Access to Affordable Housing for Veterans Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2835 To include information regarding VA home loans in the Informed Consumer Choice Disclosure required to be provided to a prospective FHA borrower who is a veteran, to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the provision of a certificate of eligibility for VA home loans during the preseparation counseling for members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 12, 2019 Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To include information regarding VA home loans in the Informed Consumer Choice Disclosure required to be provided to a prospective FHA borrower who is a vet- eran, to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the provision of a certificate of eligibility for VA home loans during the preseparation counseling for members of the Armed Forces, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2835.IS S2835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2835 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Affordable 2 Housing for Veterans Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. FHA INFORMED CONSUMER CHOICE DISCLOSURE. 4 Section 203(f)(2)(A) of the National Housing Act (12 5 U.S.C. 1709(f)(2)(A)) is amended— 6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘loan-to-value 7 ratio’’; and 8 (2) by inserting before the semicolon the fol- 9 lowing: ‘‘, and (ii) in the case of a prospective bor- 10 rower who is a veteran (as defined in section 101 of 11 title 38, United States Code) who would qualify for 12 a loan guaranteed or insured under chapter 37 of 13 title 38, United States Code, in connection with such 14 a loan, assuming prevailing interest rates’’. 15 SEC. 3. UNIFORM RESIDENTIAL LOAN APPLICATION. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Federal 17 Housing Finance Agency shall direct the Federal National 18 Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mort- 19 gage Corporation to revise the Uniform Residential Loan 20 Application developed by those enterprises, not later than 21 December 31, 2020, to include— 22 (1) in the borrower information portion of the 23 application, a check box for the applicant to check 24 to indicate that the applicant is a veteran; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2835.IS S2835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2835 IS (2) adjacent to the matter required by para- 1 graph (1) and in boldface type, the following state- 2 ment: ‘‘If you are a veteran, you may be eligible for 3 a VA mortgage.’’; and 4 (3) adjacent to the matter required by para- 5 graph (2), a blank line for the borrower to initial, 6 and a statement that all applicants must initial the 7 blank line to confirm that they have read the state- 8 ment required by paragraph (2). 9 (b) PROHIBITION.—The information required to be 10 included under subsection (a) shall not appear after the 11 borrower signature line of the Uniform Residential Loan 12 Application. 13 SEC. 4. PRESEPARATION COUNSELING FOR MEMBERS OF 14 THE ARMED FORCES REGARDING DEPART- 15 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HOME LOAN 16 SERVICES AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE BENE- 17 FITS. 18 Section 1142(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 19 amended— 20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (17) and (18) 21 as paragraphs (18) and (19), respectively; and 22 (2) by striking paragraph (16) and inserting 23 the following new paragraphs: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2835.IS S2835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2835 IS ‘‘(16) Information on the availability of home 1 loan services by and housing assistance benefits of 2 the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the 3 authority of the member— 4 ‘‘(A) to use an honorable discharge certifi- 5 cate as a certificate of eligibility to apply for a 6 guaranteed housing loan from the Department 7 of Veterans Affairs; or 8 ‘‘(B) to request, during the preseparation 9 process or after separation, a specific certificate 10 of eligibility for such a loan under section 11 3702(c) of title 38. 12 ‘‘(17) Counseling on responsible borrowing 13 practices.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2835.IS S2835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS