Emergency Mortgage Loan Modification Act of 2008

To remove an impediment to troubled debt restructuring on the part of holders of residential mortgage loans, and for other purposes.

5/1/2008--Reported to House amended. Emergency Mortgage Loan Modification Act of 2008 - Establishes a standard for loan modifications or workout plans for pools of certain residential mortgage loans.
States that the servicer of such pooled loans owes a duty to the securitization vehicle to maximize recovery of proceeds for the benefit of all investors and holders of beneficial interests in the pooled loans, in the aggregate, and not to any individual party or group of parties. Deems the loan servicer to be acting on behalf of the securitization vehicle in the best interest of all such investors and holders if the servicer makes certain loss mitigation efforts for a loan in or facing payment default in the reasonable belief that the particular modification, workout plan, or other mitigation actions will maximize the net present value to be realized over that which would be realized through foreclosure. Declares that, absent contractual provisions to the contrary, a servicer acting in a manner consistent with such duty shall not be liable to specified persons (including any person obligated pursuant to a derivatives instrument to make specified payments) for entering into a qualified loan modification or workout plan for loss mitigation purposes. Defines "qualified loan modification or workout plan" as one that:
(1) is scheduled to remain in place until the borrower sells or refinances the property, or for at least five years from the date of adoption of the plan, whichever is sooner;
(2) does not provide for a repayment schedule that results in negative amortization at any time; and
(3) does not require the borrower to pay additional points and fees. States that, for purposes of a qualified loan modification or workout plan, negative amortization does not include capitalization of delinquent interest and arrearages. Defines "securitization vehicle" as a trust, corporation, partnership, limited liability entity, special purpose entity, or other structure that:
(1) is the issuer, or is created by the issuer, of mortgage pass-through certificates, participation certificates, mortgage-backed securities, or other similar securities backed by a pool of assets that includes residential mortgage loans; and
(2) holds such loans.


... morehide bill summarySee Full Bill Text

Sponsor

• Rep. Michael Castle [R, DE-0]
• and 2 Co-Sponsors
  • Rep. Paul Kanjorski [D, PA-11]
  • Rep. Brad Sherman [D, CA-27]
  close

Committees

• House Financial Services
• 1 more
  • House Financial Services
  close

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to H.R.5579

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget (Close help)

OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by House		Voted on by Senate		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
March 11, 2008

Show All Actions (8 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on May 01, 2008: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 382..
• May 01, 2008: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 110-615.
• Added to calendar on Apr 23, 2008: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote..
• Apr 23, 2008: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
• Apr 15, 2008: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
• Apr 15, 2008: Referred to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
• Mar 11, 2008: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
• Introduced on Mar 11, 2008.

---

Related Bills:

• S.2801

Related Issue Areas:

• Foreclosure
• Securities
• Secondary mortgage market
• Mortgages
• 10 more
• Mortgage interest rates
• Mortgage banks
• Losses
• Loan defaults
• Liability (Law)
• Law
• Investors
• Housing finance
• Finance
• Housing

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking H.R.5579 (1) are also tracking:

Show More User Statistics... Hide User Statistics

In the News

May 09, 2008 House Passes Comprehensive Housing Package

To speed loan modifications and keep more families in their homes, this package includes HR 5579 to provide mortgage servicers with clarity and certainty ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Trading Markets (press release), CA

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

April 15, 2008 MBA Responds to Loan Mod Legislation

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) believes a new house bill—The Emergency Loan Modification Act of 2007 (HR 5579)—has the potential to be a help and a ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: DSNews.com, TX

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

April 12, 2008 WITNESS LIST: Capital Markets Subcommittee Examines Legislation to ...

"HR 5579 is one potentially important and effective response to the current problems in the mortgage marketplace. In brief, our bipartisan bill aims to help ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Trading Markets (press release), CA

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

See most useful news articles

Blog Coverage

July 31, 2008 Tell me how you feel about the Gov't mortgage bailout

The Emergency Mortgage Loan Modification Act of 2008, HR 5579, would:. 1. Establish a standard for loan modifications or workout plans for pools of certain residential mortgage loans; 2. Create a duty for the service's of such pooled ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Richard 's Blog

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

July 10, 2008 Loan modifications…will they offer enough relief?

A growing number of homeowners are facing the harsh reality of their loans re-setting to a higher interest rate with little or no relief in site. With property values lower in most cases from the highs of a few years ago, ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: In Shallow Waters Mortgage Blog

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

June 08, 2008 Home Buyer Tax Credit Key To Reviving Housing, Builders Tell Congress

To speed loan modifications and keep more families in their homes, this package includes HR 5579 to provide mortgage servicers with clarity and certainty for their actions, and protection from such lawsuits for specified loan ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Palm Desert Real Estate, Serving Golf Communiti...

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

24 more posts...
See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: