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   108th Congress  
     2nd  Session            COMMITTEE PRINT           Committee
                                                       Print 108-D
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

 
  A CHRONOLOGY OF HOUSING LEGISLATION AND SELECTED EXECUTIVE ACTIONS,
                               1892-2003

                               ----------                              

                              A REPORT BY
                   THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

                               ----------                              

                       Printed for the use of the

                    COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                      one hundred eighth congress
                            second session  


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TONGRESS.#13

                               March 2004

                               ----------                              

    This report has not been officially adopted by the Committee on 
  Financial Services and may not necessarily reflect the views of its 
                                Members.



                               ----------                              

92-629              U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                            WASHINGTON : 2003
____________________________________________________________________________
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108th Congress 
 2nd Session                COMMITTEE PRINT                   Committee
                                                            Print 108-D
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


  A CHRONOLOGY OF HOUSING LEGISLATION AND SELECTED EXECUTIVE ACTIONS,

                               1892-2003

                               __________

                              A REPORT BY

                   THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

                               __________

                       Printed for the use of the

                    COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                      one hundred eighth congress

                            second session  


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TONGRESS.#13

                               March 2004

                               __________

    This report has not been officially adopted by the Committee on 
  Financial Services and may not necessarily reflect the views of its 
                                Members.

92-629              U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
                            WASHINGTON : 2003
____________________________________________________________________________
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov  Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512ÿ091800  
Fax: (202) 512ÿ092250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402ÿ090001




                 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES

                    MICHAEL G. OXLEY, Ohio, Chairman

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa                 BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska              PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania
RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana          MAXINE WATERS, California
SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama              CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York
MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware          LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois
PETER T. KING, New York              NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ, New York
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California          MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma             GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ROBERT W. NEY, Ohio                  DARLENE HOOLEY, Oregon
SUE W. KELLY, New York, Vice Chair   JULIA CARSON, Indiana
RON PAUL, Texas                      BRAD SHERMAN, California
PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio                GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
JIM RYUN, Kansas                     BARBARA LEE, California
STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio           JAY INSLEE, Washington
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois         DENNIS MOORE, Kansas
WALTER B. JONES, Jr., North          MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts
Carolina                             HAROLD E. FORD, Jr., Tennessee
DOUG OSE, California                 RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas
JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois               KEN LUCAS, Kentucky
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin                JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania      WM. LACY CLAY, Missiouri
CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut       STEVE ISRAEL, New York
JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona             MIKE ROSS, Arkansas
VITO FOSSELLA, New York              CAROLYN McCARTHY, New York
GARY G. MILLER, California           JOE BACA, California
MELISSA A. HART, Pennsylvania        JIM MATHESON, Utah
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio              BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
MARK R. KENNEDY, Minnesota           RAHM EMANUEL, Illinois
TOM FEENEY, Florida                  DAVID SCOTT, Georgia
JEB HENSARLING, Texas                ARTUR DAVIS, Alabama
SCOTT GARRETT, New Jersey            CHRIS BELL, Texas
TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania              
GINNY BROWN-WAITE, Florida           BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
RICK RENZI, Arizona

                 Robert U. Foster, III, Staff Director

                                  (ii)


                         C O N T E N T S

_________________________________________________________________
                                                                   Page

  Submittal Letters and Memoranda................................     v
  Forward........................................................  viii
  I. The Early Years.............................................     1
  II. The 1930s--Responses to the Depression.....................     3
  III. The 1940s--War, Emergency, and Postwar Housing............    17
  IV. The 1950s--Evolution of a Community Development Approach...    33
  V. The 1960s--Economic and Population Growth...................    75
  VI. The 1970s--Reappraisal and Redesign........................   141
  VII. The 1980s--Shifting Priorities............................   211
  VIII. The 1990s--Toward Decentralization.......................   251
  IX. The 21st Century--New Challenges for a New Millenium.......   331

                                 (iii)


                     SUBMITTAL MEMORANDA AND LETTER

   Memoranda From Congressional Research Service Accompanying Updates

                                ------                                

                    Congressional Research Service,
                                       Library of Congress,
                                  Washington, DC, January 24, 2003.
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity,
  Committee on Financial Services
  House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    SUBJECT: Chronology of Housing Legislation, Update with 
103rd through 107th Congress

    As you requested, we have prepared the following chronology 
and summary of housing laws enacted during the 103rd through 
107th Congress. This information is intended to update 
Committee Print 103-2, prepared by CRS for the House Banking, 
Finance and Urban Affairs Committee and published in December 
1993. In general, we have used a similar format and provided 
the same level of detail as the 1993 document. (See the forward 
on page [vii of this] committee print for an explanation of 
provisions that were selected to be included or excluded.) To 
meet your deadline, we chose the most efficient method for 
preparing this update, and relied primarily on the summaries of 
laws prepared by CRS for the electronic Legislative Information 
System (LIS). We then compared the summaries to the public laws 
and made necessary additions, deletions, or edits. We made 
every effort to be comprehensive; however, we cannot guarantee 
absolute consistency or that every relevant provision is 
included in this chronology.
    We hope this update will meet your needs. If you have 
questions about the methodology or need additional information, 
please contact Karen Spar, Children and Families (including 
housing) Section Head.

                                  (v)


                    Congressional Research Service,
                                       Library of Congress,
                                 Washington, DC, February 27, 2004.
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity,
  Committee on Financial Services
  House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    SUBJECT: Housing Chronology

    Attached please find the update to the Chronology of 
housing laws.
    Public Law 108-185 (H.J. Res. 82) is not included because 
the chronology has historically omitted appropriations bills 
unless they include significant changes in housing programs. 
H.R. 1443 was not included in the version of S. 811 that became 
law. Similarly, H.R. 2470 is not in the Agriculture 
appropriations bill that became law.

                                  (vi)


    Original Transmittal Letter from Congressional Research Service

                                ------                                

                    Congressional Research Service,
                                       Library of Congress,
                                     Washington, DC, July 15, 1993.
Hon. Henry B. Gonzales,
Chairman, Committee on Banking, Financial Services, and Urban Affairs
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: It gives me pleasure to convey this 
summary of legislation relating to housing and urban 
development entitled ``A Chronology of Housing Legislation and 
Selected Executive Actions, 1892-1992.'' It revises and 
continues through 1992 the record presented in the Committee 
print of October, 1975, ``Evolution of Role of the Federal 
Government in Housing and Community Development.''
    The principal author of this work has been Dr. Grace 
Milgram. She has been assisted in summarizing some of the 
legislation concerning the secondary mortgage market and 
Resolution Trust Fund by Barbara Miles, and that concerning 
community development by Eugene P. Boyd. Marietta L. Sharperson 
has provided thoughtful clerical assistance.
    We trust that this chronology will assist the Congress in 
consideration of housing and community development issues and 
policies.
      Sincerely,
                                  Joseph E. Ross, Director.

                                 (vii)


                                FOREWORD

                         From the 1993 Edition

    This Chronology summarizes the main provisions of Federal 
legislation relating to housing and community development, 
particularly that relating to programs administered by the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Farmers 
Home Administration of the Department of Agriculture. It covers 
the period 1892 through 1992, in chronological order. It 
incorporates, in revised form, and continues the now out-of-
print Committee document, Evolution of Role of the Federal 
Government in Housing and Community Development, issued 
October, 1975. In addition to the legislation, it includes 
summaries of Executive documents related in significant ways to 
the development of such legislation and to the organization of 
the administering agencies. It also includes legislation 
affecting housing-related matters in the jurisdiction of the 
Home Loan Bank Board and its successor agencies, but not 
banking legislation per se.
    The Chronology does not include the less closely related 
housing programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 
Department of Defense, or other governmental agencies which are 
not within the purview of the Subcommittee on Housing and 
Community Development of the Committee on Banking, Finance and 
Urban Affairs. It includes authorization levels of funding only 
when a particular program is begun, to indicate its planned 
dimensions. It does not include budget proposals nor 
appropriations, but does include substantive matters contained 
in appropriation Acts.
    It should be understood that these summaries are simply 
that summaries of the more important provisions of the Acts. 
The Chronology is not meant to be all-inclusive, nor does it 
attempt any interpretation of the legislation. Thus, it 
provides a reference to assist in following important 
developments in housing policies, and a guide to locating the 
particular statute which might be of special interest to the 
reader. For precise knowledge of the provisions of the law, the 
summary in the Chronology should not be considered a substitute 
for the actual text of the Acts.

                        Updates to this Edition

    This edition updates the previous edition by adding 
information regarding programs enacted or reauthorized from 
1992 through the end of the first session of the 108th Congress 
in 2003.

                                 (viii)

                           I. THE EARLY YEARS

                      Investigation of City Slums

                (Public Resolution 52-22, July 20, 1892)

    <bullet> Provided $20,000 for investigation of slums in 
cities of 200,000 or more population. The report covered four 
cities.

             Reports of the President's Housing Commission

                         (60th Congress, 1909)

    <bullet> Recommended government loans to build habitable 
dwellings, condemnation and purchase of slum properties by the 
government and improvement or replacement of these so that 
inexpensive and healthful habitations would be available to the 
poor by rental or purchase at low interest rates.

                Loans for Housing for Shipyard Employees

                   (Public Law 65-102, March 1, 1918)

    <bullet> Authorized Federal loans to realty companies 
incorporated by shipbuilding companies for housing for shipyard 
employees. (Housing was provided in 24 localities, including 
9,000 houses, 1,100 apartments, 19 dormitories, and 8 hotels.)

                        Housing for War Workers

       (Public Laws 65-149 and 65-164, May 16, and June 4, 1918)

    <bullet> Authorized the U.S. Housing Corporation to build 
and manage community projects for war workers. (25 communities 
comprising more than 5,000 single-family dwellings, and, in 
addition, apartments, dormitories and hotels were built. Most 
of the housing after the War was sold to private owners.)
               II. THE 1930s RESPONSES TO THE DEPRESSION

     The President's Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership

                          (December 2-4, 1931)

    <bullet> Convened by the President, who announced his 
intention to recommend to the Congress ``* * * a system of Home 
Loan Discount Banks'' to:
          a. take pressure off sound home mortgage lending 
        institutions and permit them to recover;
          b. stimulate home construction and increase 
        employment;
          c. prevent repetition of the mortgage industry's 
        collapse in the face of economic difficulty; and
          d. create a structure for the promotion of 
        homeownership.
    <bullet> Identified weaknesses and inadequacies of housing 
and home financing in the United States, but advanced no 
specific recommendations for Federal legislation.
    <bullet> Issued Proceedings & Reports of the President's 
Commission, December 19.

             Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932

                   (Public Law 72-302, July 21, 1932)

    <bullet> Authorized the Reconstruction Finance Corporation 
to make loans to corporations established to provide housing 
for low income families or to reconstruct slum areas. (Two 
loans were made--one for $8,059,000 to finance Knickerbocker 
Village in New York City, and the other for $155,000 to finance 
rural homes in Kansas.)

                       Federal Home Loan Bank Act

                   (Public Law 72-304, July 22, 1932)

    <bullet> Established the Federal Home Loan Bank System by 
creating the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, which was directed 
to establish up to 12 Federal Home Loan Banks to operate in 
districts designated by the Board.
    <bullet> Made building and loan associations, cooperative 
banks, homestead associations, insurance companies and savings 
banks eligible to become members of, or nonmember borrowers 
from, the Federal Home Loan Banks.
    <bullet> Authorized the Bank to make advances to member and 
nonmember borrowers upon the security of home mortgages which 
met requirements of the Act. Aggregate outstanding advances 
made to any member could not exceed 12 times the amount paid in 
by the member for outstanding capital stock held by it in the 
Bank. Advances to a nonmember borrower could not exceed 12 
times the value of the security required. The Banks could sell 
advances made under the Act to other Federal Home Loan Banks, 
or allow participation in such advances.
    <bullet> Provided that any homeowner who came within the 
limits of the Act and who was unable to obtain mortgage money 
from any other source could obtain mortgage money from any Bank 
organized under the Act. (This provision was repealed by P.L. 
73-43, June 13, 1933.)
    <bullet> Required the capital stock of each Federal Home 
Loan Bank to be not less than $5 million.
    <bullet> Required members to subscribe to stock in amounts 
equal to 1 percent of the subscriber's home mortgage loans. The 
U.S. Treasury subscribed to the amounts of stock required to 
provide the minimum capital for each Bank, but not more than an 
aggregate amount of $125 million. Authorized the Reconstruction 
Finance Corporation to provide funds for the stock purchases by 
the Treasury out of the capital of the RFC or the proceeds of 
obligations issued by RFC.
    <bullet> When the amount of capital of a Bank paid in by 
members equaled the amount paid in by the Treasury, required 
the Bank to pay annually towards retirement of Treasury-held 
stock 50 percent of all sums thereafter paid in as capital 
until all the Treasury-held stock was retired at par. Also, 
stock held by the U.S. could, at any time with the approval of 
the Board, be paid off at par and retired in whole or in part. 
Further, the Board could at any time require Treasury-held 
stock to be paid off at par and retired in whole or in part, if 
the Board was of the opinion that the Bank had available 
resources for this purpose.
    <bullet> Empowered each Federal Home Loan Bank to issue 
bonds and debentures secured by the transfer of eligible 
obligations of borrowing institutions on advances made by the 
Bank to borrowing institutions, and by the deposit of home 
mortgages. The Banks were jointly and severally liable for the 
bonds and debentures issued by any Federal Home Loan Bank. All 
obligations were required to state plainly that they were not 
obligations of the United States and not guaranteed by the 
United States.

                     Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933

                   (Public Law 73-43, June 13, 1933)

Emergency Relief to Home Mortgagors
    <bullet> Directed the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to 
create the Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Directed the 
Secretary of the Treasury to subscribe to capital stock of the 
Corporation in amounts aggregating not more than $200 million. 
Funds for the stock subscription were provided by the 
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and RFC's authority to 
issue obligations for borrowing was increased for this purpose 
by $200 million. Authorized the HOLC to issue bonds in amounts 
aggregating not more than $2 billion to provide funds for its 
operations. Guaranteed payment of interest on the bonds. 
Exempted the bonds from Federal, State and local taxation, both 
as to principal and interest.
    <bullet> Authorized the HOLC, for a period of three years, 
to refinance mortgages of distressed home-owners by offering 
them long-term mortgage loans to be amortized by monthly 
payments sufficient to retire the loans within 15 years. The 
interest on the HOLC loans could not exceed 5 percent. The HOLC 
could also make advances for the redemption of foreclosed home 
mortgages. (More than a million home loans were refinanced. The 
HLBB announced the termination of HOLC, following delivery of a 
check for nearly $14 million surplus to the U.S. Treasury, May 
29, 1951.)
Federal Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to 
provide for the organization, examination, operation, and 
regulation of Federal savings and loan associations. The 
associations could lend their funds only on the security of 
their shares or on the security of home mortgages or 
combinations of home and business property mortgages within 50 
miles of their home offices. Limited the loans to $20,000, 
except that not more than 15 percent of an Association's assets 
could be loaned on other improved real estate without regard to 
the $20,000 and 50 miles limit.
    <bullet> Made each Federal savings and loan association a 
member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of the district in which 
it was located and members of the Federal Home Loan Banks were 
permitted to convert into Federal savings and loan 
associations.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to 
subscribe for preferred shares in an association up to $100,000 
if necessary to encourage local home financing in the 
community. Authorized Federal appropriations aggregating up to 
$100 million for this purpose.
    <bullet> Exempted the associations and their loans and 
income, and all shares (both value and income) from Federal 
taxes. Prohibited State and local authorities from imposing 
taxes on the associations greater than those imposed on similar 
thrift and home financing institutions.
    <bullet> Repealed the direct loan authority of Federal home 
loan banks.

                    National Industrial Recovery Act

                   (Public Law 73-67, June 16, 1933)

    <bullet> Authorized the use of Federal funds to finance 
low-cost and slum-clearance housing and subsistence homesteads, 
as a means of providing employment. (Resulted in construction 
of 50 low-rent public housing projects, containing 21,600 
units, in 37 cities, and 15,000 units were provided in 
resettlement projects and Greenbelt towns. In addition, loans 
were made for seven limited-dividend projects with 3,065 
dwelling units.)

               Amendment to Home Owners Loan Act of 1933

                  (Public Law 73-178, April 27, 1934)

    <bullet> Authorized federal guarantee of the principal of 
the bonds issued by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, in 
addition to previously authorized guarantee of interest.
    <bullet> Authorized HOLC to purchase shares in savings and 
loan associations which were members of the Federal Home Loan 
Banks. ($223 million was so invested.)

                          National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 73-479, June 27, 1934)

    <bullet> Created the Federal Housing Administration, headed 
by a Federal Housing Administrator.
Title I--Housing Renovation and Modernization
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator to insure banks, 
trust companies, personal finance companies, mortgage 
companies, building and loan associations, installments lending 
companies, and other such financial institutions approved by 
him against losses on loans and purchases of obligations 
representing loans for financing alterations, repairs, and 
improvements upon real property. The insurance could in no case 
exceed 20 percent of the total amount of such loans and 
purchases made by the financial institutions, and the total 
liability incurred by the Administrator for such insurance 
could not exceed in the aggregate $200 million. No insurance 
could be entered into after the end of 1935. The face amount of 
an obligation could not exceed $2,000 and had to meet terms, 
conditions and restrictions prescribed by FHA.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to make loans to insured 
institutions upon the security of obligations which met the 
requirements prescribed under the Title I loan insurance 
program. (Repealed by P.L. 74-486, April 3, 1936)
Title II--Mutual Mortgage Insurance. Insurance of Mortgages on One- to 
        Four-Family Homes
    <bullet> Authorized FHA in Section 203 to insure, and to 
make commitments to insure mortgages on one- to four-family 
homes with obligations not exceeding $16,000 or 80 percent of 
the appraised value of the property covered by the mortgage. 
Maturity of a mortgage could not exceed 20 years, and the 
interest rate could not exceed 5 percent, or 6 percent if the 
Administrator found that in certain areas or under special 
circumstances the mortgage demanded it.
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator to fix a premium 
charge for the insurance of mortgages.
    <bullet> No mortgage could be insured under Section 203 
unless the Administrator found that the project covered by the 
mortgage was economically sound.
    <bullet> Provided for payment of insurance by the issuance 
of 3-year debentures by FHA, bearing interest at a rate 
determined by FHA at the time the mortgage was offered for 
insurance, but not more than 3 percent.
    <bullet> Fully guaranteed such debentures issued prior to 
July 1, 1937 as to principal and interest, payable from the 
Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund created by the Act. Provided 
that if the Fund could not pay the principal of, or interest 
on, the debentures when due, the Secretary of the Treasury 
would pay the amount demanded out of any money in the Treasury 
not otherwise appropriated.
    <bullet> Established the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and 
funded it with $10 million made available by the Treasury.
    <bullet> The mortgages insured were to be classified by FHA 
into groups involving similar risk characteristics and similar 
maturity dates and premium charges and all earnings of the 
assets of the group account were to be credited to the account 
of the group to which the mortgage was assigned. Debentures and 
other expenses of the mortgages in a group were to be charged 
to the account of the group to which a mortgage was assigned.
  Low-Cost Housing Insurance
    <bullet> Authorized in Section 207 insurance of mortgages 
covering property held by Federal or State instrumentalities, 
private limited dividend corporations, or municipal corporate 
instrumentalities of one or more States, formed for the purpose 
of providing housing for persons of low incomes. The housing 
was required to be regulated by FHA as to rents, charges, 
capital structure, rate of return, and methods of operation. 
The mortgage could not exceed $10 million.
  Statistical and Economic Surveys
    <bullet> Directed the Administrator to make such 
statistical surveys and legal economic studies as he deemed 
useful to guide the development of housing and the creation of 
a sound mortgage market in U.S.
  Provision of Funds
    <bullet> Directed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to 
make available to FHA such funds as deemed necessary, and 
increased the amount of obligations RFC was empowered to have 
outstanding by an amount sufficient to provide the funds. 
Authorized the President to provide such funds or any portion 
thereof by allotment to the FHA from any funds available to the 
President for emergency purposes.
National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Housing Administrator to 
establish national mortgage associations to provide a secondary 
market for home mortgages by the purchase and sale of first 
mortgages. The mortgages could not exceed 80 percent of the 
appraised value of the property covered by the mortgage as of 
the date of purchase. An association could borrow money through 
the issuance of notes, bonds, debentures or other obligations. 
(Pursuant to this authority, the Federal National Mortgage 
Association was chartered by the FHA on February 10, 1938, as a 
subsidiary of the RFC.)
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
    <bullet> Created the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance 
Corporation to insure the accounts of building and loan, 
savings and loan, and homestead associations and cooperative 
banks, and the accounts of all Federal savings and loan 
associations. No member or investor of any such institution 
could be insured for an aggregate amount in excess of $5,000. 
(The capital stock ($100 million) of the FSLIC was subscribed 
for by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Payments for the 
stock were made in bonds of HOLC. HOLC was to receive dividends 
on the stock out of net earnings at a rate equal to the 
interest rate on the bonds, and the dividends were to be 
cumulative.)
    <bullet> Authorized FSLIC to issue notes, bonds, debentures 
or other obligations and the obligations were exempt, both as 
to principal and interest, from all taxation--Federal, State, 
or local. Exempted the Corporation from all taxation, except 
that any real property of the Corporation was subject to State 
or local taxation to the same extent as other real property.
    <bullet> Required insured savings institutions to pay 
premiums for the insurance equal to one-fourth of 1 percent of 
the total amount of all accounts plus any creditor obligations 
of the institution. Authorized FSLIC to assess insured 
institutions additional premiums for insurance until the amount 
of the premiums equaled the amount of all losses and expenses 
of FSLIC, but the total amount so assessed in any one year 
could not exceed one-fourth of 1 percent of the total amount of 
an institution's accounts and creditor obligations.
    <bullet> Required institutions applying for insurance to 
pay admission fees based upon the reserve fund of the 
application, which in the judgment of FSLIC, were equitable 
contributions.
Federal Home Loan Bank Act Amendments
    <bullet> Authorized advances by Federal Home Loan Banks 
secured by mortgages insured by FHA under Title II of the 
National Housing Act.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal Home Loan Banks to make 
advances to finance home repairs, improvements, and alterations 
secured by loans insured by FHA under Title I of the National 
Housing Act.
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to 
issue consolidated Federal Home Loan Bank debentures which were 
the joint and several obligations of all Federal Home Loan 
Banks.
    <bullet> Authorized the Board, when no debentures were 
outstanding, or in order to refund all outstanding consolidated 
debentures, to issue consolidated Federal Home Loan Bank bonds 
which were the joint and several obligations of all the Federal 
Home Loan Banks.
Amendment of Farm Credit Act of 1933. Home Repair Loans
    <bullet> Authorized production credit associations, without 
regard to stock ownership requirements, to make and sell home 
alterations, repair and improvement loans and to avail 
themselves of FHA insurance of such loans.
National Banks. FHA-Insured Loans
    <bullet> Amended the Federal Reserve Act to exempt FHA-
insured loans insured under Title II of the National Housing 
Act from restrictions as to the amounts of the loans prescribed 
in the Federal Reserve Act.
    <bullet> Classed loans made by national banks having 
maturities of not more than six months made to finance 
residential or farm building construction as ordinary 
commercial loans and made them eligible for discount as 
commercial paper within the terms of the Federal Reserve Act.
Home Owners' Loan Corporation
    <bullet> Increased the limit on HOLC's authority to issue 
bonds by $1 billion and by the amount of any of its bonds 
called in and retired.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of capital stock 
of HOLC from $200 million to $300 million.
Reduced Transportation Rates. Improvement of Housing Standards
    <bullet> Amended the Interstate Commerce Commission Act to 
provide that carriers could give reduced rates for the 
transportation of commodities to be specified by the Commission 
with the object of improving nationwide housing standards and 
providing employment and stimulating industry.

