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(TheWeekInCongress.com) May 7, 2008 - The House agreed to Senate amendments to HR 3221 originally passed by the House as an Energy bill. The Senate removed text of HR 3221 and replaced it with a finance package aiming to ease the plight of those entrenched in escalating mortgage interest rates.

The bill would spend $2.7 billion to leverage $300 billion in refinanced fixed rate mortgages for owner-occupied homes, not speculators, caught up in subprime interest rate expansions and other mortgage market headaches.

Some provisions are voluntary. For lenders willing to take a significant write-down (to 85% of the market value of the property) on a mortgage the FHA will pay off the lender and write a new FHA insured mortgage at the lower amount. Profits for selling or refinancing the house will be shared with the federal government to avoid speculators gaming the system for quick profit. Higher risk borrowers must make six or more monthly payments before finalizing with a new FHA mortgage. The program expires in two years.

The bill as finally passed by the House includes provisions and entire content from housing finance-related bills previously passed or considered by House committees:

HR 1852, provides flexibility to the FHA to insure housing loans for low- and moderate-income buyers during economic cycles, modernizes the FHA single family program by better reflecting enhancements in loan-level risk assessments and changes to the mortgage market and adjusts loan limits for the single family program to reflect rising house prices and the increasing costs of new construction.

Also included is HR 1066 to allow Federal savings associations to make investments, directly or indirectly, each of which is designed to promote the public welfare, including the welfare of low- and moderate-income communities or families through providing housing, services and jobs.

Text from HR 1427 creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency with oversight authority to supervise and regulate the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Fannie May and Freddie Mac, respectively. The bill goes further to streamline and improve the agencies.

HR 1851 aims to improve in detail the low-income housing programs and assets.

HR 3221 The Original House bill with House Amendments, Senate Amendments and House amendments to the Senate amendments.

Reports on other bills included in HR 3221 amended:

HR 1852, HR 1066, & HR 1427

The Majority outline of bill provisions

$15 BILLION ON GRANTS AND LOANS TO AID STATES BUY UP FORECLOSED HOUSES

(TheWeekInCongress.com) May 8, 2008 - The general purpose of the bill is to provide the funds to “purchase and rehabilitate owner-vacated, foreclosed homes with the goal of stabilizing and occupying them as soon as possible, either through resale or rental to qualified families.”

“Loans are non-recourse and zero-interest to finance acquisition and rehabilitation costs. The federal government would be paid back from resale or, in the case of rental properties, refinance proceeds. Loans for homeownership properties must be repaid within three years. For rental properties, the maximum loan term is five years. In addition, the federal government would receive a percentage of any appreciation a property owner realizes at resale.”

HR 5818 bill report with amendments and votes.

Bills Adjusts Metal Content in Coins to Market Prices; Compensate States for Illegal Alien Incarceration Costs; Urge Humanitarian Aid to Chad-Darfur.

Coin Content

Coins would be made to look the same as current issues but may lack commodity metals.

HR 5512

Illegal Aliens

States would be compensated for the incarceration of illegal aliens with felony charges or more than one misdemeanors.

HR 1512

Aid to Chad

Genocide in Darfur threatens to spill over into Chad, Central African Republic. Multilateral intervention urged.

HRES 1011

The House is adjourned until May 13th and is expected to take up the war supplemental upon return.

The Senate continues work on S 2284 the National Flood Insurance Program bill.