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 informa-
tion 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) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services 
A BILL 
To defer mortgage payment due dates and to prohibit credi-
tors from imposing late fees, increasing interest rates, 
or submitting adverse credit information with regard to 
the account of a mortgage holder whose principal resi-
dence 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Natural Disaster 
Emergency Mortgage Relief Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. TRUTH IN LENDING ACT AMENDMENTS. 
Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended— 
(1) by inserting after section 129H the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 129I. TEMPORARY MORTGAGE LOAN PAYMENT DE-
FERRAL DURING A NATURAL DISASTER. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A consumer whose principal resi-
dence is located in an area determined by the State or 
local municipality in which the residence is located as 
being severely impacted by a natural disaster and in an 
area for which the President has declared a major disaster 
under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170) may 
defer payments on a mortgage loan secured by such resi-
dence without penalty. 
‘‘(b) DEFERMENT OF PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUEST.—A consumer who wishes to 
defer payments on a mortgage loan under this sec-
tion must notify the creditor of the mortgage loan 
during the 30-day period beginning on the date the 
President makes the declaration described under 
subsection (a) and must specify the deferment pe-
riod selected by the consumer. 
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‘‘(2) DEFERMENT
PERIOD.—A deferment of 
payments under this section may only be for a 30- 
, 60-, or 90-day period, and the period shall begin 
on the date that the President makes the declaration 
described under subsection (a). 
‘‘(3) NO
PAYMENT
DURING
DEFERMENT
PE-
RIOD.—No payment that would otherwise be due 
under the terms of the consumer’s mortgage loan 
shall be required to be paid during the deferment pe-
riod. 
‘‘(c) NO ADVERSE TREATMENT OF CONSUMER.— 
With respect to a mortgage loan for which payments have 
been deferred under this section— 
‘‘(1) a consumer may not be charged a late fee 
with respect to payments on the mortgage loan made 
during the 10-day period following the end of the 
deferment period; 
‘‘(2) no increase may be made in the annual 
percentage rate applicable to any outstanding bal-
ance of the mortgage loan during the deferment pe-
riod, other than an increase in the annual percent-
age rate due to a change in an index or rate of in-
terest— 
‘‘(A) on which such annual percentage rate 
is based; 
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‘‘(B) which is publicly available; and 
‘‘(C) which is not under the control of the 
creditor of the mortgage loan; and 
‘‘(3) the creditor of the mortgage loan may not 
report any adverse information to a consumer re-
porting agency that occurred as a result of a defer-
ral of payment made under this section. 
‘‘(d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
be construed as limiting creditors of mortgage loans from 
permitting longer deferment periods than those specified 
in this section or taking any other mortgage relief meas-
ures that such creditors feel are appropriate.’’; and 
(2) by amending the table of contents for such 
chapter by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 129H the following new item: 
‘‘129I. Temporary mortgage loan payment deferral during a natural disaster.’’. 
Æ 
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