          Amendments to Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act

                  (Public Law 74-1, January 31, 1935)

    <bullet> Authorized RFC to subscribe for or make loans upon 
the nonaccessable stock of any national mortgage association 
organized under Title III of the National Housing Act (supra), 
and of any mortgage loan company or other similar financial 
institution whose principal business is that of making loans 
upon real-estate mortgages. (Pursuant to this authority, RFC 
organized the RFC Mortgage Company to make mortgage loans on 
urban income-producing properties when credit was not otherwise 
available at reasonable rates.)

    Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935--Housing Survey and 
                               Inventory

                   (Public Law 74-11, April 8, 1935)

    <bullet> Included $450 million for housing in appropriation 
for public works. (The Works Progress Administration and the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics did a cooperative construction 
pattern survey to aid public works planning, including housing. 
The first extensive real property inventory of urban housing 
was conducted in 203 urban areas by the WPA and the Department 
of Commerce.)

                 Amendments to the National Housing Act

                    (Public Law 74-76, May 28, 1935)

FSLIC Premium Charge Reduced
    <bullet> Reduced the insurance premium charge paid by 
lending institutions to the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance 
Corporation from one-fourth to one-eighth of 1 percent of the 
total amount of all accounts of the insured members of the 
lending institution plus any creditor obligations of the 
institution.
FSLIC Prevention of Defaults in Insured Institutions
    <bullet> In order to prevent a default in an insured 
lending institution or to restore an insured institution in 
default to normal operation, authorized the FSLIC to make loans 
to, purchase the assets of, or make a contribution to, an 
insured institution or an insured institution in default.
FHA-Insured Property Improvement Loans
    <bullet> Made property improvement loans made prior to 
April 1, 1936 (previously January 1, 1936) eligible for FHA 
insurance. Loans for property improvement, including the 
installation of equipment and machinery, were made eligible for 
FHA insurance under the Title I program.
    <bullet> Made Title I FHA insurance available for loans up 
to $50,000 with respect to real property improved by or to be 
converted into multiple family houses, hotels, office, business 
or other commercial buildings, hospitals, orphanages, colleges, 
schools, or manufacturing or industrial plants.
Capital Stock of National Mortgage Associations
    <bullet> Reduced the minimum amount of capital stock 
required for a national mortgage association from $5,000,000 to 
$2,000,000.

                 Amendments to the National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 74-486, April 3, 1936)

    <bullet> Repealed Section 3 of the National Housing Act 
(Section 3 authorized the FHA to make loans to institutions it 
insured under Title I upon the security of obligations which 
met the requirements prescribed under Title I for property 
improvement loan insurance.) (See P.L. 73-479, June 27, 1934.)

                       FHA Insured Disaster Loans

                  (Public Law 74-525, April 17, 1936)

    <bullet> Added Section 6 to the National Housing Act to 
authorize FHA to insure loans for the restoration, 
rehabilitation, rebuilding and replacement of improvements on 
real property and equipment and machinery on the property which 
were damaged or destroyed by earthquake, conflagration, 
tornado, cyclone, hurricane, flood, or other catastrophe. 
(Repealed by P.L. 76-111, June 3, 1939)

                       Payments in Lieu of Taxes

((a) Public Law 74-837, June 29, 1936; (b) Public Law 74-845, June 29, 
                                 1936)

    <bullet> Authorized payments in lieu of taxes to States and 
political subdivisions with respect to projects later 
transferred to PHA: (a) Public Works Administration low-cost 
housing projects and (b) resettlement or rural rehabilitation 
projects of the Resettlement Administration.

                    U.S. Guarantee of FHA Debentures

           (Public Res. 6, 75th Congress, February 19, 1937)

    <bullet> Debentures issued by FHA in exchange for mortgages 
insured prior to July, 1939 (previously July 1, 1937) were 
fully guaranteed by the United States as to principal and 
interest.

                     Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act

                   (Public Law 75-210, July 22, 1937)

    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
40-year, 3 percent loans to farm tenants, laborers, and 
sharecroppers, to finance the purchase of farms and repairs and 
improvements (including housing), and five-year, 3 percent 
loans for minor improvements and repairs and for the 
refinancing of existing indebtedness.

                   United States Housing Act of 1937

                 (Public Law 75-412, September 1, 1937)

Public Housing Program
    <bullet> Authorized public housing program and created the 
United States Housing Authority in the Department of Interior 
to carry it out.
    <bullet> Authorized the Authority to make loans to local 
public housing agencies to assist the development, acquisition, 
or administration of low-rent housing or slum clearance 
projects by those agencies. Also to make annual contributions 
to the agencies to assist in achieving and maintaining the low-
rent character of the housing projects.
    <bullet> As an alternative method of assistance, authorized 
the Authority to make capital grants to the local public 
housing agencies, limited to the amounts necessary to assure 
the low-rent character of the housing. A capital grant could 
not exceed 25 percent of development or acquisition cost and 
there were dollar limits on the aggregate amounts of capital 
grants that could be made.
    <bullet> A loan could not exceed 90 percent of the 
development or acquisition cost of a project. Where capital 
grants were to be made, the total amount of loans on a project 
was reduced by the amount of such grants. The loans were to 
bear interest at a rate not less than the applicable going 
Federal rate plus \1/2\ of 1 percent, and the terms of the 
loans were limited to 60 years.
    <bullet> The annual contributions could be for periods up 
to 60 years and for any project were required to be fixed in 
uniform amounts and to be paid in such amounts over a fixed 
period of years. The provisions for annual contributions were 
to be embodied in a contract guaranteeing the payment over the 
fixed periods. The fixed contribution could, in no case, exceed 
a sum equal to the annual yield at the applicable going Federal 
rate plus 1 percent upon the development or acquisition cost of 
the housing. Required the annual contribution contract to 
provide that whenever in any year the receipts of the public 
housing agency exceeded its expenditures an amount equal to the 
excess was to be applied to a reduction in subsequent annual 
contributions.
    <bullet> Authorized contracts for annual contributions 
aggregating not more than $5 million per annum on and after 
September 1, 1937, an additional $7.5 million on or after July 
1, 1938, and an additional $7.5 million on or after July 1, 
1939.
    <bullet> Pledged the faith of the United States to the 
payment of all annual contributions contracted for and 
authorized to be appropriated in each fiscal year the amounts 
necessary to provide for the payments. Payments under annual 
contributions contracts were to be pledged, if the Authority so 
required, as security for any loans obtained by a public 
housing agency for a project.
    <bullet> Required the annual contributions contracts to 
make provisions with respect to maximum income limits of the 
tenants of the housing and tenant admission policies.

                National Housing Act Amendments of 1938

                 (Public Law 75-424, February 3, 1938)

    <bullet> Made numerous changes in the FHA housing insurance 
programs. Major provisions were:
Title I Property Improvement Loan Insurance
    <bullet> Changed the loans eligible for insurance to those 
made for alteration, repairs and improvements upon urban, 
suburban, or rural real property. Amended the limit on the 
amount of a loan to $10,000 for financing of repairs, 
alterations or improvements of existing structures and $2,500 
for building new structures. (Prior to these amendments, loans 
for certain purposes could be up to $50,000 and could finance 
conversions to multifamily structures, manufacturing plants, 
schools, hospitals, and other nonhousing purposes.)
Title II Mortgage Insurance
  Section 203 Home Mortgage Insurance Program
    <bullet> Limited the use of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance 
Fund to Section 203 one- to four-family housing mortgages.
    <bullet> Increased the aggregate amount of mortgages that 
could be insured under the Section 203 program from $1 billion 
to $2 billion and gave the President authority to increase the 
limit up to not more than $3 billion.
    <bullet> Set new limits on the amounts of individual 
mortgages that could be insured under the Section 203 program. 
They were based on dollar amounts and 80 or 90 percent of 
appraised value, varying in accordance with whether the 
mortgage covered a one-to four-family structure, was an owner-
occupied family home, and new or existing structure.
    <bullet> The term of a mortgage could not exceed 20 years 
except it could be up to 25 years if on a new owner-occupied 
home.
    <bullet> The interest rate could be up to 5 percent, or not 
to exceed 6 percent in certain areas or where the mortgage 
market demanded it.
    <bullet> The insurance premium for a mortgage on an owner-
occupied new home was \1/4\ of 1 percent rather than \1/2\ of 1 
percent as required for other Section 203 mortgages.
  New Program for Farm Houses or Buildings
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure under the Section 203 
program mortgages covering a farm upon which a farm house or 
other farm buildings were to be constructed or repaired. The 
construction and repair were required to involve expenditures 
not less than 15 percent of the total principal obligation of 
the mortgage. (Repealed by Housing Act of 1957, P.L. 55-104, 
July 12, 1957)
  Payment of Insurance
    <bullet> Changes were made in the provisions of Section 203 
program governing payment of insurance.
  New Section 207 Rental Housing Program
    <bullet> Changed the original Section 207 mortgage 
insurance program for low-cost housing to a new rental housing 
mortgage insurance program.
    <bullet> Under the new program, mortgagors could be 
Federal, State or local instrumentalities, limited dividend 
corporations, private corporations, associations, cooperative 
societies, or trusts formed or created for the purpose of 
rehabilitating slum or blighted areas, or providing housing for 
rent or sale. The private mortgagors were regulated by FHA as 
to rents or sales, charges, capital structure, rate of return, 
and methods of operation in such manner as to provide 
reasonable rentals and a reasonable return on the investment. 
FHA could acquire up to $100 worth of stock or interest in a 
private mortgagor.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of mortgage to $5 million and 
not to exceed 80 percent of the value of the property when 
completed. The part of a mortgage attributable to dwelling use 
could not exceed $1,350 per room. The interest rate could not 
exceed 5 percent and the mortgage was required to provide for 
amortization by periodic payments within terms prescribed by 
FHA. The project covered by the mortgage had to be found 
economically sound.
    <bullet> Created the Housing Insurance Fund for the new 
Section 207 program and made provisions for payment of 
insurance in cases of default.
  Section 210 Mortgage Insurance Program
    <bullet> Under a new Section 210 program, authorized FHA to 
insure mortgages and advances on mortgages covering property 
upon which there was located or to be constructed one or more 
multifamily dwellings or a group of not less than 10 single-
family dwellings. (Repealed by P.L. 76-111, June 3, 1939)
    <bullet> Limited the amount of an insured mortgage to 
$16,000 per unit, but not more than $200,000 and 80 percent of 
the value of the property when improvements were completed. The 
part attributable to dwelling use could not exceed $1,150 per 
room.
    <bullet> The mortgage could have a term of not more than 21 
years and could bear interest at not higher than 5 percent.
National Mortgage Associations
    <bullet> Title III of the National Housing Act was amended 
to:
          (i) Authorize national mortgage associations to:
                  1. make FHA Sections 207 and 210 insured 
                mortgage loans;
                  2. purchase, service or sell any mortgages, 
                or partial interests in mortgages insured by 
                FHA under its title II programs;
                  3. purchase, service, or sell uninsured 
                mortgages the amounts of which did not exceed 
                60 percent of the appraised value of the 
                property at the time of purchase; and
                  4. issue obligations in an aggregate amount 
                not to exceed 20 times the amount of its paid-
                up capital and surplus (previously the limit 
                was 10 times).
                  5. increased the minimum amount of capital 
                stock from $2 million (required by the 1935 
                amendments) to $5 million.
          (ii) Exempt obligations of national mortgage 
        associations, both as to principal and interest, and 
        the associations, including their loans and stock, from 
        all taxation. Real property of the associations 
        continued to be taxable by State and local governments.
Tax Exemption of FHA Debentures
    Exempted all FHA debentures issued after February 3, 1938, 
from Federal, State, and local taxation, both as to principal 
and interest.

                       Amendments to FHA Programs

                   (Public Law 76-111, June 3, 1939)

Title I Program
    <bullet> Made the property improvement loan insurance 
program available for the building of new structures and the 
rehabilitation of improvements damaged by disasters, such as 
earthquakes and floods. Repealed the Section 6 program for 
disaster loans adopted in P.L. 74-525.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of an FHA-insured Title I loan 
to $2,500. (Previously, a loan could be up to $10,000, except 
the limit was $2,500 if the loan was for new construction.)
    <bullet> Limited the term of the Title I loan to three 
years, except where the loans financed the construction of 
structures for residential or agricultural purposes. 
(Previously, FHA set the maturity.)
    <bullet> Added provisions to Title I authorizing FHA to fix 
a premium charge for insurance of the Title I loans. The charge 
could not exceed 3/4 of 1 percent of the net proceeds of the 
loans of the insured institution.
FHA Title II Mortgage Insurance Authority
    <bullet> Extended the FHA home mortgage insurance and 
rental housing programs by increasing the limit on the 
aggregate amount of mortgages which could be insured from $2 
billion to $3 billion, with authority in the President to raise 
the limit up to $4 billion.
    <bullet> Limited insurance of mortgages on existing housing 
under FHA's Title II program to 25 percent of the total amount 
of mortgages insured after the effective date of the amendment 
(June 3, 1939).
    <bullet> Limited insurance under Title II, to mortgages 
covering new construction, or property which had been 
previously covered by an FHA-insured mortgage.
    <bullet> Reduced the maximum interest on an FHA-insured 
Section 207 rental housing mortgage from 5 percent to 4 \1/2\ 
percent.
    <bullet> Imposed a further limit on the amount of a 
mortgage to not to exceed the FHA estimate of the cost of 
completed improvements on the property exclusive of utilities 
and streets; taxes, interest, and insurance during 
construction; organization and legal expenses; and 
miscellaneous charges during or incidental to construction.
Section 210
    <bullet> Repealed this section, except for applications 
already filed.
Labor Standards
    <bullet> Prohibited insurance of mortgages on multifamily 
housing insured under Sections 207 or 210 unless certification 
was provided by the construction contractor that not less than 
prevailing wages in the locality had been paid to the laborers 
and mechanics working on the project.

                   Reorganization of Housing Agencies

 (President's Reorganization Plan No. 1, and Pub. Res. 76-20, June 7, 
                                 1939)

    <bullet> Effective July 1, 1939, established the Federal 
Loan Agency and Federal Works Agency to coordinate and 
supervise various agencies, including those with housing 
functions. Placed the RFC Mortgage Company, the Federal 
National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Bank 
Board, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, and the Federal 
Housing Administration in the Federal Loan Agency. Transferred 
the U.S. Housing Authority to the Federal Works Agency.

                           HOLC Terms Amended

                  (Public Law 76-381, August 11, 1939)

    <bullet> Permitted HOLC loans made to refinance home 
mortgages to be amortized over a period of 25 years rather than 
the previous limit of 15 years.

                        First Census on Housing

                  (Public Law 70-385, August 11, 1939)

    <bullet> Authorized the Bureau of the Census, in connection 
with the 1940 Census, to obtain data on the characteristics of 
the Nation's housing supply and occupancy. (This became the 
first census on housing.)
           III. THE 1940s--WAR, EMERGENCY AND POSTWAR HOUSING

                       Defense Homes Corporation

      (Public Laws 76-588 and 76-611, June 11, and June 13, 1940)

    <bullet> Established the Defense Homes Corporation by the 
purchase of capital stock with funds appropriated by the Navy 
Department and Military Appropriations Acts for 1941. DHC was 
incorporated pursuant to a letter from the President to the 
Secretary of the Treasury on October 18, 1940. DHC was to 
provide defense housing in the Washington area and other areas 
of extensive defense activities.

            Amendments to United States Housing Act of 1937

                   (Public Law 76-671, June 28, 1940)

    <bullet> Authorized the use of its loan and subsidy 
provisions and the projects provided under the Act for defense 
and war workers.
    <bullet> Authorized the establishment of priorities in 
deliveries of materials for national defense.

                      Defense Housing Coordinator

    <bullet> The Office of Defense Housing Coordinator was 
established July 21, 1940, by the Advisory Commission to the 
Council of National Defense. The Office had responsibility for 
planning the defense housing program and its administration 
through private industry and appropriate Federal agencies.

                               Lanham Act

                 (Public Law 76-849, October 14, 1940)

    <bullet> Authorized provision by the Federal Government of 
public war housing accommodations.

                 Soliders & Sailors Relief Act of 1940

                 (Public Law 76-861, October 17, 1940)

    <bullet> Provided relief to servicemen with respect to 
mortgage and other obligations.

                 Executive Order 8632, January 11, 1941

    <bullet> Created the Division of Defense Housing 
Coordination within the Office for Emergency Management to take 
over activities and personnel of the Defense Housing 
Coordinator.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 77-24, March 28, 1941)

    <bullet> Added Title VI, which authorized FHA to insure 
mortgages (up to $100 million, aggregate) under more liberal 
terms in order to provide one- to four-family homes in critical 
defense areas. (Authority to insure mortgages on one- to four-
family homes under Title VI was terminated by the Housing Act 
of 1948, P.L. 80-901, August 10, 1948.)
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to purchase and sell Title VI 
mortgages, and national banks and Federal Home Loan Banks to 
include them in their operations.

          Report of the Temporary National Economic Committee

                    (S. Doc. 77-35, March 31, 1941)

    <bullet> The final report and recommendations of the 
Temporary National Economic Committee unanimously commended 
efforts such as slum clearance and low-cost housing, among 
other things, on behalf of the less privileged people ``to the 
end that they may become as speedily as possible fully 
participating, responsible members of the community.''

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 77-138, June 28, 1941)

    <bullet> Raised the limit on the aggregate amount of loans 
that could be insured under Title I from $100 to $165 million.
    <bullet> Permitted insurance of loans up to $5,000 for the 
alteration, repair or improvement of a dwelling designed for 
more than one family, and up to $3,000 (previously $2,500) for 
financing the construction of new structures.
    <bullet> Continued the FHA Title II home mortgage and 
rental housing programs by increasing the limit on the 
aggregate amount of the mortgages that could be insured from $3 
billion to $4 billion, with authority in the President to raise 
the limit to $5 billion. Increased the limit on the amount of 
the Title II mortgages that could be insured for existing 
housing from 25 percent to 35 percent of the mortgages insured 
after June 3, 1939.

                   Amendment of FHA Title VI Program

                 (Public Law 77-248, September 2, 1941)

    <bullet> Raised the aggregate amount of FHA Title VI 
mortgages on defense housing that could be insured from $100 
million to $300 million.

                  Emergency Price Control Act of 1942

                 (Public Law 77-421, January 30, 1942)

    <bullet> Among other things, authorized Federal rent 
control.

              Establishment of the National Housing Agency

               (Executive Order 9070, February 24, 1942)

    <bullet> Established the National Housing Agency and 
transferred to that Agency responsibility for substantially all 
the nonfarm housing programs of the Federal Government (except 
housing located on military or naval reservations or bases). 
The Federal Home Loan Bank Administration, the Federal Housing 
Administration, and the Federal Public Housing Authority were 
created as constituent agencies of the National Housing Agency, 
which was to be headed by an Administrator.

Federal Tax Exemption of Income from FHA Debentures and Federal Savings 
                         and Loan Associations

                  (Public Law 77-510, March 28, 1942)

    <bullet> Terminated Federal tax exemption of income from 
FHA debentures (except those issued under insurance contracts 
entered into prior to March 1, 1941), and income from Federal 
savings and loan associations.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 77-559, May 26, 1942)

    <bullet> Added Section 608 to provide FHA mortgage 
insurance for rental housing for war workers. Limits on the 
amounts of the mortgages were based on replacement cost. 
Increased the limit on aggregate amount of mortgages that could 
be insured under the Title VI program from $300 million to $800 
million. (Authority to insure mortgages under Title VI was 
terminated by the Housing Act of 1954, P.L. 83-560, August 2, 
1954)
    <bullet> Increased limits on the amounts and term of 
mortgages financing one-to four-family homes.
    <bullet> Permitted mortgages to be insured under Title VI 
if FHA found the property to be an ``acceptable risk,'' rather 
than economically sound, as generally required under other 
programs and previously required for the Section 603 one- to 
four-family home mortgages.
    <bullet> Named the Title VI programs War Housing Insurance.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 78-15, March 23, 1943)

    <bullet> Increased the limit on the aggregate amount of 
mortgages that could be insured under Title VI to $1.2 billion.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                 (Public Law 78-159, October 15, 1943)

    <bullet> Increased the aggregate amount of mortgages that 
could be insured under Title VI to $1.6 billion.
    <bullet> The prohibition against insurance of mortgages 
covering existing housing under the Title II program was made 
applicable to mortgages insured after July 1, 1946, rather than 
July 1, 1944, as previously provided.

                     Servicemen's Readjustment Act

                   (Public Law 78-346, June 22, 1944)

    <bullet> Authorized the guaranty by the Veterans' 
Administration of loans with liberal terms made to veterans to 
purchase, build, or improve homes.

               Amendment to Title VI War Housing Program

                   (Public Law 78-392, June 30, 1944)

    <bullet> Increased the aggregate amount of mortgages that 
could be insured under Title VI to $1.7 billion from $300 
million.

       War Mobilization and Reconversion Act of 1944, Section 501

                  (Public Law 78-458, October 3, 1944)

    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Works Administration to 
make loans or advances (from funds authorized to be 
appropriated and until June 30, 1947) to States and their 
agencies and subdivisions (Public Agencies) for advance 
planning of public works which would be in conformance with 
overall plans approved by competent State, local or regional 
authority. Advances needed to be repaid only when and if 
construction was undertaken, but the making of advances did not 
commit Congress to appropriate funds for construction of 
projects as planned. (Program transferred to HHFA under 
Reorganization Plan 17 of 1950.)

             Amendments to FHA Title VI War Housing Program

                   (Public Law 79-27, March 31, 1945)

    <bullet> Increased the aggregate amount of mortgages that 
could be insured under Title VI from $1.7 billion to $1.8 
billion.
    <bullet> Authorized insurance under Title VI of mortgages 
covering the purchase of housing from FHA that it had acquired 
as a result of foreclosure or otherwise.

                        Amendments to Lanham Act

                   (Public Law 97-87, June 24, 1945)

    <bullet> Added Title V to authorize the use of public war 
housing (provided under the Act for defense and war workers) 
for distressed families of servicemen and veterans and their 
families.
    <bullet> Made funds available for Lanham Act housing 
available for the construction of temporary housing for 
families of servicemen and veterans.

    House Special Committee on Postwar Economic Policy and Planning

            (House Report 852, 79th Congress, July 3, 1945)

    <bullet> Recommended as part of a long-range program of 
public works and construction:
          a. FHA insurance programs for housing mortgages 
        should be further liberalized to include additional 
        housing provision incentives, such as yield insurance 
        for rental housing.
          b. Further Federal assistance to local communities to 
        assist in the provision of low-rent public housing.
          c. Federal assistance in the technical development 
        and financing of housing, utilizing improvements in 
        materials and construction methods.

 Recommendations of Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Redevelopment of 
      the Senate Committee on Postwar Economic Policy and Planning

                   (Committee Print, August 1, 1945)

    <bullet> Recommended:
          a. Legislation designed to achieve an adequate supply 
        of housing. (Needs were estimated at 1,200,000 new 
        dwellings per year for the next 10 years.)
          b. A statement of national policy should be made that 
        the predominance of private enterprise should be 
        maintained, and Government participation should be 
        limited to supplementing private enterprise.
          c. A permanent National Housing Agency should be 
        established operating through three constituent 
        agencies.
          d. A comprehensive attack on the farm housing problem 
        should be developed.
          e. Aids to private enterprise through the Federal 
        Home Loan Bank Administration and the Federal Housing 
        Administration should be continued with revisions and 
        additions to encourage lower-priced housing and 
        investment in rental housing.
          f. There should be amplification of Government 
        research into construction methods and techniques, 
        markets, and needs.
          g. The program of urban low-rent public housing 
        should be extended.
          h. Federal assistance should be provided to local 
        communities for slum clearance and urban redevelopment.

                Amendments to Title V of the Lanham Act

                 (Public law 79-292, December 31, 1945)

    <bullet> Authorized funds for disassembling, transporting, 
re-erecting, and converting surplus war structures on land 
supplied by educational institutions, State and local bodies, 
and nonprofit organizations, to provide housing for veterans 
and their families, and distressed families of servicemen.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal agencies to transfer to the 
National Housing Administrator surplus structures, equipment, 
and materials for conveyance to educational institutions and 
local bodies for housing for veterans and distressed families 
of veterans.

                   Organization for Veterans' Housing

                (Executive Order 9686, January 26, 1946)

    <bullet> Established the Housing Expediter to formulate 
plans and programs and to recommend legislation for the 
provision of housing, particularly at moderate prices and 
rentals, for veterans, and directed executive agencies to 
exercise emergency and other powers to this end.

                Veteran's Emergency Housing Act of 1946

                   (Public Law 79-388, May 22, 1946)

    <bullet> Designed to speed the availability of housing for 
veterans by expediting the production and allocation of 
materials, by curbing excessive prices of new housing, and 
utilizing FHA Title VI war housing program for veteran's 
housing. The authorities expired December 31, 1947.
    <bullet> Confirmed the Office of the Housing Expediter and 
the powers granted to the Expediter by Executive Order 9686, 
supra. (The office was terminated by the Housing and Rent Act 
of 1947 (P.L. 82-96, July 31, 1951))
    <bullet> Strengthened the powers of the Expediter to 
establish ceiling prices and rents for new housing, and to 
allocate or establish priorities for the delivery of materials 
or facilities for housing.
    <bullet> Authorized RFC to make premium payments to 
producers of building materials under prescribed conditions.
    <bullet> Authorized RFC to guarantee markets for new type 
building materials and prefabricated houses.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the aggregate amount of 
mortgages that could be insured under Title VI of the National 
Housing Act to $2.8 billion with authority in the President to 
increase the limit to $3.8 billion.
    <bullet> Required the FHA to prescribe procedures for 
giving World War II veterans and hardship cases priorities in 
the purchase or rental of Title VI housing, thus changing the 
program from a war housing to a veterans' housing program.
    <bullet> Made ``necessary current cost'' the basis for 
determining the maximum amount of a mortgage that could be 
insured under Title VI, and provided higher dollar mortgage 
limits for one- to four-family home mortgages in high-cost 
areas.
    <bullet> Lowered the maximum interest rate on Title VI 
mortgages to 4 percent (from 5 percent, or 6 percent where the 
mortgage market demanded a higher rate).

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 79-480, July 1, 1946)

    <bullet> Repealed provisions in Title II which prohibited 
insurance of mortgages on existing housing after July 1, 1946, 
and limited the aggregate amount of such mortgages insured 
after June 3, 1939 to 35 percent of the mortgages insured under 
Title II.

     Secondary Market for Servicemen's and Veteran's Housing Loans

                  (Public Law 79-656, August 7, 1946)

    <bullet> Authorized RFC to provide a secondary market for 
loans guaranteed or insured under the Servicemen's Readjustment 
Act of 1944. (This authority was terminated by the 
Reconstruction Finance Corporation Extension Act, P.L. 80-132, 
June 30, 1947)

                Farmers Home Administration Act of 1946

                  (Public Law 79-731, August 14, 1946)

    <bullet> Created the Farmers Home Administration in the 
Department of Agriculture.
    <bullet> Amended the Bankhead Jones Farm Tenant Act to 
include veterans' preference in direct loans to finance the 
purchase, enlargement or improvement of farms, and the 
insurance of loans made by private lending institutions for the 
same purposes.
    <bullet> Separation of Housing Expediter and National 
Housing Administrator Offices (Executive Order 9820, January 
1,, 1947)
    <bullet> Segregated the functions and offices of the 
Housing Expediter and National Housing Administrator in line 
with the contemplated phasing out of most features of the 
veterans' emergency housing program and powers.

                      Housing and Rent Act of 1947

                   (Public Law 80-129, June 30, 1947)

    <bullet> Repealed the Veterans Emergency Housing Act except 
for certain provisions.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA Section 609 insurance of loans to 
finance the manufacture of prefabricated houses.
    <bullet> Required veterans' preference in the sale and 
rental of new housing.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Expediter to require 
permits for the construction of amusement and recreation 
facilities.
    <bullet> Continued rent control and placed its 
administration in the Office of Housing Expediter.

