Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2006
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2006 - (Sec. 3) Amends the National Housing Act to modify requirements for determining the maximum insurable mortgage amount.
Increases the maximum insurable mortgage amount to the full median house price in a home's area, allowing the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure up to 100% of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC, or Freddie Mac) conforming loan limit. Increases the minimum loan limit (floor) from 48% to 65% of such limit.
(Sec. 4) Extends the permissible FHA mortgage term from 35 to 40 years.
(Sec. 5) Revises cash downpayment requirements. Repeals the requirement that a minimum of three percent of the estimated acquisition cost be paid down. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to determine the downpayment amount based on factors commensurate with the likelihood of default.
(Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to reinstate the current downpayment requirement if defaults increase beyond a specified ratio. Requires the Secretary to make default determinations for each of the five years following enactment of this Act, and report on them annually to Congress, including their effect upon the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF).
Instructs the Secretary not to count among such defaults any on properties in disaster areas.
(Sec. 7) Authorizes the Secretary to establish, for a mortgage secured by a one- to four-family dwelling, a mortgage insurance premium structure involving a single premium payment collected prior to the insurance of the mortgage or annual payments, subject to specified maximum up-front and annual premium amounts. Allows the premium rate to vary during the mortgage term, as long as the basis for determining the variable rate is established before execution of the mortgage.
Establishes a premium reduction incentive for timely payment of permiums over a five-year period.
Requires prior notice to mortgagees and Congress in order to establish or alter a premium structure.
(Sec. 8) Makes the rehabilitation loan program an obligation of the MMIF instead of the General Insurance Fund (GIF).
The summary continues for 17 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on July 25, 2006. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 26, 2006: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
BOB NEY (R-OH) introduced it on April 6, 2006, and 106 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 51 Democrats, 54 Republicans, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 6, 2006, 7462 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7351 days ago, on July 26, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers