be charged to a mortgagor under a mortgage insured 
under this section, which limitations shall— 
‘‘(1) equal to 1.5 percent of the maximum claim 
amount of the mortgage, except that the Secretary 
may adjust the limitation under this paragraph on 
the basis of an analysis of: (A) costs to mortgagors; 
and (B) the impact on the reverse mortgage market; 
‘‘(2) be subject to a minimum allowable 
amount; 
‘‘(3) provide that the origination fee may be 
fully financed with the mortgage; 
‘‘(4) include any fees paid to correspondent 
mortgagees approved by the Secretary or to mort-
gage brokers; and 
‘‘(5) apply beginning upon the date that the 
maximum dollar amount limitation on the benefits of 
insurance under this section is first increased pursu-
ant to the amendments made by section 19(a)(2) of 
the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 
2007.’’. 
(d) STUDY REGARDING MORTGAGE INSURANCE PRE-
MIUMS.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment shall conduct a study regarding mortgage insurance 
premiums charged under the program under section 255 
of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–20) for
insurance of home equity conversion mortgages to analyze 
and determine the effects of reducing the amounts of such 
premiums from the amounts charged as of the date of the 
enactment of this Act on: (1) costs to mortgagors; and 
(2) the financial soundness of the program. Not later than 
the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-
mit a report to the Congress setting forth the results and 
conclusions of the study. 
SEC. 21. PARTICIPATION OF MORTGAGE BROKERS AND 
CORRESPONDENT LENDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Na-
tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707), as 
amended by the preceding provisions of this 
Act, is further amended— 
(i) by striking ‘‘As used in section 203 
of this title—’’ and inserting ‘‘As used in 
this title and for purposes of participation 
in insurance programs under this title, ex-
cept as specifically provided otherwise, the 
following definitions shall apply:’’; 
(ii) by striking subsection (b) and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(2) The term ‘mortgagee’ means any of the 
following entities, and its successors and assigns, to 
the extent such entity is approved by the Secretary: 
‘‘(A) QUALIFICATION BY AUDIT AND NET 
WORTH.—A lender who— 
‘‘(i) closes a mortgage in its name and 
underwrites the mortgage, services the 
mortgage, or both underwrites and services 
the mortgage; 
‘‘(ii) submits to the Secretary such fi-
nancial audits performed in accordance 
with the standards for financial audits of 
the Government Auditing Standards issued 
by the Comptroller General of the United 
States; 
‘‘(iii) meet the minimum net worth re-
quirement that the Secretary shall estab-
lish; 
‘‘(iv) is licensed, under the laws of the 
State in which the property that is subject 
to the mortgage is located, to act as a 
lender in such State; and 
‘‘(v) complies with such other require-
ments as the Secretary may establish.
‘‘(B) QUALIFICATION OF CORRESPONDENT 
LENDERS BY SURETY BOND.—Except as pro-
vided in subparagraph (D), a correspondent 
lender who— 
‘‘(i) closes a mortgage in its name, 
but does not underwrite and does not serv-
ice the mortgage; 
‘‘(ii) is licensed, under the laws of the 
State in which the property that is subject 
to the mortgage is located, to act as a cor-
respondent lender in such State; 
‘‘(iii) posts a surety bond, in lieu of 
any requirement to provide audited finan-
cial statements or meet a minimum net 
worth requirement, that— 
‘‘(I) is in a form satisfactory to 
the Secretary; 
‘‘(II) is in an aggregate amount, 
to be determined by the Secretary 
based on the aggregate principal 
amount of single-family mortgages in-
sured under this title that are placed 
in a calendar year, which shall not be 
less than $50,000 or more than 
$100,000, as such amount is adjusted
annually by the Secretary (as deter-
mined by the Secretary) by the 
change for such year in the Consumer 
Price Index for All Urban Consumers 
published monthly by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics of the Department of 
Labor; 
‘‘(III) guarantees payment of any 
liability of the correspondent lender 
arising from its participation in the 
program, up to the penal sum of the 
surety bond; without regard to the 
number of years the bond remains in 
effect, the number of claims or claim-
ants, and the number of premiums 
paid, in no event shall the aggregate 
liability of the surety exceed the penal 
sum of the bond; and 
‘‘(IV) may be cancelled by the 
surety as to future liability by giving 
30 days notice in writing to the Sec-
retary, except that any such cancella-
tion shall not alter the liability of the 
surety 
for 
actions 
of 
the 
cor-
respondent lender prior to the effec-
tive date of the cancellation; and 
‘‘(iv) complies with such other re-
quirements as the Secretary may establish, 
except that the Secretary shall not require 
any minimum net worth or certified finan-
cial statements. 
‘‘(C) QUALIFICATION OF BROKERS BY SUR-
ETY
BOND.—Except as provided in subpara-
graph (D), a mortgage broker who— 
‘‘(i) closes the mortgage in the name 
of the lender, and does not underwrite and 
does not service the mortgage; 
‘‘(ii) is licensed, under the laws of the 
State in which the property that is subject 
to the mortgage is located, to act as a 
mortgage broker in such State; 
‘‘(iii) posts a surety bond in accord-
ance with the requirements of subpara-
graph (B)(ii); and 
‘‘(iv) complies with such other re-
quirements as the Secretary may establish, 
except that the Secretary shall not require 
any minimum net worth or certified finan-
cial statements.
‘‘(D) CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED APPLI-
CABILITY.—(i) Subparagraphs (B) and (C) 
shall continue to apply after the expiration of 
the 5-year period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of the Expanding American Home-
ownership Act of 2007 only if, after the expira-
tion of the 4-year period beginning upon such 
date of enactment and taking into consideration 
the report submitted in accordance with section 
19(b) of such Act, the Secretary— 
‘‘(I) makes a determination that such 
subparagraphs provide protection to mort-
gage insurance funds for mortgages in-
sured under this title that are comparable 
to the protection provided by the require-
ments for mortgagees under this title as in 
effect immediately before the enactment of 
such Act; and 
‘‘(II) publishes in the Federal Reg-
ister a notice of such determination and an 
order extending the applicability of such 
subparagraphs. 
‘‘(ii) If, taking into consideration such re-
port, the Secretary makes a determination after 
the expiration of such 4-year period that sub-
paragraphs (B) and (C) do not provide protec-
tion as referred to in clause (i) of this subpara-
graph, the Secretary may, by order published in 
the Federal Register, provide for the participa-
tion, after the expiration of the 5-year period 
referred to in clause (i), of correspondent lend-
ers and mortgage brokers as mortgagees in the 
insurance programs under this title in accord-
ance with subparagraphs (B) and (C) as modi-
fied by the Secretary as the Secretary considers 
appropriate to provide such protection. 
‘‘(E) ADDITIONAL MORTGAGE BROKER RE-
QUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(i) In addition to the requirements 
under subparagraphs (A) and (C) and to 
duties imposed under other statutes or 
common law, to be eligible as a mortgagee 
under this section, a broker shall— 
‘‘(I) safeguard and account for 
any money handled for the borrower; 
‘‘(II) follow reasonable and lawful 
instructions from the borrower; and 
‘‘(III) act with reasonable skill, 
care, and diligence.
‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subpara-
graph, a loan correspondent shall be con-
sidered to be a mortgage broker. 
‘‘(iii) The duties and standards of 
care created in this subparagraph shall not 
be waived or modified. 
‘‘(iv) Any broker found by the Sec-
retary to have violated the requirements of 
this subparagraph may not originate mort-
gage loans insured under this title. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘mortgagor’ includes the original 
borrower under a mortgage and the successors and 
assigns of the original borrower.’’; and 
(iii) by redesignating subsections (a), 
(c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) as paragraphs 
(1), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), and (9), respec-
tively, and indenting such paragraphs two 
ems so as to align the left margins of such 
paragraphs with the left margins of para-
graphs (2) and (3) (as added by clause (ii) 
of this subparagraph). 
(B) 
MORTGAGEE
REVIEW.—Section 
202(c)(7) of the National Housing Act (12 
U.S.C. 1708(c)(7)) is amended—