I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 729 

To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out 

a 3-year pilot program to assist law enforcement officers purchasing 

homes in locally designated at-risk areas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2003 

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, and Mrs. 

MCCARTHY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

to carry out a 3-year pilot program to assist law enforcement officers purchasing homes in locally designated atrisk areas. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER HOMEOWNER4 SHIP PILOT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ASSISTANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI6 CERS.—For the 3 years following the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

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1 Development shall carry out a pilot program to assist Fed2 eral, State, and local law enforcement officers purchasing 

3 homes in locally designated at-risk areas in accordance 

4 with this Act. 

5 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for assistance under 

6 this Act, a law enforcement officer shall— 

7 (1) have completed not less than 6 months of 

8 service as a law enforcement officer as of the date 

9 that the law enforcement officer applies for such as10 sistance; and 

11 (2) agree, in writing, to use the residence pur12 chased with such assistance as the primary residence 

13 of the law enforcement officer for not less than 3 

14 years after the date of purchase. 

15 (c) MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE.—If a law enforcement 

16 officer purchases a home in a locally designated at-risk 

17 area and finances such purchase through a mortgage in18 sured under title II of the National Housing Act (12 

19 U.S.C. 1707 et seq.), notwithstanding any provision of 

20 section 203 or any other provision of the National Hous21 ing Act, the following shall apply: 

22 (1) DOWNPAYMENT.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be no 

24 downpayment required if the purchase price of 

25 the property is not more than the reasonable 

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1 value of the property, as determined by the Sec2 retary. 

3 (B) PURCHASE PRICE EXCEEDS VALUE.— 

4 If the purchase price of the property exceeds 

5 the reasonable value of the property, as deter6 mined by the Secretary, the required downpay7 ment shall be the difference between such rea8 sonable value and the purchase price. 

9 (2) CLOSING COSTS.—The closing costs and 

10 origination fee for such mortgage may be included in 

11 the loan amount. 

12 (3) INSURANCE PREMIUM PAYMENT.—There 

13 shall be 1 insurance premium payment due on the 

14 mortgage. Such insurance premium payment— 

15 (A) shall be equal to 1 percent of the loan 

16 amount; 

17 (B) shall be due and considered earned by 

18 the Secretary at the time of the loan closing; 

19 and 

20 (C) may be included in the loan amount 

21 and paid from the loan proceeds. 

22 (d) LOCALLY DESIGNATED AT-RISK AREA.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any unit of local govern24 ment may request that the Secretary designate any 

25 area within the jurisdiction of that unit of local govmstockstill on PROD1PC61 with BILLS

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1 ernment as a locally designated at-risk area for pur2 poses of this Act if the proposed area— 

3 (A) has a crime rate that is significantly 

4 higher than the crime rate of the non-des5 ignated area that is within the jurisdiction of 

6 the unit of local government; and 

7 (B) has a population that is not more than 

8 25 percent of the total population of area with9 in the jurisdiction of the unit of local govern10 ment. 

11 (2) DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION OF RE12 QUEST.—Not later than 60 days after receiving a re13 quest under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ap14 prove or disapprove the request. 

15 (e) SUNSET.—The Secretary shall not approve any 

16 application for assistance under this Act that is received 

17 by the Secretary more than 3 years after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act. 

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