Title: National Flood Insurance Program Consultant Accountability Act of 2017
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
National Flood Insurance Program Consultant Accountability Act of 2017
This bill amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to terminate certain contracts under the National Flood Insurance Program on the basis of detrimental conduct to the program by a "covered entity" (an attorney, law firm, consultant, or third-party company that provides certain services under the contract). Specifically, on such basis, FEMA may terminate a contract between a covered entity and a "Write Your Own" company (a property and casualty company that writes and services standard flood insurance policies in its own name).
FEMA shall establish a process for a covered entity to appeal such a termination.
Neither FEMA nor a Write Your Own company is required to make an early-termination payout to a covered entity with respect to a contract terminated under the bill.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1058 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1058

  To authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
   Agency to terminate certain contracts on the basis of detrimental 
    conduct to the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 2017

  Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 
   Agency to terminate certain contracts on the basis of detrimental 
    conduct to the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Flood Insurance Program 
Consultant Accountability Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN CONTRACTS UNDER THE NATIONAL FLOOD 
              INSURANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Part C of chapter II National Flood Insurance Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 1349. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.

    ``(a) Definition.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `covered entity' means any attorney, law 
        firm, consultant, or third-party company that provides services 
        to a Write Your Own company; and
            ``(2) the term `Write Your Own company' means a company 
        participating in the cooperative undertaking between the 
        insurance industry and the Federal Insurance and Mitigation 
        Administration that allows participating property and casualty 
        insurance companies to write and service standard flood 
        insurance policies.
    ``(b) Termination.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the Administrator may terminate a contract or other 
        agreement between a covered entity and a Write Your Own company 
        if the Administrator--
                    ``(A) determines that the covered entity has 
                engaged in conduct that is detrimental to the flood 
                insurance program authorized under chapter I; and
                    ``(B) not later than 14 days before terminating the 
                contract or other agreement, provided notice to the 
                covered entity of the termination.
            ``(2) Appeal.--The Administrator shall establish a process 
        for a covered entity to appeal a termination of a contract or 
        other agreement under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Early termination payouts.--The Administrator or a 
        Write Your Own company is not required to make any early 
        termination payout to a covered entity with respect to a 
        contract or agreement with the Write Your Own company that the 
        Administrator terminates under paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Effective Date; Applicability.--The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall--
            (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (2) apply to any contract or other agreement between a 
        covered entity and a Write Your Own company (as those terms are 
        defined in section 1349(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act 
        of 1968, as added by subsection (a)) entered into on or after 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
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