I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1105
To amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to provide
for homeowners to recover treble damages from mortgage escrow servicers
for failures by such servicers to make timely payments from escrow
accounts for homeowners insurance, taxes, or other charges, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2001
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of
1974 to provide for homeowners to recover treble dam-
ages from mortgage escrow servicers for failures by such
servicers to make timely payments from escrow accounts
for homeowners insurance, taxes, or other charges, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeowners’ Escrow
Payments Assurance Act’’.
SEC. 2. TREBLE DAMAGES FOR FAILURE TO MAKE PAY-
MENTS FROM ESCROW ACCOUNT.
Section 6(f) of the Real Estate Settlement Proce-
dures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(f)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph
(A) and inserting the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(A)(i) except as provided in clause (ii),
any actual damages to the borrower as a result
of the failure; or
‘‘(ii) in the case of an action for a failure
to comply with the requirements of subsection
(g), 3 times any such actual damages; and’’;
and
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph
(A) and inserting the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(A)(i) except as provided in clause (ii),
any actual damages to each of the borrowers in
the class as a result of the failure; or
‘‘(ii) in the case of an action for a failure
to comply with the requirements of subsection
(g), 3 times any such actual damages; and’’.
SEC. 3. FINE FOR FAILURE TO MAKE PAYMENTS FROM ES-
CROW ACCOUNT RESULTING IN LAPSE IN IN-
SURANCE COVERAGE.
Section 6 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures
Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (h) and (i) as
subsections (i) and (j), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(h) FINE FOR FAILURE TO MAKE PAYMENTS FROM
ESCROW ACCOUNT RESULTING IN LAPSE IN INSURANCE
COVERAGE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the servicer of a feder-
ally related mortgage loan collects payments from
the borrower for deposit into an escrow account for
the purpose of assuring payment of insurance pre-
miums and a failure by the servicer to make timely
payments from the escrow account for such insur-
ance premiums results in a lapse in such insurance
coverage for any period of time, the Secretary shall
assess against the servicer a civil penalty of $1000
for each full or partial day of such lapse.
‘‘(2) USE
OF
AMOUNTS.—The amounts col-
lected by the Secretary from fines under this section
shall be available to the Secretary, to the extent pro-
vided in appropriation Acts, as follows:
‘‘(A) 
DOWNPAYMENT
ASSISTANCE.—90
percent of any such amounts shall be available
only for the Secretary to carry out a program
to provide assistance to low-income families (as