PRINTER'S NO. 1788
No. 1470 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY THOMAS, MAY 2, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, MAY 2, 2005
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of December 3, 1959 (P.L.1688, No.621),
2 entitled, as amended, "An act to promote the health, safety
3 and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth by broadening
4 the market for housing for persons and families of low and
5 moderate income and alleviating shortages thereof, and by
6 assisting in the provision of housing for elderly persons
7 through the creation of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance
8 Agency as a public corporation and government
9 instrumentality; providing for the organization, membership
10 and administration of the agency, prescribing its general
11 powers and duties and the manner in which its funds are kept
12 and audited, empowering the agency to make housing loans to
13 qualified mortgagors upon the security of insured and
14 uninsured mortgages, defining qualified mortgagors and
15 providing for priorities among tenants in certain instances,
16 prescribing interest rates and other terms of housing loans,
17 permitting the agency to acquire real or personal property,
18 permitting the agency to make agreements with financial
19 institutions and Federal agencies, providing for the purchase
20 by persons of low and moderate income of housing units, and
21 approving the sale of housing units, permitting the agency to
22 sell housing loans, providing for the promulgation of
23 regulations and forms by the agency, prescribing penalties
24 for furnishing false information, empowering the agency to
25 borrow money upon its own credit by the issuance and sale of
26 bonds and notes and by giving security therefor, permitting
27 the refunding, redemption and purchase of such obligations by
28 the agency, prescribing remedies of holders of such bonds and
29 notes, exempting bonds and notes of the agency, the income
30 therefrom, and the income and revenues of the agency from
31 taxation, except transfer, death and gift taxes; making such
32 bonds and notes legal investments for certain purposes; and
33 indicating how the act shall become effective," further
1 providing for the Homeowner's Emergency Assistance Program;
2 and providing for biennial foreclosure study.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Section 401-C(a)(3) of the act of December 3,
6 1959 (P.L.1688, No.621), known as the Housing Finance Agency
7 Law, is repealed except as it pertains to mortgages insured by
8 the Federal Housing Finance Administration under Title II of the
9 National Housing Act (48 Stat. 1246, 12 U.S.C. 1707-1715z-18).
10 Section 2. Section 403-C(b) of the act is amended by adding
11 a paragraph to read:
12 Section 403-C. Notice Requirements.--* * *
13 (7) An application for mortgage assistance may be submitted
14 to the agency beyond the 30-day period specified in paragraph
15 (5), and, in such a case, the agency shall make a determination
16 within sixty (60) calendar days of receipt of the mortgagor's
17 application. Such a late application will not stay any
18 foreclosure proceeding, but, in the event the application is
19 approved, any such foreclosure proceeding shall be stayed.
20 Section 3. Section 404-C(a)(3) of the act is repealed except
21 as it pertains to mortgages insured by the Federal Housing
22 Finance Administration under Title II of the National Housing
23 Act (48 Stat. 1246, 12 U.S.C. 1707-1715z-18).
24 Section 4. Section 405-C of the act is amended by adding a
25 subsection to read:
26 Section 405-C. Assistance Payments.--* * *
27 (b.1) In lieu of paying arrears under subsection (a) or
28 ongoing assistance under subsection (b), the agency may fund a
29 compromise payoff of the balance of the mortgage, if the agency
30 in its sole discretion determines that structuring assistance in
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1 such a manner would be in the best interest of the agency and
2 the mortgagor.
3 Section 5. Section 406-C(5) of the act is amended to read:
4 Section 406-C. Repayment.--Upon approval of mortgage
5 assistance, the agency shall enter into an agreement with the
6 mortgagor for repayment of all mortgage assistance made by the
7 agency plus interest as provided in paragraph (5). The agreement
8 shall provide for monthly payments by the mortgagor and be
9 subject to the following provisions:
10 * * *
11 (5) Interest shall accrue on all mortgage assistance made by
12 the agency at the rate [of nine (9) percent per annum.]
13 established by the Secretary of Banking as the maximum lawful
14 rate of interest for residential mortgages, pursuant to the
15 authority granted under the act of January 30, 1974 (P.L.13,
16 No.6), referred to as the Loan Interest and Protection Law, for
17 the month preceding the date that interest starts to accrue.
18 Interest shall start to accrue whenever the mortgagor begins to
19 make repayment under this section. Interest shall accrue only
20 during the period in which the mortgagor is required to make
21 repayment under this section. When any mortgage for which
22 mortgage assistance was made is paid, interest shall then accrue
23 on all mortgage assistance due and owing at the same rate and on
24 the same basis as the mortgage for which the mortgage assistance
25 was made.
26 * * *
27 Section 6. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
28 Section 412-C. Biennial Foreclosure Study.--Two years
29 following the effective date of this section, and every two
30 years thereafter, the agency shall conduct a study of
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1 foreclosures in this Commonwealth, using data accumulated from
2 applications for assistance under this article and including
3 recommendations for addressing any problems identified in the
4 study.
5 Section 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
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