Title: Condemning the decision of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark A. Calabria to remove the borrower's preferred language question and the housing counseling question from the Universal Residential Loan Application.
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
This resolution condemns the decision of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark A. Calabria to remove the preferred language question from the Universal Residential Loan Application and urges the restoration of that question and the question regarding housing counseling on the application.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 728 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 728

Condemning the decision of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark 
 A. Calabria to remove the borrower's preferred language question and 
  the housing counseling question from the Universal Residential Loan 
                              Application.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2019

 Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. David Scott 
of Georgia, and Mr. McGovern) submitted the following resolution; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the decision of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark 
 A. Calabria to remove the borrower's preferred language question and 
  the housing counseling question from the Universal Residential Loan 
                              Application.

Whereas 8 percent of the United States population (25.1 million) is considered 
        limited-English proficient (LEP);
Whereas the preferred language question was designed only to better understand 
        the unique challenges that LEP persons face throughout the home buying 
        process;
Whereas language barriers make it especially difficult to navigate the complex 
        process of purchasing a home;
Whereas over one-third of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are LEP 
        individuals;
Whereas Spanish speakers in the United States account for 64 percent of the 
        United States LEP population;
Whereas LEP home buyers make up a growing share of the mortgage market;
Whereas communities with larger LEP populations have lower home ownership rates;
Whereas every American, regardless of their race, color, gender, sexual 
        orientation, religion, national origin, disability, LEP status, or 
        gender identity should have a fair and equal opportunity to purchase a 
        home in this country;
Whereas the 2008 financial crisis caused countless borrowers to lose their homes 
        because language barriers made it impossible to comprehend the terms of 
        the loans some of them received;
Whereas access to credit and home ownership is a struggle for far too many 
        qualified home buyers who are new Americans or immigrants;
Whereas AAPI and Hispanic home ownership continues to fall behind the national 
        average due to a number of factors, including language barriers and 
        misinformation about the home buying process;
Whereas the Federal Housing Finance Agency should collect data on the preferred 
        language of borrowers to better understand and address the growing needs 
        of LEP home buyers; and
Whereas a standardized question on the Universal Residential Loan Application 
        (URLA) indicating the borrower's preferred language neither obligates 
        home buyers to respond nor mortgage originators and servicers to conduct 
        communications in the preferred language of the borrower: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the decision of Federal Housing Finance Agency 
        Director Mark A. Calabria to remove the preferred language 
        question from the Universal Residential Loan Application; and
            (2) urges the Director to immediately reverse this 
        arbitrary decision and restore the language preference question 
        and the Homeownership Education and Housing Counseling question 
        to the Universal Residential Loan Application.
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