I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2979 

To defer mortgage payment due dates and to prohibit creditors from imposing 

late fees, increasing interest rates, or submitting adverse credit information with regard to the account of a mortgage holder whose principal 

residence has been severely impacted by a natural disaster for up to 

a 90-day period following issuance of a disaster declared by the President 

for the area in which the mortgage holder’s principal residence is located, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To defer mortgage payment due dates and to prohibit creditors from imposing late fees, increasing interest rates, 

or submitting adverse credit information with regard to 

the account of a mortgage holder whose principal residence has been severely impacted by a natural disaster 

for up to a 90-day period following issuance of a disaster 

declared by the President for the area in which the 

mortgage holder’s principal residence is located, 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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Natural Disaster 

3 Emergency Mortgage Relief Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TRUTH IN LENDING ACT AMENDMENTS. 

5 Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting after section 129H the fol7 lowing new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 129I. TEMPORARY MORTGAGE LOAN PAYMENT DE9 FERRAL DURING A NATURAL DISASTER. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer whose principal resi11 dence is located in an area determined by the State or 

12 local municipality in which the residence is located as 

13 being severely impacted by a natural disaster and in an 

14 area for which the President has declared a major disaster 

15 under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re16 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) may 

17 defer payments on a mortgage loan secured by such resi18 dence without penalty. 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFERMENT OF PAYMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REQUEST.—A consumer who wishes to 

21 defer payments on a mortgage loan under this sec22 tion must notify the creditor of the mortgage loan 

23 during the 30-day period beginning on the date the 

24 President makes the declaration described under 

25 subsection (a) and must specify the deferment pe26 riod selected by the consumer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DEFERMENT PERIOD.—A deferment of 

2 payments under this section may only be for a 30- 

3 , 60-, or 90-day period, and the period shall begin 

4 on the date that the President makes the declaration 

5 described under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(3) NO PAYMENT DURING DEFERMENT PE7 RIOD.—No payment that would otherwise be due 

8 under the terms of the consumer’s mortgage loan 

9 shall be required to be paid during the deferment pe10 riod. 

11 ‘‘(c) NO ADVERSE TREATMENT OF CONSUMER.— 

12 With respect to a mortgage loan for which payments have 

13 been deferred under this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) a consumer may not be charged a late fee 

15 with respect to payments on the mortgage loan made 

16 during the 10-day period following the end of the 

17 deferment period; 

18 ‘‘(2) no increase may be made in the annual 

19 percentage rate applicable to any outstanding bal20 ance of the mortgage loan during the deferment pe21 riod, other than an increase in the annual percent22 age rate due to a change in an index or rate of in23 terest— 

24 ‘‘(A) on which such annual percentage rate 

25 is based; 


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1 ‘‘(B) which is publicly available; and 

2 ‘‘(C) which is not under the control of the 

3 creditor of the mortgage loan; and 

4 ‘‘(3) the creditor of the mortgage loan may not 

5 report any adverse information to a consumer re6 porting agency that occurred as a result of a defer7 ral of payment made under this section. 

8 ‘‘(d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

9 be construed as limiting creditors of mortgage loans from 

10 permitting longer deferment periods than those specified 

11 in this section or taking any other mortgage relief meas12 ures that such creditors feel are appropriate.’’; and 

13 (2) by amending the table of contents for such 

14 chapter by inserting after the item relating to sec15 tion 129H the following new item: 

‘‘129I. Temporary mortgage loan payment deferral during a natural disaster.’’. 

Æ 


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