RELIEF Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4519 To provide mortgage relief and to provide eviction relief for renters related to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 10, 2020 Ms. HARRIS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To provide mortgage relief and to provide eviction relief for renters related to the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 ‘‘Rent Emergencies 4 Leave Impacts on Evicted Families Act’’ or the ‘‘RELIEF 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. MORTGAGE RELIEF. 7 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 8 ‘‘COVID–19 Mortgage Relief Act’’. 9 (b) MORTGAGE RELIEF.— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4519 IS (1) FORBEARANCE AND FORECLOSURE MORA- 1 TORIUM FOR COVERED MORTGAGE LOANS.—Section 2 4022 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056) is 3 amended— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘Federally backed mort- 5 gage loan’’ each place such term appears and 6 inserting ‘‘covered mortgage loan’’; and 7 (B) in subsection (a)— 8 (i) by amending paragraph (2) to read 9 as follows: 10 ‘‘(2) COVERED MORTGAGE LOAN.—The term 11 ‘covered mortgage loan’— 12 ‘‘(A) means any credit transaction that is 13 secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or other 14 equivalent consensual security interest on— 15 ‘‘(i) a 1- to 4-unit dwelling or on resi- 16 dential real property that includes a 1- to 17 4-unit dwelling; 18 ‘‘(ii) a manufactured home; or 19 ‘‘(iii) a covered recreational vehicle; 20 and 21 ‘‘(B) does not include a credit transaction 22 under an open end credit plan other than a re- 23 verse mortgage.’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4519 IS (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(3) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe- 3 riod’ means the 12-month period beginning on the 4 date of enactment of this Act. 5 ‘‘(4) COVERED RECREATIONAL VEHICLE.—The 6 term ‘‘ ‘covered recreational vehicle’ ’’ means a rec- 7 reational vehicle that is— 8 ‘‘(A) rented or leased to a tenant by the 9 owner; and 10 ‘‘(B) occupied by the tenant as the resi- 11 dence of the tenant. 12 ‘‘(5) MANUFACTURED HOME.—The term ‘man- 13 ufactured home’ has the meaning given the term in 14 section 603 of the National Manufactured Housing 15 Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 16 U.S.C. 5402).’’. 17 (2) AUTOMATIC FORBEARANCE FOR DELIN- 18 QUENT BORROWERS.—Section 4022(c) of the 19 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056(c)) is amended by in- 20 serting after paragraph (8), as added by paragraph 21 (5) of this subsection, the following: 22 ‘‘(9) AUTOMATIC FORBEARANCE FOR DELIN- 23 QUENT BORROWERS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4519 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 1 other law governing forbearance relief— 2 ‘‘(i) any borrower whose covered mort- 3 gage loan became 60 days delinquent be- 4 tween March 13, 2020, and the date of en- 5 actment of this paragraph, and who has 6 not already received a forbearance under 7 subsection (b), shall automatically be 8 granted a 60-day forbearance that begins 9 on the date of enactment of this para- 10 graph, provided that a borrower shall not 11 be considered delinquent for purposes of 12 this paragraph while making timely pay- 13 ments or otherwise performing under a 14 trial modification or other loss mitigation 15 agreement; and 16 ‘‘(ii) any borrower whose covered 17 mortgage loan becomes 60 days delinquent 18 between the date of enactment of this 19 paragraph and the end of the covered pe- 20 riod, and who has not already received a 21 forbearance under subsection (b), shall 22 automatically be granted a 60-day forbear- 23 ance that begins on the 60th day of delin- 24 quency, provided that a borrower shall not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4519 IS be considered delinquent for purposes of 1 this paragraph while making timely pay- 2 ments or otherwise performing under a 3 trial modification or other loss mitigation 4 agreement. 5 ‘‘(B) INITIAL EXTENSION.—An automatic 6 forbearance provided under subparagraph (A) 7 shall be extended for up to an additional 120 8 days upon the request of the borrower, oral or 9 written, submitted to the servicer of the bor- 10 rower affirming that the borrower is experi- 11 encing a financial hardship that prevents the 12 borrower from making timely payments on the 13 covered mortgage loan due, directly or indi- 14 rectly, to the COVID–19 emergency. 15 ‘‘(C) SUBSEQUENT EXTENSION.