II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1849

To amend section 203 of the National Housing Act to provide for 1 percent 

downpayments for FHA mortgage loans for teachers and public safety 

officers to buy homes within the jurisdictions of their employing agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 11, 2003

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL

To amend section 203 of the National Housing Act to provide for 1 percent downpayments for FHA mortgage 

loans for teachers and public safety officers to buy homes 

within the jurisdictions of their employing agencies.

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 ‘‘Homeownership Op5 portunities for Uniformed Services and Educators Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REDUCED DOWNPAYMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR 

2 LOANS FOR TEACHERS AND PUBLIC SAFETY 

3 OFFICERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(b) of the National 

5 Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(10) REDUCED DOWNPAYMENT REQUIRE8 MENTS FOR TEACHERS AND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFI9 CERS.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para11 graph (2), in the case of a mortgage described 

12 in subparagraph (B)—

13 ‘‘(i) the mortgage shall involve a prin14 cipal obligation in an amount that does not 

15 exceed the sum of 99 percent of the ap16 praised value of the property and the total 

17 amount of initial service charges, ap18 praisal, inspection, and other fees (as the 

19 Secretary shall approve) paid in connection 

20 with the mortgage; 

21 ‘‘(ii) no other provision of this sub22 section limiting the principal obligation of 

23 the mortgage based upon a percentage of 

24 the appraised value of the property subject 

25 to the mortgage shall apply; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) the matter in paragraph (9) that 

2 precedes the first proviso shall not apply 

3 and the mortgage shall be executed by a 

4 mortgagor who shall have paid on account 

5 of the property at least 1 percent of the 

6 cost of acquisition (as determined by the 

7 Secretary) in cash or its equivalent. 

8 ‘‘(B) MORTGAGES COVERED.—A mortgage 

9 described in this subparagraph is a mortgage—

10 ‘‘(i) under which the mortgagor is an 

11 individual who—

12 ‘‘(I) is employed on a part- or 

13 full-time basis as—

14 ‘‘(aa) a teacher or adminis15 trator in a public or private 

16 school that provides elementary 

17 or secondary education, as deter18 mined under State law, except 

19 that elementary education shall 

20 include pre-Kindergarten edu21 cation, and except that secondary 

22 education shall not include any 

23 education beyond grade 12; or 

24 ‘‘(bb) a public safety officer 

25 (as such term is defined in sec-
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1 tion 1204 of the Omnibus Crime 

2 Control and Safe Streets Act of 

3 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b), except 

4 that such term shall not include 

5 any officer serving a public agen6 cy of the Federal Government); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) has not, during the 12-

9 month period ending upon the insur10 ance of the mortgage, had any present 

11 ownership interest in a principal resi12 dence located in the jurisdiction de13 scribed in clause (ii); and 

14 ‘‘(ii) made for a property that is lo15 cated within the jurisdiction of—

16 ‘‘(I) in the case of a mortgage of 

17 a mortgagor described in clause 

18 (i)(I)(aa), the local educational agency 

19 (as such term is defined in section 

20 14101 of the Elementary and Sec21 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 8801)) for the school in which 

23 the mortgagor is employed (or, in the 

24 case of a mortgagor employed in a 

25 private school, the local educational 
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1 agency having jurisdiction for the area 

2 in which the private school is located); 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(II) in the case of a mortgage of 

5 a mortgagor described in clause 

6 (i)(I)(bb), the jurisdiction served by 

7 the public law enforcement agency, 

8 firefighting agency, or rescue or am9 bulance agency that employs the 

10 mortgagor.’’. 

11 (b) DEFERRAL AND REDUCTION OF UP-FRONT PRE12 MIUM.—Section 203(c) of the National Housing Act (12 

13 U.S.C. 1709(c)) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 

15 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3) 

17 and notwithstanding’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) DEFERRAL AND REDUCTION OF UP-FRONT PRE20 MIUM.—In the case of any mortgage described in sub21 section (b)(10)(B)—

22 ‘‘(A) paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection (relat23 ing to collection of up-front premium payments) 

24 shall not apply; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) if, at any time during the 5-year period 

2 beginning on the date of the insurance of the mort3 gage, the mortgagor ceases to be employed as de4 scribed in subsection (b)(11)(B)(i)(I) or pays the 

5 principal obligation of the mortgage in full, the Sec6 retary shall, at such time, collect a single premium 

7 payment in an amount equal to the amount of the 

8 single premium payment that, but for this para9 graph, would have been required under paragraph 

10 (2)(A) of this subsection with respect to the mort11 gage, as reduced by 20 percent of such amount for 

12 each successive 12-month period completed during 

13 such 5-year period before such cessation or prepay14 ment occurs.’’.

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