On June 2, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and House Committee on Financial Services Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced S. 1491 and H.R. 2642, the “Community Lender Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015,” in their respective chambers. Among the bills’ provisions is one that would restore and make permanent the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA), which expired at the end of 2014. The overall bills are “designed to provide regulatory relief to community banks and increase consumer protections,” according to a statement by Ranking Member Brown.
Both bills are cosponsored by every Democrat on the Banking Committee and the Financial Services Committee. They were referred to these committees in the respective chambers.
Stand-alone PTFA restoration and permanency legislation have been introduced in the Senate by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), S. 730, and in the House by Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), H.R. 1354 (see Memo, 3/16).
Until its expiration on December 31, 2014, the PTFA provided renters whose homes went into foreclosure with the ability to stay in their homes through the term of their lease or for 90 days, whichever was greater.
NLIHC’s factsheet on the PTFA is at http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/FactSheet_PTFA_2015.pdf