PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9003-9004)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Aug 6, 2009
Federal Board of Certification Act of 2009 - Establishes a Federal Board of Certification to certify that the mortgages within a security instrument meet the underlying standards they claim to meet with regards to such mortgage characteristics as: (1) documentation; (2) loan to value ratios; (3) debt service to income ratios; and (4) borrower credit standards and geographic concentration. States that the purpose of this certification process is to increase the transparency, predictability, and reliability of securitized mortgage products.
Authorizes market participants, including firms that package mortgage loans into mortgage securities, to elect to have their mortgage securities evaluated by the Board.
Authorizes the Board to: (1) promulgate regulations establishing enumerated security standards to use in certifying mortgage securities; (2) establish uniform principles and standards and report forms for the regular examination of such securities; and (3) develop uniform reporting systems for ascertaining mortgage security risk.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Grants the Board access to all books, accounts, records, reports, files, memorandums, papers, things, and property belonging to or in use by federal financial institutions regulatory agencies.
Requires any publication, transmission, or webpage containing an advertisement for or invitation to buy a mortgage security to carry a disclaimer that certification by the Federal Board of Certification can in no way be considered a guarantee of the mortgage security, but is merely a judgment of the degree of risk offered by the security in question.
People & committees
Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME] · R–ME
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. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9003-9004)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9002-9003)
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 14, 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.1592 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.1592 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.1592 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.1592 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.