Rural Equal Aid Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 498 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize payments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mrs. AXNE (for herself, Mr. GOLDEN, Mr. BALDERSON, and Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize pay- ments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Equal Aid Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 5 LOAN PAYMENTS. 6 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LOAN.—In this sec- 7 tion, the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means a loan that is— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H498.IH H498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 498 IH (1) made by an intermediary lender to an ulti- 1 mate recipient using a loan received under section 2 1323 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 3 1932 note; Public Law 99–198) or section 310H of 4 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 5 (7 U.S.C. 1936b; Public Law 113–79); 6 (2) made by a microenterprise development or- 7 ganization to a microentrepreneur under section 8 379E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Develop- 9 ment Act (7 U.S.C. 2008s); 10 (3) a community facility loan made or guaran- 11 teed under section 306(a)(1) of the Consolidated 12 Farm and Rural Development Act; or 13 (4) guaranteed under section 310B(g) of the 14 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. 15 (b) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 17 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, 18 subject to paragraph (2), pay the principal, interest, 19 and any associated fees that are owed on a covered 20 loan in a regular servicing status— 21 (A) with respect to a covered loan made 22 before the date of enactment of this Act and 23 not on deferment, for the 9-month period begin- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H498.IH H498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 498 IH ning with the next payment due on the covered 1 loan; 2 (B) with respect to a covered loan made 3 before the date of enactment of this Act and on 4 deferment, for the 9-month period beginning 5 with the next payment due on the covered loan 6 after the deferment period; and 7 (C) with respect to a covered loan made 8 during the period beginning on the date of en- 9 actment of this Act and ending on the date that 10 is 6 months after that date of enactment, for 11 the 9-month period beginning with the first 12 payment due on the covered loan. 13 (2) LIMITATION ON PAYMENT.—A single 14 monthly payment of principal, interest, and associ- 15 ated fees made under paragraph (1) with respect to 16 a covered loan in the last 3 months of the 9-month 17 period described in paragraph (1) shall not exceed 18 $9,000. 19 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary shall 20 begin making payments under paragraph (1) on a 21 covered loan not later than 30 days after the date 22 on which the first payment described in that para- 23 graph is due. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H498.IH H498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 498 IH (4) APPLICATION OF PAYMENT.—Any payment 1 made by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be 2 applied to the covered loan such that the borrower 3 is relieved of the obligation to pay that amount. 4 (c) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall— 5 (1) communicate and coordinate with the Fed- 6 eral Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the 7 Comptroller of the Currency, and State bank regu- 8 lators to encourage those entities to not require 9 lenders to increase their reserves on account of re- 10 ceiving payments made by the Secretary under sub- 11 section (b); 12 (2) waive statutory limits on maximum loan 13 maturities for any covered loan durations where the 14 lender provides a deferral and extends the maturity 15 of covered loans during the 1-year period following 16 the date of enactment of this Act; and 17 (3) when necessary to provide more time be- 18 cause of the potential of higher volumes, travel re- 19 strictions, and the inability to access some properties 20 during the COVID–19 pandemic, extend lender site 21 visit requirements to— 22 (A) not more than 60 days (which may be 23 extended at the discretion of the Secretary) 24 after the occurrence of an adverse event, other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H498.IH H498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 498 IH than a payment default, causing a loan to be 1 classified as in liquidation; and 2 (B) not more than 90 days after a pay- 3 ment default. 4 (d) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section limits the au- 5 thority of the Secretary to make payments pursuant to 6 subsection (b) with respect to a covered loan solely because 7 the covered loan has been sold in the secondary market. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Feb 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H498.IH H498 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS