Coronavirus Housing Counseling Improvement Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 404 To provide funding for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. REED, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. COONS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BENNET, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To provide funding for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Housing 4 Counseling Improvement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S404.IS S404 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 404 IS SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR HOUSING COUNSELING SERVICES. 1 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.—Congress finds 2 that— 3 (1) the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 4 (COVID–19) continues to negatively impact the in- 5 comes of millions of homeowners, renters, individuals 6 experiencing homelessness, and individuals at risk of 7 homelessness, making it difficult for them to pay 8 their mortgages or rents on time; 9 (2) housing counseling is critical to ensuring 10 that homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing 11 homelessness, and individuals at risk of homeless- 12 ness have the resources they need to manage finan- 13 cial hardships from the COVID–19 crisis; 14 (3) loan preservation and foreclosure mitigation 15 services are also critical to address the needs of 16 homeowners who lose employment and income be- 17 cause of the pandemic and who face serious delin- 18 quency or home loan default, or are in foreclosing 19 proceedings during this period; and 20 (4) evaluations from the National Foreclosure 21 Mitigation Counseling program revealed that home- 22 owners at risk of or facing foreclosure are better 23 served when they have access to a housing counselor 24 and a range of tools and resources to help them 25 avoid losing their home and have the support they 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S404.IS S404 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 404 IS need to tailor the best possible response to their sit- 1 uation. 2 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to the Neighborhood Rein- 4 vestment Corporation (in this section referred to as the 5 ‘‘Corporation’’) established under the Neighborhood Rein- 6 vestment Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) 7 $700,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 for housing counseling 8 services, which shall remain available until September 30, 9 2024. 10 (c) PRIORITIZATION OF HOUSING COUNSELING 11 SERVICES.—Of any grant funds made available pursuant 12 to subsection (b), not less than 40 percent shall be pro- 13 vided to counseling organizations that target counseling 14 services to minority and low-income homeowners, renters, 15 individuals experiencing homelessness, and individuals at 16 risk of homelessness or provide such services in neighbor- 17 hoods with high concentrations of minority and low-in- 18 come homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing home- 19 lessness, and individuals at risk of homelessness. 20 (d) ELIGIBLE USES.—Amounts made available pur- 21 suant to subsection (b) may be used in such amounts as 22 the Corporation determines for costs of— 23 (1) public education and outreach; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S404.IS S404 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 404 IS (2) direct services, including the full range of 1 services provided by housing counselors to assist 2 homeowners, including manufactured homeowners, 3 regardless of financing type, renters, individuals ex- 4 periencing homelessness, and individuals at risk of 5 homelessness, including the practices, tools, and in- 6 novations in foreclosure mitigation that were utilized 7 in the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling 8 Program, and financial capability, credit counseling, 9 homeless counseling, and rental counseling; 10 (3) equipment and technology, including broad- 11 band internet and equipment upgrades needed to en- 12 sure timely and effective service delivery; 13 (4) training, including capacitating housing 14 counseling staff in various modes of counseling, in- 15 cluding rental and foreclosure, delivery of remote 16 counseling utilizing improved technology, enhanced 17 network security, and supportive options for the de- 18 livery of client services; and 19 (5) administration and oversight of the program 20 in accordance with the rate of the Corporation for 21 program administration. 22 (e) DISBURSEMENT.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall dis- 24 burse all grant funds made available pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S404.IS S404 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 404 IS subsection (b) as expeditiously as possible, through 1 grants to housing counseling intermediaries ap- 2 proved by the Department of Housing and Urban 3 Development, State housing finance agencies, and 4 NeighborWorks organizations. 5 (2) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount pro- 6 vided to NeighborWorks organizations under this 7 section shall not exceed 15 percent of the total of 8 grant funds made available pursuant to subsection 9 (b). 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S404.IS S404 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS