LEP Data Acquisition in Mortgage Lending Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4783 To require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to require each enterprise to include a preferred language question on the form known as the Uniform Residential Loan Application, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to require each enterprise to include a preferred language question on the form known as the Uniform Residential Loan Application, 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 ‘‘LEP Data Acquisition 4 in Mortgage Lending Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4783.IH H4783 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4783 IH SEC. 2. PREFERRED LANGUAGE QUESTION. 1 Subpart A of part 2 of subtitle A of title 13 of the 2 Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 3 U.S.C. 4541 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 1329. UNIFORM RESIDENTIAL LOAN APPLICATION. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, not later 7 than February 1, 2020, require each enterprise to include 8 a preferred language question, that is optional for bor- 9 rowers, on the form known as the Uniform Residential 10 Loan Application and include such question in the form 11 in which it was presented for inclusion on the Uniform 12 Residential Loan Application by the Federal Housing Fi- 13 nance Agency on October 20, 2017 as also written in sub- 14 section (b). 15 ‘‘(b) FORM OF QUESTION.—The preferred language 16 question on the Uniform Residential Loan Application 17 shall read as follows: 18 ‘‘Language Preference—Your loan transaction 19 is likely to be conducted in English. This question 20 requests information to see if communications are 21 available to assist you in your preferred language. 22 Please be aware that communications may NOT be 23 available in your preferred language. 24 ‘‘Optional—Mark the language you would pre- 25 fer, if available: English — Chinese — Korean — 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4783.IH H4783 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4783 IH Spanish — Tagalog — Vietnamese — Other — I do 1 not wish to respond. 2 ‘‘Your answer will NOT negatively affect your 3 mortgage application. Your answer does not mean 4 the Lender or Other Loan Participants agree to 5 communicate or provide documents in your preferred 6 language. However, it may let them assist you or di- 7 rect you to persons who can assist you. Language 8 assistance and resources may be available through 9 housing counseling agencies approved by the U.S. 10 Department of Housing and Urban Development. 11 ‘‘To find a housing counseling agency, contact 12 one of the following Federal Government agencies: 13 ‘‘U.S. Department of Housing and Urban De- 14 velopment (HUD) at (800) 569–4287 or 15 www.hud.gov/counseling. 16 ‘‘Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 17 (CFPB) at (855) 411–2372 or 18 www.consumerfinance.gov/find-ahousing-counselor. 19 ‘‘(c) RESPONSE DATA.—Any response of a borrower 20 to the question described in subsection (a) shall be re- 21 corded by the mortgage originator of the borrower and 22 such mortgage originator shall transfer the record of such 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4783.IH H4783 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4783 IH response to any person who purchases or services the 1 mortgage of the borrower.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4783.IH H4783 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS