[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 498 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 498
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize payments on
loans made under certain rural development loan programs, and for other
purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 28, 2021
Mrs. Axne (for herself, Mr. Golden, Mr. Balderson, and Ms. Blunt
Rochester) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
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A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to subsidize payments on
loans made under certain rural development loan programs, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Equal Aid Act''.
SEC. 2. SUBSIDY FOR CERTAIN RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOAN PAYMENTS.
(a) Definition of Covered Loan.--In this section, the term
``covered loan'' means a loan that is--
(1) made by an intermediary lender to an ultimate recipient
using a loan received under section 1323 of the Food Security
Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. 1932 note; Public Law 99-198) or section
310H of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7
U.S.C. 1936b; Public Law 113-79);
(2) made by a microenterprise development organization to a
microentrepreneur under section 379E of the Consolidated Farm
and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008s);
(3) a community facility loan made or guaranteed under
section 306(a)(1) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural
Development Act; or
(4) guaranteed under section 310B(g) of the Consolidated
Farm and Rural Development Act.
(b) Principal and Interest Payments.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to
in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall, subject to
paragraph (2), pay the principal, interest, and any associated
fees that are owed on a covered loan in a regular servicing
status--
(A) with respect to a covered loan made before the
date of enactment of this Act and not on deferment, for
the 9-month period beginning with the next payment due
on the covered loan;
(B) with respect to a covered loan made before the
date of enactment of this Act and on deferment, for the
9-month period beginning with the next payment due on
the covered loan after the deferment period; and
(C) with respect to a covered loan made during the
period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act
and ending on the date that is 6 months after that date
of enactment, for the 9-month period beginning with the
first payment due on the covered loan.
(2) Limitation on payment.--A single monthly payment of
principal, interest, and associated fees made under paragraph
(1) with respect to a covered loan in the last 3 months of the
9-month period described in paragraph (1) shall not exceed
$9,000.
(3) Timing of payment.--The Secretary shall begin making
payments under paragraph (1) on a covered loan not later than
30 days after the date on which the first payment described in
that paragraph is due.
(4) Application of payment.--Any payment made by the
Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be applied to the covered
loan such that the borrower is relieved of the obligation to
pay that amount.
(c) Other Requirements.--The Secretary shall--
(1) communicate and coordinate with the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, and State bank regulators to encourage those entities
to not require lenders to increase their reserves on account of
receiving payments made by the Secretary under subsection (b);
(2) waive statutory limits on maximum loan maturities for
any covered loan durations where the lender provides a deferral
and extends the maturity of covered loans during the 1-year
period following the date of enactment of this Act; and
(3) when necessary to provide more time because of the
potential of higher volumes, travel restrictions, and the
inability to access some properties during the COVID-19
pandemic, extend lender site visit requirements to--
(A) not more than 60 days (which may be extended at
the discretion of the Secretary) after the occurrence
of an adverse event, other than a payment default,
causing a loan to be classified as in liquidation; and
(B) not more than 90 days after a payment default.
(d) Effect.--Nothing in this section limits the authority of the
Secretary to make payments pursuant to subsection (b) with respect to a
covered loan solely because the covered loan has been sold in the
secondary market.
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