—A for- 16 bearance extended under subparagraph (B) 17 shall be extended for up to an additional 180 18 days, up to a maximum of 360 days (including 19 the period of automatic forbearance), upon the 20 borrower’s request, oral or written, submitted to 21 the borrower’s servicer affirming that the bor- 22 rower is experiencing a financial hardship that 23 prevents the borrower from making timely pay- 24 ments on the covered mortgage loan due, di- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4519 IS rectly or indirectly, to the COVID–19 emer- 1 gency. 2 ‘‘(D) RIGHT TO ELECT TO CONTINUE MAK- 3 ING PAYMENTS.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 5 forbearance provided under this paragraph, 6 the borrower of the covered mortgage loan 7 may elect to continue making regular pay- 8 ments on the covered mortgage loan. 9 ‘‘(ii) LOSS MITIGATION.—A borrower 10 who makes an election described in clause 11 (i) shall be offered a loss mitigation option 12 pursuant to subsection (d) within 30 days 13 of resuming regular payments to address 14 any payment deficiency during the forbear- 15 ance. 16 ‘‘(E) RIGHT TO SHORTEN FORBEAR- 17 ANCE.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the request of 19 a borrower, any period of forbearance pro- 20 vided to the borrower under this paragraph 21 may be shortened. 22 ‘‘(ii) LOSS MITIGATION.—A borrower 23 who makes a request under clause (i) shall 24 be offered a loss mitigation option pursu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4519 IS ant to subsection (d) within 30 days of re- 1 suming regular payments to address any 2 payment deficiency during the forbearance. 3 ‘‘(10) AUTOMATIC FORBEARANCE FOR CERTAIN 4 REVERSE MORTGAGE LOANS.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—When any covered 6 mortgage loan that is also a federally insured 7 reverse mortgage loan, during the covered pe- 8 riod, is due and payable due to the death of the 9 last borrower or end of a deferral period or eli- 10 gible to be called due and payable due to a 11 property charge default, or if the borrower de- 12 faults on a property charge repayment plan, or 13 if the borrower defaults for failure to complete 14 property repairs, or if an obligation of the bor- 15 rower under the Security Instrument is not per- 16 formed, the mortgagee automatically shall be 17 granted a 6-month extension of— 18 ‘‘(i) the mortgagee’s deadline to re- 19 quest due and payable status from the De- 20 partment of Housing and Urban Develop- 21 ment; 22 ‘‘(ii) the mortgagee’s deadline to send 23 notification to the mortgagor or his or her 24 heirs that the loan is due and payable; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4519 IS ‘‘(iii) the deadline to initiate fore- 1 closure; 2 ‘‘(iv) any reasonable diligence period 3 related to foreclosure or the Mortgagee Op- 4 tional Election; 5 ‘‘(v) if applicable, the deadline to ob- 6 tain the due and payable appraisal; and 7 ‘‘(vi) any claim submission deadline, 8 including the 6-month acquired property 9 marketing period. 10 ‘‘(B) FORBEARANCE PERIOD.—The mort- 11 gagee shall not request due and payable status 12 from the Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 13 velopment nor initiate foreclosure during this 6- 14 month period described in subparagraph (A), 15 which shall be considered a forbearance period. 16 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION.—A forbearance provided 17 under subparagraph (B) and related deadline 18 extension authorized under subparagraph (A) 19 shall be extended for an additional 180 days 20 upon— 21 ‘‘(i) the request of the borrower, oral 22 or written, submitted to the servicer o the 23 borrower affirming that the borrower is ex- 24 periencing a financial hardship that pre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4519 IS vents the borrower from making payments 1 on property charges, completing property 2 repairs, or performing an obligation of the 3 borrower under the Security Instrument 4 due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID– 5 19 emergency; 6 ‘‘(ii) the request of a non-borrowing 7 spouse, oral or written, submitted to the 8 servicer affirming that the non-borrowing 9 spouse has been unable to satisfy all cri- 10 teria for the Mortgagee Optional Election 11 program due, directly or indirectly, to the 12 COVID–19 emergency, or to perform all 13 actions necessary to become an eligible 14 non-borrowing spouse following the death 15 of all borrowers; or 16 ‘‘(iii) the request of a successor-in-in- 17 terest of the borrower, oral or written, sub- 18 mitted to the servicer affirming the dif- 19 ficulty of the heir in satisfying the reverse 20 mortgage loan due, directly or indirectly, 21 to the COVID–19 emergency. 22 ‘‘(D) CURTAILMENT OF DEBENTURE IN- 23 TEREST.—Where any covered mortgage loan 24 that is also a federally insured reverse mortgage 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4519 IS loan is in default during the covered period and 1 subject to a prior event which provides for cur- 2 tailment of debenture interest in connection 3 with a claim for insurance benefits, the curtail- 4 ment of debenture interest shall be suspended 5 during any forbearance period provided here- 6 in.’’. 7 (3) ADDITIONAL FORECLOSURE AND REPOSSES- 8 SION PROTECTIONS.—Section 4022(c) of the 9 CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056(c)) is amended— 10 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘may not 11 initiate any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure 12 process, move for a foreclosure judgment or 13 order of sale, or execute a foreclosure-related 14 eviction or foreclosure sale for not less than the 15 60-day period beginning on March 18, 2020’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘may not initiate or proceed with 17 any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process, 18 schedule a foreclosure sale, move for a fore- 19 closure judgment or order of sale, execute a 20 foreclosure related eviction or foreclosure sale 21 for 6 months after the date of enactment of the 22 COVID–19 Mortgage Relief Act’’; and 23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4519 IS ‘‘(3) REPOSSESSION MORATORIUM.—In the case 1 of personal property, including any recreational or 2 motor vehicle, used as a dwelling, no person may use 3 any judicial or non-judicial procedure to repossess or 4 otherwise take possession of the property for the 6- 5 month period beginning on the date of enactment of 6 this paragraph.’’. 7 (4) MORTGAGE FORBEARANCE REFORMS.—Sec- 8 tion 4022 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056) is 9 amended— 10 (A) in subsection (b), by striking para- 11 graphs (1), (2), and (3) and inserting the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the covered period, 14 a borrower with a covered mortgage loan who has 15 not obtained automatic forbearance pursuant to this 16 section and who is experiencing a financial hardship 17 that prevents the borrower from making timely pay- 18 ments on the covered mortgage loan due, directly or 19 indirectly, to the COVID–19 emergency may request 20 forbearance on the covered mortgage loan, regard- 21 less of delinquency status, by— 22 ‘‘(A) submitting a request, orally or in 23 writing, to the servicer of the covered mortgage 24 loan; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4519 IS ‘‘(B) affirming that the borrower is experi- 1 encing a financial hardship that prevents the 2 borrower from making timely payments on the 3 covered mortgage loan due, directly or indi- 4 rectly, to the COVID–19 emergency. 5 ‘‘(2) DURATION OF FORBEARANCE.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon a request by a 7 borrower to a servicer for forbearance under 8 paragraph (1), the forbearance shall be granted 9 by the servicer for the period requested by the 10 borrower, up to an initial length not more than 11 180 days, the length of which shall be extended 12 by the servicer, at the request of the borrower 13 for the period or periods requested, for a total 14 forbearance period of not more than 12 months. 15 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM FORBEARANCE 16 AMOUNTS.—For purposes of granting a forbear- 17 ance under this paragraph, a servicer may 18 grant an initial forbearance with a term of not 19 less than 90 days, provided that it is automati- 20 cally extended for an additional 90 days unless 21 the servicer confirms the borrower does not 22 want to renew the forbearance or that the bor- 23 rower is no longer experiencing a financial 24 hardship that prevents the borrower from mak- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4519.IS S4519 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4519 IS ing timely mortgage payments due, directly or 1 indirectly, to the COVID–19 emergency. 2 ‘‘(C) RIGHT TO SHORTEN FORBEAR- 3 ANCE.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the request of 5 a borrower, any period of forbearance de- 6 scribed under this paragraph may be 7 shortened. 8 ‘‘(ii) LOSS MITIGATION.—A borrower 9 who makes a request under clause (i) shall 10 be offered a loss mitigation option pursu- 11 ant to subsection (d) within 3 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]