Title: Helping HOMES Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Helping Home Owners Maintain Economic Security Act of 2020 or the Helping HOMES Act of 2020
This bill expands and extends existing single-family and multifamily mortgage forbearance provisions for borrowers experiencing financial hardships due to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency. Specifically, forbearance may be extended to borrowers for up to 12 months. Currently, borrowers may receive 180 days of forbearance, with an extension of up to an additional 180 days. The bill also expands the forbearance provisions to apply to nonfederally backed mortgages.
Mortgage servicers must notify borrowers of the availability of forbearance.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8003 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8003

 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

                            August 11, 2020

  Mr. Evans (for himself and Mr. Clay) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Home Owners Maintain 
Economic Security Act of 2020'' or the ``Helping HOMES Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. NOTICE TO HOMEOWNERS.

    Section 4022 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Federally backed mortgage loan''' each 
        place such term appears and inserting ``covered mortgage 
        loan'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) Covered mortgage loan.--The term `covered mortgage 
        loan' means any credit transaction that is secured by a 
        mortgage, deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual 
        security interest on a 1- to 4-unit dwelling or on residential 
        real property that includes a 1- to 4-unit dwelling, except 
        that it shall not include a credit transaction under an open 
        end credit plan other than a reverse mortgage.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) Covered period.--With respect to a loan, the term 
        `covered period' means the period beginning on the date of 
        enactment of this Act and ending 12 months after such date of 
        enactment.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Notice to Homeowners of Available Relief.--During the period 
that begins 90 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection 
and ends upon the expiration of the covered period, each servicer of a 
covered mortgage loan shall--
            ``(1) make available in a clear and conspicuous manner on 
        their web page accurate information for borrowers, in both 
        English and Spanish language, regarding the availability of 
        forbearance under subsection (b);
            ``(2) notify each borrower whose payments under a covered 
        mortgage loan are or become 31 days delinquent in any oral 
        communication with or to the borrower that the borrower may be 
        eligible to request forbearance as provided under subsection 
        (b), except that such notification shall not be required if the 
        borrower already has obtained forbearance under subsection (b); 
        and
            ``(3) provide to any borrower whose payments on the covered 
        mortgage loan are or become 31 days delinquent, a notification 
        in writing, in both English and Spanish language, not later 
        than the 45th day of the delinquency of the borrower, that--
                    ``(A) states that the borrower may be eligible for 
                forbearance under this section;
                    ``(B) states that the borrower may seek language 
                assistance and general help through a housing 
                counseling agency certified by the Department of 
                Housing and Urban Development; and
                    ``(C) provides information on how to find a 
                counseling agency described in subparagraph (B).''.
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