PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 25, 2013
Rebuilding American Homeownership Act of 2013 - Requires the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (Government sponsored enterprises or GSEs) to establish a program to provide for the refinancing of eligible mortgages. Authorizes a GSE to purchase, guarantee, service, sell, lend on the security of, refinance, or otherwise deal in eligible mortgages in carrying out such program.
Defines eligible mortgage as an existing first mortgage: (1) made for purchase of, or refinancing of another first mortgage, on a 1- to 4-family owner-occupied dwelling; (2) with a current loan-to-value ratio between 80% and 140%; (3) originated on or before May 31, 2009; and (4) not owned or guaranteed by a GSE. Requires the mortgagor to be a current borrower. Excludes from eligibility any mortgage insured or guaranteed by any program of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), or the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Requires that an eligible mortgage with existing credit coverage, in order to participate in the refinancing program, must continue to maintain or otherwise transfer such coverage to the new mortgage.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Sets the maximum term of the new mortgage at 30 years, and the maximum original principal obligation at the legal limit for conventional mortgages a GSE may purchase or guarantee.
Requires each GSE to charge a fee for any guarantee of the new mortgage.
People & committees
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · D–OR
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1373 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1373 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1373 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1373 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.