Native American Rural Homeownership Improvement Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2092 To permanently authorize the Native Community Development Financial In- stitutions lending program of the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 16, 2021 Ms. SMITH (for herself, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. THUNE, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To permanently authorize the Native Community Develop- ment Financial Institutions lending program of the De- partment of Agriculture, 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 ‘‘Native American Rural 4 Homeownership Improvement Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIVE CDFI RELENDING PROGRAM. 6 Section 502 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 7 1472) is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2092 IS ‘‘(j) SET ASIDE FOR NATIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOP- 1 MENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.— 2 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 3 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Alaska Native’ has the 4 meaning given the term ‘Native’ in section 3(b) 5 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 6 U.S.C. 1602(b)); 7 ‘‘(B) the term ‘appropriate congressional 8 committees’ means— 9 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Agriculture of 10 the Senate; 11 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Indian Affairs 12 of the Senate; 13 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Banking, 14 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 15 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Agriculture of 16 the House of Representatives; 17 ‘‘(v) the Committee on Natural Re- 18 sources of the House of Representatives; 19 and 20 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Financial 21 Services of the House of Representatives; 22 ‘‘(C) the term ‘community development fi- 23 nancial institution’ has the meaning given the 24 term in section 103 of the Community Develop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2092 IS ment Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702); 2 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the 3 meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 4 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance 5 and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 6 4103); 7 ‘‘(E) the term ‘Native community develop- 8 ment financial institution’ means an entity— 9 ‘‘(i) that has been certified as a com- 10 munity development financial institution by 11 the Secretary of the Treasury; 12 ‘‘(ii) that is not less than 50 percent 13 owned or controlled by members of Indian 14 Tribes, Alaska Native communities, or Na- 15 tive Hawaiian communities; and 16 ‘‘(iii) for which not less than 50 per- 17 cent of the activities of the entity serve In- 18 dian Tribes, Alaska Native communities, 19 or Native Hawaiian communities; 20 ‘‘(F) the term ‘Native Hawaiian’ has the 21 meaning given the term in section 801 of the 22 Native American Housing Assistance and Self- 23 Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221); 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2092 IS ‘‘(G) the term ‘priority Tribal land’ 1 means— 2 ‘‘(i) any land located within the 3 boundaries of— 4 ‘‘(I) an Indian reservation, pueb- 5 lo, or rancheria; or 6 ‘‘(II) a former reservation within 7 Oklahoma; 8 ‘‘(ii) any land not located within the 9 boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueb- 10 lo, or rancheria, the title to which is held— 11 ‘‘(I) in trust by the United States 12 for the benefit of an Indian Tribe or 13 an individual Indian; 14 ‘‘(II) by an Indian Tribe or an 15 individual Indian, subject to restric- 16 tion against alienation under laws of 17 the United States; or 18 ‘‘(III) by a dependent Indian 19 community; 20 ‘‘(iii) any land located within a region 21 established pursuant to section 7(a) of the 22 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 23 U.S.C. 1606(a)); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2092 IS ‘‘(iv) Hawaiian Home Lands, as de- 1 fined in section 801 of the Native Amer- 2 ican Housing Assistance and Self-Deter- 3 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221); or 4 ‘‘(v) those areas or communities des- 5 ignated by the Assistant Secretary of In- 6 dian Affairs of the Department of the Inte- 7 rior that are near, adjacent, or contiguous 8 to reservations where financial assistance 9 and social service programs are provided to 10 Indians because of their status as Indians. 11 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 12 is to— 13 ‘‘(A) increase homeownership opportunities 14 for Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Communities, 15 and Native Hawaiian communities in rural 16 areas; and 17 ‘‘(B) provide capital to Native community 18 development financial institutions to increase 19 the number of mortgage transactions carried 20 out by those institutions. 21 ‘‘(3) SET ASIDE FOR NATIVE CDFIS.—Of 22 amounts appropriated to make direct loans under 23 this section for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall 24 use $50,000,000 to make direct loans to Native 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2092 IS community development financial institutions in ac- 1 cordance with this subsection. 2 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—A Native 3 community development financial institution desiring 4 a loan under this subsection shall demonstrate that 5 the institution— 6 ‘‘(A) can provide the non-Federal cost 7 share required under paragraph (6); and 8 ‘‘(B) is able to originate and service loans 9 for single family homes. 10 ‘‘(5) LENDING REQUIREMENTS.—A Native com- 11 munity development financial institution that re- 12 ceives a loan pursuant to this subsection shall— 13 ‘‘(A) use those amounts to make loans to 14 borrowers— 15 ‘‘(i) who otherwise meet the require- 16 ments for a loan under this section; and 17 ‘‘(ii) who— 18 ‘‘(I) are members of an Indian 19 Tribe, an Alaska Native community, 20 or a Native Hawaiian community; or 21 ‘‘(II) maintain a household in 22 which not less 1 member is a member 23 of an Indian Tribe, an Alaska Native 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2092 IS community, or a Native Hawaiian 1 community; and 2 ‘‘(B) in making loans under subparagraph 3 (A), give priority to borrowers described in that 4 subparagraph who are residing on priority Trib- 5 al land. 6 ‘‘(6) NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Native community 8 development financial institution that receives a 9 loan under this section shall be required to 10 match not less than 20 percent of the amount 11 received. 12 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—In the case of a loan for 13 which amounts are used to make loans to bor- 14 rowers described in paragraph (5)(B), the Sec- 15 retary shall waive the non-Federal cost share 16 requirement described in subparagraph (A) with 17 respect to those loan amounts. 18 ‘‘(7) REPORTING.— 19 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT BY NATIVE 20 CDFIS.—Each Native community development 21 financial institution that receives a loan pursu- 22 ant to this subsection shall submit an annual 23 report to the Secretary on the lending activities 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2092 IS of the institution using the loan amounts, which 1 shall include— 2 ‘‘(i) a description of the outreach ef- 3 forts of the institution in local communities 4 to identify eligible borrowers; 5 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the institu- 6 tion leveraged additional capital to reach 7 prospective borrowers; 8 ‘‘(iii) the number of loan applications 9 received, approved, and deployed; 10 ‘‘(iv) the average loan amount; 11 ‘‘(v) the number of finalized loans 12 that were made on Tribal trust lands and 13 not on Tribal trust lands; and 14 ‘‘(vi) the number of finalized loans 15 that were made on priority Tribal land and 16 not priority Tribal land. 17 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 18 Not later than 1 year after the date of enact- 19 ment of this subsection, and every year there- 20 after, the Secretary shall submit to the appro- 21 priate congressional communities a report that 22 includes— 23 ‘‘(i) a list of loans made to Native 24 community development financial institu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2092 IS tions pursuant to this subsection, including 1 the name of the institution and the loan 2 amount; 3 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of loans made 4 under this section to members of Indian 5 Tribes, Alaska Native communities, and 6 Native Hawaiian communities, respectively, 7 including a breakdown of loans made to 8 households residing on and not on Tribal 9 trust lands; and 10 ‘‘(iii) the average loan amount made 11 by Native community development finan- 12 cial institutions pursuant to this sub- 13 section. 14 ‘‘(C) EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.—Not 15 later than 3 years after the date of enactment 16 of this subsection, the Secretary and the Sec- 17 retary of the Treasury shall conduct an evalua- 18 tion of and submit to the appropriate congres- 19 sional committees a report on the program 20 under this subsection, which shall— 21 ‘‘(i) evaluate the effectiveness of the 22 program, including an evaluation of the de- 23 mand for loans under the program; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2092 IS ‘‘(ii) include recommendations relating 1 to the program, including whether— 2 ‘‘(I) the program should be ex- 3 panded to such that all community de- 4 velopment financial institutions may 5 make loans under the program to the 6 borrowers described in paragraph (5); 7 and 8 ‘‘(II) the set aside amount para- 9 graph (3) should be modified in order 10 to match demand under the program. 11 ‘‘(8) GRANTS FOR OPERATIONAL SUPPORT.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 13 make grants to Native community development 14 financial institutions that receive a loan under 15 this section to provide operational support and 16 other related services to those institutions, sub- 17 ject to— 18 ‘‘(i) to the satisfactory performance, 19 as determined by the Secretary, of a Na- 20 tive community development financial insti- 21 tution in carrying out this section; and 22 ‘‘(ii) the availability of funding. 23 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A Native community de- 24 velopment financial institution that receives a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2092 IS loan under this section shall be eligible to re- 1 ceive an annual grant described in subpara- 2 graph (A) in an amount equal to not less than 3 20 percent and not more than 25 percent of the 4 total outstanding balance of loans made by the 5 Native community development financial insti- 6 tution under the program under this section as 7 of the date on which the grant is awarded. 8 ‘‘(9) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST- 9 ANCE.—There is authorized to be appropriated to 10 the Secretary $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 11 2022, 2023, and 2024— 12 ‘‘(A) to provide technical assistance to Na- 13 tive community development financial institu- 14 tions— 15 ‘‘(i) relating to homeownership and 16 other housing-related assistance provided 17 by the Secretary; and 18 ‘‘(ii) to assist those institutions to 19 perform outreach to eligible homebuyers 20 relating to the loan program under this 21 section; or 22 ‘‘(B) to provide funding to a national orga- 23 nization representing Native American housing 24 interests to perform outreach and provide tech- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2092 IS nical assistance as described in clauses (i) and 1 (ii), respectively, of subparagraph (A).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jul 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2092.IS S2092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS