Title: To waive certain requirements with respect to in-person appraisals, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
This bill allows interior inspection appraisal requirements with respect to certain loans to be waived through the end of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency period if specified requirements are met. An interior inspection may be waived if (1) an exterior inspection is performed in conjunction with certain contemporaneous verifications, such as video or photographs by the borrower; and (2) an interior inspection may be ordered at a later date.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6369 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6369

To waive certain requirements with respect to in-person appraisals, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2020

 Mr. Sherman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To waive certain requirements with respect to in-person appraisals, 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. FINDING.

    The Congress finds that as the country continues to grapple with 
the impact of the spread of COVID-19, several adjustments are needed to 
ensure that mortgage processing can continue to function without 
significant delays, despite requirements that would otherwise require 
in-person interactions.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF IN-PERSON REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Waiver.--
            (1) In general.--Until the end of the COVID-19 emergency, 
        any appraisal that is conducted for a loan with respect to 
        which applicable law would otherwise require the performance of 
        an interior inspection may be performed without an interior 
        inspection, if--
                    (A) an exterior inspection is performed in 
                conjunction with other methods to maximize credibility, 
                including verifiable contemporaneous video or 
                photographic documentation by the borrower and borrower 
                observations; and
                    (B) the applicable lender, guarantor, regulating 
                agency, or insurer may order additional services to 
                include an interior inspection at a later date.
            (2) Stipulation.--An appraiser conducting an appraisal 
        without an interior inspection pursuant to this section shall 
        stipulate an extraordinary assumption that the property's 
        interior quality, condition, and physical characteristics are 
        as described and consistent with the exterior view, and shall 
        employ all available methods to maximize accuracy while 
        maintaining safety.
    (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than the end of the 1-week period 
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Housing 
Commissioner of the Federal Housing Agency and the Director of the 
Federal Housing Finance Agency shall issue such rules or guidance as 
may be necessary to ensure that such agencies, the Federal Home Loan 
Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association, and 
the Federal home loan banks make any adjustments to mortgage processing 
requirements that may be necessary to provide flexibility to avoid in-
person interactions while preserving the goals of the programs and 
consumer protection.
    (c) COVID-19 Emergency Defined.--In this section, the term ``COVID-
19 emergency'' means the period that begins upon the date of the 
enactment of this Act and ends on the date of the termination by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency of the emergency declared on March 
13, 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
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