I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7858 
To require the provision of notice to homeowners regarding available housing 
relief to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 30, 2020 
Mr. EVANS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the provision of notice to homeowners regarding 
available housing relief to respond to the COVID-19 
pandemic, 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 ‘‘Helping Owners Main-
tain Economic Security Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘HOMES Act 
of 2020’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. NOTICE TO HOMEOWNERS. 
Section 4022 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056) 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting after ‘‘cov-
ered period,’’ the following: ‘‘which term for pur-
poses of this section shall have the meaning given 
such term in section 623(a)(1)(F)(i) of the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act,’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(d) NOTICE TO HOMEOWNERS OF AVAILABLE RE-
LIEF.— 
‘‘(1) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Subject only to 
paragraph (3), not later than the expiration of the 
30-day period beginning upon the date of the enact-
ment of this subsection, each servicer of a Federally 
backed mortgage loan shall send, by first class 
United States mail, written notice to the mortgagor 
sufficient to inform such mortgagor in plain lan-
guage of the mortgagor’s eligibility to request for-
bearance under subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The notice established pursu-
ant to paragraph (1) shall include a statement— 
‘‘(A) that section 4022(b) of the CARES 
Act provides that, during the covered period, a 
borrower with a Federally backed mortgage 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
loan experiencing a financial hardship due, di-
rectly or indirectly, to the COVID–19 emer-
gency may receive a forbearance on such loan 
for up to 180 days, regardless of delinquency 
status, by submitting a request to the loan 
servicer and affirming that the borrower is ex-
periencing a financial hardship during the 
COVID–19 emergency, and that such forbear-
ance period shall be extended for an additional 
180 days at the request of the borrower; 
‘‘(B) explaining that the mortgagor can 
seek language assistance and general help 
through a housing counseling agency in the 
area that is approved by the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development and providing 
information on how to find such an approved 
housing counseling agency; 
‘‘(C) that the moratorium under the 
CARES Act does not terminate the mortgagor’s 
obligation to make payments due under the 
mortgage; 
‘‘(D) that mortgagor will owe any mort-
gage arrearages that accrue during the morato-
rium under the CARES Act; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
‘‘(E) that mortgagors are encouraged to 
contact their mortgage servicer if they are hav-
ing trouble making payments due under their 
mortgage. 
‘‘(3) EXEMPTION.—A servicer shall not be re-
quired to send notice pursuant to paragraph (1) to 
any mortgagor who has previously requested forbear-
ance under subsection (b).’’. 
SEC. 3. NOTICE TO MULTIFAMILY HOUSING MORTGAGORS. 
Section 4023 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9057) 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (g); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(f) NOTICE
TO BORROWER
OF AVAILABLE RE-
LIEF.— 
‘‘(1) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Subject only to 
paragraph (3), not later than the expiration of the 
30-day period beginning upon the date of the enact-
ment of this subsection, each servicer of a Federally 
backed multifamily mortgage loan shall send, by 
first class United States mail, written notice to the 
multifamily borrower under such loan sufficient to 
inform such borrower in plain language of the bor-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
rower’s eligibility to request forbearance under sub-
section (b). 
‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The notice established pursu-
ant to paragraph (1) shall include a statement— 
‘‘(A) explaining that the borrower can seek 
language assistance and general help through a 
housing counseling agency in the area that is 
approved by the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development and providing information 
on how to find such an approved housing coun-
seling agency; 
‘‘(B) that the forbearance under the 
CARES Act does not terminate the borrower’s 
obligation to make payments due under the 
mortgage; 
‘‘(C) that borrower will owe any mortgage 
arrearages that accrue during the forbearance 
under the CARES Act; 
‘‘(D) explaining the renter protections 
under section subsection (d) of section 4023 of 
the CARES Act and the prohibitions under 
subsection (e) of such section; and 
‘‘(E) that borrowers are encouraged to 
contact their mortgage servicer if they are hav-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
ing trouble making payments due under their 
mortgage. 
‘‘(3) EXEMPTION.—A servicer shall not be re-
quired to send notice pursuant to paragraph (1) to 
any multifamily borrower who has previously re-
quested forbearance under subsection (b).’’. 
SEC. 4. MODEL NOTICES. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than the expiration of 
the 7-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs, and the Federal National Mortgage Associa-
tion and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, 
at the direction of the Director of the Federal Housing 
Finance Agency, shall jointly establish notices that are 
sufficient to comply with the requirements of sections 
4022(d) and 4023(f) of the CARES Act, as added by the 
amendments made by sections 2 and 3 of this Act, respec-
tively. 
(b) AVAILABILITY.—Such agency heads and entities 
shall take such actions as may be necessary— 
(1) to publicize the availability of such notices 
to servicers of a Federally backed mortgage loans 
and Federally backed multifamily mortgage loans; 
and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(2) to make such notices publicly and widely 
available for use by servicers of a Federally backed 
mortgage loans and Federally backed multifamily 
mortgage loans. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 Aug 17, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H7858.IH
H7858
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS