2 sell an eligible property pursuant to a discount 

3 under this paragraph— 

4 ‘‘(i) to a unit of general local govern5 ment or nonprofit organization (pursuant 

6 to paragraph (4) or otherwise), for resale 

7 or transfer to a teacher or public safety of8 ficer; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) directly to a purchaser who is a 

10 teacher or public safety officer. 

11 ‘‘(D) RESALE.—In the case of any pur12 chase by a unit of general local government or 

13 nonprofit organization of an eligible property 

14 sold at a discounted price under this paragraph, 

15 the sale agreement under paragraph (8) shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) require the purchasing unit of 

17 general local government or nonprofit or18 ganization to provide the full benefit of the 

19 discount to the teacher or public safety of20 ficer obtaining the property; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a purchase involv22 ing multiple eligible assets, any of which is 

23 such an eligible property, designate the 

24 specific eligible property or properties to be 


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1 subject to the requirements of subpara2 graph (B). 

3 ‘‘(E) MORTGAGE DOWNPAYMENT ASSIST4 ANCE.—If a teacher or public safety officer pur5 chases an eligible property pursuant to a dis6 counted sale price under this paragraph and fi7 nances such purchase through a mortgage in8 sured under this title, notwithstanding any pro9 vision of section 203 the downpayment on such 

10 mortgage shall be $100. 

11 ‘‘(F) HIGHER FHA LOAN LIMIT FOR PUR12 CHASE OF ELIGIBLE PROPERTIES IN HIGH-COST

13 AREAS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of this title relating to 

16 the maximum amount of the principal obli17 gation of a mortgage that may be insured 

18 under this title, in the case of an eligible 

19 property that is located in a high-cost area 

20 and is purchased pursuant to a discounted 

21 sale price under this paragraph, the Sec22 retary may insure a mortgage for the pur23 chase of such eligible property that in24 volves a principal obligation (including 

25 such initial service charges, appraisal, inVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:16 Jan 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H172.IH H172

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1 spection, and other fees as the Secretary 

2 shall approve) in an amount not exceeding 

3 150 percent of the limitation on such prin4 cipal obligation otherwise applicable under 

5 section 203(b)(2)(A). 

6 ‘‘(ii) HIGH-COST AREA.—For purposes 

7 of this subparagraph, the term ‘high-cost 

8 area’ means any area for which the median 

9 1-family house price in the area exceeds 

10 the maximum amount limitation on the 

11 principal obligation of a mortgage deter12 mined at such time under section 

13 203(b)(2)(A)(ii). 

14 ‘‘(G) PREVENTION OF UNDUE PROFIT.— 

15 The Secretary shall issue regulations to prevent 

16 undue profit from the resale of eligible prop17 erties in violation of the requirement under sub18 paragraph (B). 

19 ‘‘(H) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of 

20 this paragraph, the following definitions shall 

21 apply: 

22 ‘‘(i) The term ‘eligible property’ 

23 means an eligible asset described in para24 graph (2)(A) of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘public safety officer’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 

3 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

4 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

5 3796b). 

6 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘teacher’ means an in7 dividual who is employed on a part- or full8 time basis as a teacher, teacher assistant, 

9 or administrator in a public or private 

10 school that provides elementary or sec11 ondary education, as determined under 

12 State law, except that elementary edu13 cation shall include pre-Kindergarten edu14 cation, and except that secondary edu15 cation shall not include any education be16 yond grade 12. 

17 ‘‘(I) PROGRAM INTEGRITY.—Notwith18 standing any other provision of this paragraph, 

19 the Secretary may suspend the applicability of 

20 this paragraph for such period as the Secretary 

21 considers appropriate if the Secretary deter22 mines such suspension is necessary because of 

23 fraud or other issues regarding program integ24 rity.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 204(h) of 

2 the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(h)) is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘para5 graph (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (8)’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (5)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘para7 graph (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (8)’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

9 (8)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (9)’’. 

10 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 60 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

12 regulations to implement the amendments made by this 

13 section. 

14 SEC. 3. TEACHER AND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER AWARE15 NESS CAMPAIGN. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

17 Urban Development, in coordination with the Secretary of 

18 Education and the Attorney General, shall carry out a pro19 gram of activities to inform and educate teachers and pub20 lic safety officers of the availability and terms of the pro21 gram established by the amendments made by section 2. 

22 (b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts made available 

23 for the program under this section may be used only for 

24 activities designed to accomplish the purpose specified in 

25 subsection (a), which may include public service announceVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:16 Jan 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H172.IH H172

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1 ments, bus tours, advertising in teacher or public safety 

2 officer journals, development of web sites, establishment 

3 of toll-free telephone numbers for providing information, 

4 and such other activities as the Secretary of Housing and 

5 Urban Development may consider appropriate. 

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

8 Housing and Urban Development for each of fiscal years 

9 2008 through 2015 such sums as may be necessary for 

10 carrying out the program under this section. 

Æ 


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