Expanding Housing Opportunities Through Education and Counseling Act

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to provide for the establishment of fair mortgage practices, generally, and for subprime mortgages in particular, to provide for a national system for licensing or registering residential mortgage loan originators, and for other purposes.

7/12/2007--Introduced.
Fair Mortgage Practices Act of 2007 - Prohibits any person, with certain exceptions, from engaging in the business of loan origination without first obtaining and maintaining a registration or a state license as a loan originator. Imposes on the federal banking agencies the sole responsibility for developing a system of registration for loan originators. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a system for:
(1) licensed loan originators; and
(2) state-licensed mortgage originators. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to set forth:
(1) disclosure requirements for consumer credit plans secured by the consumer's principal dwelling; and
(2) consumer counseling requirements governing nontraditional mortgages. Expanding Housing Opportunities Through Education and Counseling Act - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to:
(1) establish the Office of Housing Counseling; and
(2) direct the HUD Secretary to establish and monitor counseling procedures for home ownership counseling and rental housing counseling provided in connection with any HUD program. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to instruct HUD to makes grants to states, local governmental entities, and nonprofit organizations providing home ownership or rental counseling that is HUD-certified. Directs the HUD Secretary to study and report to Congress on the root causes of default and foreclosure on home loans. Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to revise requirements for HUD consumer education booklets on the nature and costs of real estate settlement services. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to:
(1) require a creditor to establish, in connection with a subprime mortgage transaction, an escrow or impound account for payment of taxes and hazard insurance;
(2) require a disclosure notice for consumers who opt out of escrow services; and
(3) limit prepayment penalties for certain introductory adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). Authorizes appropriations to the Attorney General for mortgage fraud prevention, investigation, and prosecution efforts. Sets forth property appraisal requirements governing the sale of subprime mortgages. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to revise requirements for the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, and prescribe requirements regarding appraiser independence and approved appraiser education. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on possible improvements in the appraisal process. Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to permit a federal financial supervisory agency, in its examination of a regulated financial institution, to take into account certain counseling and transition programs of the institution for subprime borrowers.


... morehide bill summary

Sponsor

• Rep. Spencer Bachus [R, AL-6]
• and 15 Co-Sponsors
  • Rep. Judy Biggert [R, IL-13]
  • Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite [R, FL-5]
  • Rep. Vern Buchanan [R, FL-13]
  • Rep. Shelley Capito [R, WV-2]
  • Rep. Vernon Ehlers [R, MI-3]
  • Rep. Jim Gerlach [R, PA-6]
  • Paul Gillmor
  • Rep. Walter Jones [R, NC-3]
  • Rep. Steven LaTourette [R, OH-14]
  • Rep. Frank Lucas [R, OK-3]
  • Rep. Donald Manzullo [R, IL-16]
  • Rep. Gary Miller [R, CA-42]
  • Deborah Pryce
  • Ralph Regula
  • Rep. Frederick Upton [R, MI-6]
  close

Committees

• House Judiciary
• 1 more
  • House Financial Services
  close

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to H.R.3012

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget

	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
July 12, 2007

Show All Actions (4 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Introduced on Jul 12, 2007.
• Jul 12, 2007: Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
• Jul 12, 2007: Referred to House Financial Services
• Jul 12, 2007: Referred to House Judiciary

---

Related Issue Areas:

• Housing
• Administrative procedure
• Bank accounts
• Bank examination
• 41 more
• Budgets
• Congressional investigations
• Congressional reporting requirements
• Consumer credit
• Consumer education
• Consumer protection
• Consumers
• Counseling
• Criminal investigation
• Criminal justice
• Debtor and creditor
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of the Treasury
• Executive departments
• Executive reorganization
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Federal aid to housing
• Federal reserve system
• Finance
• Foreclosure
• Fraud
• Government corporations
• Governmental investigations
• Home ownership
• Housing finance
• Insurance premiums
• Law
• Licenses
• Loan defaults
• Mortgage banks
• Mortgages
• National Credit Union Administration
• Nonprofit organizations
• Property insurance
• Property tax
• Prosecution
• Real estate appraisal
• Rental housing
• Settlement costs
• Social services
• Taxation

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking H.R.3012 (2) are also tracking:

Show More User Statistics... Hide User Statistics

In the News

July 17, 2007 Subprime Lending Reform Legislation Introduced

The bill, known as the Fair Mortgage Practices Act (HR 3012), would: "Both protecting borrowers and preserving access to credit are critically important if ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Builder Magazine, DC

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

Information made available by:

Blog Coverage

November 02, 2008 The Mortgage Crisis Lies in the Fine Print - Mortgage Foundation

H.R. 3012, or “The Fair Mortgage Practices Act of 2007,” would create a national system for registering mortgage loan originators. And a key feature is that a “one-page disclosure form be required for all consumer credit plans secured ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Mortgage Foundation

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.

October 24, 2008 How Much Disclosure Is Enough?

Absolutely. As an example, consider the single-page form originally proposed by Alex J. Pollock of the American Enterprise Institute. It's now incorporated in H.R. 3012, the "Fair Mortgage Practices Act of 2007" sponsored by Rep. ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: RealtyTrac Daily Alerts: 28078

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 20, 2008 bills affecting the appraisal insustry

fair mortgage practices act of 2007 (introduced in house)[hr3012.ih] 5 . fair fha appraisals act of 2007 (introduced in house)[hr1723.ih] 6 . mortgage reform and anti-predatory lending act of 2007 (referred to senate committee after ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Residential Appraiser - Appraisal 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.

17 more posts...
See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: