| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1178 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To provide for accurate energy appraisals in connection with residential |
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| 6 | 6 | | mortgage loans, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH27, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. B |
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| 10 | 10 | | ENNETintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred |
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| 11 | 11 | | to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To provide for accurate energy appraisals in connection with |
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| 14 | 14 | | residential mortgage loans, and for other purposes. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Getting Renewable and 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Energy Efficient Neighborhoods Appraisals Act of 2025’’ 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | or the ‘‘GREEN Appraisals Act of 2025’’. 6 |
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| 23 | 23 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEC. 2. GETTING RENEWABLE AND ENERGY EFFICIENT 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | NEIGHBORHOODS ACCURATE ENERGY AP-2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | PRAISALS. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) D |
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| 28 | 28 | | ISCLOSURE.—The head of each covered agency 4 |
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| 29 | 29 | | shall require that any creditor to which an application for 5 |
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| 30 | 30 | | a covered loan is made shall provide to the borrower, on 6 |
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| 31 | 31 | | the same date that the creditor delivers or places in the 7 |
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| 32 | 32 | | mail the disclosures described under section 8 |
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| 33 | 33 | | 1026.19(e)(1)(iii)(A) of title 12, Code of Federal Regula-9 |
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| 34 | 34 | | tions, for such loan, a written disclosure that includes the 10 |
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| 35 | 35 | | following: 11 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (1) A statement that the prospective borrower 12 |
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| 37 | 37 | | or current homeowner may provide an energy report, 13 |
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| 38 | 38 | | or any information in such report, regarding the 14 |
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| 39 | 39 | | property subject to the covered loan to the creditor 15 |
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| 40 | 40 | | or to a qualified appraiser or other interested party 16 |
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| 41 | 41 | | for consideration during a home appraisal or appli-17 |
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| 42 | 42 | | cation for a covered loan. 18 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (2) A statement that the prospective borrower 19 |
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| 44 | 44 | | under the covered loan has the right to request an 20 |
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| 45 | 45 | | energy report regarding the property subject to the 21 |
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| 46 | 46 | | covered loan. 22 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (3) A statement that, in developing an ap-23 |
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| 48 | 48 | | praisal in connection with such covered loan— 24 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (A) a qualified appraiser will take the in-25 |
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| 50 | 50 | | formation in the report into consideration; and 26 |
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| 53 | 53 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 54 | 54 | | (B) the appraisers’ final opinion of the 1 |
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| 55 | 55 | | value of the property may be higher, lower, or 2 |
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| 56 | 56 | | no different than if the energy report had not 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | been available for the appraiser to review. 4 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (4) A statement that, as with any other data 5 |
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| 59 | 59 | | considered by the appraiser that affects the apprais-6 |
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| 60 | 60 | | er’s opinion of the value of a property, consideration 7 |
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| 61 | 61 | | of such data may help or hurt the ability of the pro-8 |
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| 62 | 62 | | spective borrower to obtain a covered loan. 9 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (b) R |
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| 64 | 64 | | EQUIREDANALYSIS.—In connection with a cov-10 |
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| 65 | 65 | | ered loan, the creditor under such loan shall, in under-11 |
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| 66 | 66 | | writing the loan, use the appraised value of the subject 12 |
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| 67 | 67 | | property value as determined by a qualified appraiser. The 13 |
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| 68 | 68 | | consideration of an energy report by the qualified ap-14 |
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| 69 | 69 | | praiser may not be used as a basis to reject a home ap-15 |
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| 70 | 70 | | praisal or application for a covered loan. 16 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (c) C |
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| 72 | 72 | | ONSIDERATION OF ENERGYCHARACTERIS-17 |
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| 73 | 73 | | TICS.—On and after March 1, 2026, the head of each cov-18 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ered agency shall require, with respect to any covered loan 19 |
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| 75 | 75 | | for a property for which an energy report is available, that 20 |
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| 76 | 76 | | upon the prospective borrower’s consent the creditor shall 21 |
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| 77 | 77 | | provide the appraiser with the energy report when the ap-22 |
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| 78 | 78 | | praiser receives the assignment, and any underwriting or 23 |
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| 79 | 79 | | verification systems used by the creditor shall accommo-24 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 82 | 82 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 83 | 83 | | date any appraisal that takes the energy report into con-1 |
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| 84 | 84 | | sideration. 2 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (d) C |
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| 86 | 86 | | ONSIDERATION OF INFORMATION.—A qualified 3 |
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| 87 | 87 | | appraiser to whom an energy report is provided in connec-4 |
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| 88 | 88 | | tion with a covered loan shall take the information in such 5 |
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| 89 | 89 | | report into consideration when developing an appraised 6 |
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| 90 | 90 | | value of the property. In developing the appraised value 7 |
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| 91 | 91 | | of the property, the qualified appraiser shall take into con-8 |
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| 92 | 92 | | sideration— 9 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (1) the energy efficiency characteristics of the 10 |
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| 94 | 94 | | property for which the report was prepared, any re-11 |
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| 95 | 95 | | newable energy related features of such property, es-12 |
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| 96 | 96 | | timated energy savings for such property, the energy 13 |
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| 97 | 97 | | consumption for such property relative to com-14 |
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| 98 | 98 | | parable homes, or any one or more of such items; 15 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (2) whether such characteristics of the property 16 |
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| 100 | 100 | | are relevant to the market value of the property; and 17 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (3) any additional information, as determined 18 |
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| 102 | 102 | | by the relevant head of a covered agency. 19 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (e) P |
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| 104 | 104 | | ORTABILITY.—Upon the request of a prospective 20 |
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| 105 | 105 | | borrower under a covered loan, the creditor shall provide 21 |
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| 106 | 106 | | a copy of an energy report with respect to the property, 22 |
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| 107 | 107 | | at no cost, to the prospective borrower. 23 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (f) G |
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| 109 | 109 | | UIDANCE.— 24 |
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| 112 | 112 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 113 | 113 | | (1) IN GENERAL.—The heads of the covered 1 |
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| 114 | 114 | | agencies, after consultation with the advisory com-2 |
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| 115 | 115 | | mittee established pursuant to paragraph (2), shall 3 |
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| 116 | 116 | | jointly prescribe guidance for creditors to implement 4 |
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| 117 | 117 | | this section which— 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | (A) shall confirm the acceptance, by each 6 |
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| 119 | 119 | | of the covered agencies, of all applicable ap-7 |
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| 120 | 120 | | proaches to value utilized by appraisers to dem-8 |
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| 121 | 121 | | onstrate market reaction to energy efficiency 9 |
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| 122 | 122 | | and renewable energy; 10 |
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| 123 | 123 | | (B) shall set forth procedures for consumer 11 |
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| 124 | 124 | | disclosures, the preparation and sharing of en-12 |
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| 125 | 125 | | ergy reports, and the provision of the reports to 13 |
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| 126 | 126 | | qualified appraisers; and 14 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (C) shall not provide for how an appraiser 15 |
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| 128 | 128 | | shall consider information in an energy report. 16 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (2) A |
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| 130 | 130 | | DVISORY COMMITTEE .—The heads of the 17 |
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| 131 | 131 | | covered agencies shall jointly establish an advisory 18 |
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| 132 | 132 | | committee of stakeholders to advise the heads of the 19 |
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| 133 | 133 | | covered agencies in carrying out this section, which 20 |
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| 134 | 134 | | shall consist of representatives of housing advocates, 21 |
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| 135 | 135 | | energy efficiency and renewable energy organiza-22 |
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| 136 | 136 | | tions, energy raters, home builders, architects, sin-23 |
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| 137 | 137 | | gle-family mortgage creditors, consumer advocates, 24 |
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| 138 | 138 | | appraisers, and other interested groups. 25 |
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| 141 | 141 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 142 | 142 | | (3) SYSTEMS REQUIREMENTS .—Not later than 1 |
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| 143 | 143 | | the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the 2 |
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| 144 | 144 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the heads of the 3 |
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| 145 | 145 | | covered agencies shall jointly require a creditor origi-4 |
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| 146 | 146 | | nating a covered loan for which an energy report is 5 |
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| 147 | 147 | | prepared under this section to use origination and 6 |
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| 148 | 148 | | underwriting systems that review, score, or rate ap-7 |
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| 149 | 149 | | praisals in a manner consistent with the creditor 8 |
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| 150 | 150 | | guidance issued pursuant to paragraph (1). 9 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (g) D |
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| 152 | 152 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (1) C |
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| 154 | 154 | | OVERED AGENCY .—The term ‘‘covered 11 |
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| 155 | 155 | | agency’’ means— 12 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (A) the Federal Housing Administration of 13 |
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| 157 | 157 | | the Department of Housing and Urban Devel-14 |
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| 158 | 158 | | opment; 15 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (B) the Federal Housing Finance Agency, 16 |
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| 160 | 160 | | to the extent that such Agency oversees and 17 |
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| 161 | 161 | | regulates the enterprises, as such term is de-18 |
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| 162 | 162 | | fined in section 1303 of the Federal Housing 19 |
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| 163 | 163 | | Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness 20 |
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| 164 | 164 | | Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4502); except that any 21 |
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| 165 | 165 | | requirement imposed by this section on such 22 |
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| 166 | 166 | | Agency or the Director of such Agency shall be 23 |
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| 167 | 167 | | treated as a requirement with respect to the 24 |
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| 168 | 168 | | Federal National Mortgage Association and the 25 |
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| 171 | 171 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 172 | 172 | | Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, to 1 |
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| 173 | 173 | | be imposed and enforced pursuant to the au-2 |
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| 174 | 174 | | thority of such Director and Agency to super-3 |
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| 175 | 175 | | vise and regulate such enterprises; 4 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (C) the Government National Mortgage 5 |
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| 177 | 177 | | Association; 6 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (D) the Rural Housing Service of the De-7 |
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| 179 | 179 | | partment of Agriculture; and 8 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (E) the Department of Veterans Affairs. 9 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (2) C |
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| 182 | 182 | | OVERED LOAN.—The term ‘‘covered loan’’ 10 |
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| 183 | 183 | | means a residential mortgage loan (as such term is 11 |
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| 184 | 184 | | defined in section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act 12 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (15 U.S.C. 1602)) that is made, insured, purchased, 13 |
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| 186 | 186 | | guaranteed, or securitized by a covered agency or in-14 |
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| 187 | 187 | | tended to be purchased, guaranteed, or securitized 15 |
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| 188 | 188 | | by a covered agency. 16 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (3) C |
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| 190 | 190 | | REDITOR.—The term ‘‘creditor’’ has the 17 |
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| 191 | 191 | | meaning given such term in section 103 of the 18 |
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| 192 | 192 | | Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602). 19 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (4) E |
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| 194 | 194 | | NERGY REPORT.—The term ‘‘energy re-20 |
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| 195 | 195 | | port’’ means, with respect to a property, an analysis 21 |
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| 196 | 196 | | that— 22 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (A)(i) details the energy-related features in 23 |
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| 198 | 198 | | the home; 24 |
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| 201 | 201 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 202 | 202 | | (ii) estimates the expected energy costs or 1 |
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| 203 | 203 | | energy savings specific to the property, or both, 2 |
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| 204 | 204 | | based on specific information about the prop-3 |
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| 205 | 205 | | erty; or 4 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (iii) complies with both clauses (i) and (ii); 5 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (B) estimates the expected energy gen-6 |
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| 208 | 208 | | erated from installed renewable energy features; 7 |
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| 209 | 209 | | and 8 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (C) is conducted— 9 |
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| 211 | 211 | | (i) in accordance with the guidance 10 |
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| 212 | 212 | | issued under this section; 11 |
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| 213 | 213 | | (ii) in accordance with HERS by an 12 |
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| 214 | 214 | | individual certified by the Residential En-13 |
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| 215 | 215 | | ergy Service Network, unless the Secretary 14 |
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| 216 | 216 | | finds that the use of HERS does not fur-15 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ther the purposes of this section; 16 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (iii) by the Department of Energy’s 17 |
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| 219 | 219 | | Home Energy Score; or 18 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (iv) by other methods approved by the 19 |
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| 221 | 221 | | Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-20 |
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| 222 | 222 | | retary of Energy and the advisory com-21 |
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| 223 | 223 | | mittee established pursuant to subsection 22 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (f)(2), for use under this section, which 23 |
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| 225 | 225 | | shall include a quality assurance procedure 24 |
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| 228 | 228 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 229 | 229 | | approved by the Secretary, in consultation 1 |
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| 230 | 230 | | with the Secretary of Energy. 2 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (5) HERS.—The term ‘‘HERS’’ means the 3 |
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| 232 | 232 | | Home Energy Rating System of the Residential En-4 |
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| 233 | 233 | | ergy Service Network. 5 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (6) Q |
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| 235 | 235 | | UALIFIED APPRAISER.—The term ‘‘quali-6 |
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| 236 | 236 | | fied appraiser’’ means an appraiser who, with re-7 |
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| 237 | 237 | | spect to the assignment to conduct an appraisal— 8 |
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| 238 | 238 | | (A) is licensed, qualified, or certified to 9 |
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| 239 | 239 | | conduct an appraisal in the State in which the 10 |
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| 240 | 240 | | property is located; 11 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (B) has completed a course of 7 or more 12 |
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| 242 | 242 | | hours of continuing education on the consider-13 |
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| 243 | 243 | | ation of energy reports in the appraisal process 14 |
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| 244 | 244 | | that— 15 |
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| 245 | 245 | | (i) includes case studies; 16 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (ii) includes an examination, which 17 |
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| 247 | 247 | | the appraiser has passed; and 18 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (iii) was submitted to, and approved 19 |
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| 249 | 249 | | by, the Appraiser Qualifications Board of 20 |
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| 250 | 250 | | the Appraisal Foundation through its 21 |
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| 251 | 251 | | Course Approval Program; and 22 |
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| 254 | 254 | | •S 1178 IS |
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| 255 | 255 | | (C) is, at the time of agreeing to perform 1 |
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| 256 | 256 | | the assignment, competent to perform the as-2 |
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| 257 | 257 | | signment. 3 |
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| 258 | 258 | | Æ |
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