            Reconstruction Finance Corporation Extension Act

                   (Public Law 80-132, June 30, 1947)

    <bullet> Eliminated authority of the RFC to provide a 
secondary market for mortgages guaranteed or insured under the 
Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 and provided for the 
transfer of all assets and liabilities of the RFC Mortgage 
Company to RFC. (The RFC Mortgage Company was dissolved on 
April 8, 1948.)

                   Termination of Certain War Powers

                   (Public Law 80-239, July 25, 1947)

    <bullet> Started the two-year period provided under the 
Lanham Act for removal of temporary war and veterans' housing, 
and also the 10-year period during which applications for 
guarantees and insurance of home loans under the Servicemens' 
Readjustment Act of 1944 could be made.

                       Joint Committee on Housing

         (H. Con. Resolution 104, 80th Congress, July 26, 1947)

    <bullet> Established and authorized to study all phases of 
housing. (The Committee conducted hearings in Washington and 32 
other cities.)

               The President's Reorganization Plan No. 3

                       (Effective July 27, 1947)

    <bullet> Established a permanent Housing and Home Finance 
Agency to succeed the National Housing Agency.
    <bullet> Directed the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to coordinate the supervisory functions of three 
constituent agencies--the Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal 
Housing Administration, and the Public Housing Administration.
    <bullet> Established the National Housing Council with 
representation from several other agencies concerned with 
housing to promote the most effective use of Federal housing 
functions and activities.

                 Amendments to U.S. Housing Act of 1937

                   (Public Law 80-301, July 31, 1947)

    <bullet> Permitted local housing agencies to exceed 
statutory cost limits if they provided the difference between 
the limits and actual construction costs.
    <bullet> Prohibited eviction of over-income tenants from 
low-rent public housing if the eviction would result in undue 
hardship.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                  (Public Law 80-366, August 5, 1947)

    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure under Title VI mortgages 
financing the purchase of Federally-owned permanent war 
housing.
    <bullet> Increased the amount of mortgages that could be 
insured under the Title VI veterans' housing program.

                       Joint Committee on Housing

           (House Report 1564, 80th Congress, March 15, 1948)

    <bullet> The final majority report of the Joint Committee 
on Housing recommended comprehensive housing legislation 
designed to achieve production of 1,250,000 to 1,500,000 
dwellings per year. Specific recommendations included:
          a. A statement of firm national housing policy;
          b. Authorization of a research program aimed at 
        reduction of housing costs;
          c. Placing FHA mortgage insurance on a permanent 
        basis;
          d. Authorization of Federal insurance of yield on 
        equity investment to encourage lower-cost homes and 
        moderate rental housing;
          e. Broadening of secondary market in Government for 
        both FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed and insured housing 
        loans;
          f. Insurance of credit and direct RFC loans to 
        prefabricators and other mass producers of housing;
          g. Federal aid for slum clearance;
          h. Provision of additional low-rent public housing;
          i. Improvement of farm housing.

                    The Housing and Rent Act of 1948

                  (Public Law 80-464, March 30, 1948)

    <bullet> Extended rent control and veterans' preference in 
new housing to April 1, 1949.
    <bullet> Extended the prohibition against eviction of over-
income tenants from low-rent public housing.

        Purchase Price of Permanent War Housing Sold to Veterans

                   (Public Law 80-689, June 19, 1948)

    <bullet> Directed that the purchase price of permanent war 
housing sold to veterans be at apportioned cost or appraised 
value, whichever is less.

                        Amendments to Lanham Act

                   (Public Law 80-796, June 28, 1948)

    <bullet> Authorized the Federal interest in veterans' 
temporary reuse housing located at education institutions to be 
transferred to the educational institutions. Housing so 
transferred, when approved by local governing body, was 
exempted from Lanham Act removal requirements applicable to 
temporary housing.
    <bullet> Extended the date by which other temporary war and 
veterans' reuse Lanham Act housing was to be removed to January 
1, 1950.
    <bullet> Made war housing constructed under Public Law 76-
781 and the Temporary Shelter Act subject to the disposition 
provisions of the Lanham Act.

           Government Corporations Appropriation Act, FY 1949

                   (Public Law 80-860, June 30, 1948)

    <bullet> Transferred the capital stock and all assets and 
liabilities of the Defense Homes Corporation to the RFC for 
liquidation.

  Amendments to National Housing Act and Servicemens' Readjustment Act

                   (Public Law 80-864, July 1, 1948)

    <bullet> Established the Federal National Mortgage 
Association (FNMA) by statute, using the name of the 
organization previously chartered by FHA.
    <bullet> Extended FNMA secondary market authorization to 
include GI-guaranteed or insured home and farm loans, but 
limited all purchases to certain GI and FHA loans executed 
after April 30, 1948 (restricted to sales housing).
    <bullet> Authorized FHA insurance of 95 percent mortgages 
on veterans' cooperative housing under Title II of the National 
Housing Act.

                   Amendment to Homeowners' Loan Act

                   (Public Law 80-895, July 3, 1948)

    <bullet> Authorized conversion of Federal savings and loan 
associations to State-chartered associations.

   Special Subcommittee of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee

                (Senate Document 80-202, August 7, 1948)

    <bullet> Appointed to develop acceptable housing 
legislation for the Special Session of the 80th Congress, 
recommended that, in view of the controversial nature of the 
proposals for additional public housing, the subject-matter be 
dropped from the current bill and submitted for consideration 
on its merits in the subsequent Congress.

                          Housing Act of 1948

                  (Public Law 80-901, August 10, 1948)

    <bullet> Passed by the Special Session of the 80th Congress 
called by the President for the enactment of housing 
legislation. Said to have three principal objectives:
          (i) to make credit more easily available to veterans 
        and others for lower-cost homes, and to tighten up to 
        some extent credit on more expensive homes, thus 
        channeling scarce materials into lower-cost homes;
          (ii) to liberalize loans on the lower-cost rural and 
        semirural homes which did not qualify for FHA loans;
          (iii) to accomplish the standardization of building 
        codes and measurements in the building industry.
Major Provisions
    <bullet> Terminated FHA's authority to insure mortgages on 
one- to four-family homes under Title VI.
    <bullet> Extended FHA's authority under Title VI to insure 
mortgages financing rental housing and raised amount of 
mortgages that could be insured to $6,150 million, including 
$400 million available only after release by the President.
    <bullet> Continued the ``necessary current cost'' basis for 
the amount of an FHA-insured mortgage under Section 608 rental 
housing, but with the additional limitation that the amount of 
the mortgage could not exceed 90 percent of the estimated 
replacement cost of the project on the basis of December, 1947, 
prevailing costs.
    <bullet> Substituted a per-family unit cost limit for the 
per-room limit applicable to Section 608 rental housing.
    <bullet> ``Perfected'' the FHA Section 609 mortgage 
insurance program for assistance to manufacturers of 
prefabricated housing, and made available insurance of short-
term credit to dealers.
    <bullet> Made available FHA Section 610 mortgage insurance 
for the purchase of the so-called Greenbelt towns sold by the 
government.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure construction advances 
under insured mortgages which covered property on which there 
was to be constructed 25 or more family units consisting of a 
group of one-family dwellings. Provisions were applicable to 
cases where the builder had located on the property a plant for 
the fabrication of the dwellings or parts of the dwellings, and 
the advances could cover the cost of materials delivered to the 
property and labor performed in construction, fabrication, or 
erection.
    <bullet> Liberalized the Section 203 home mortgage 
insurance program to encourage the production of houses in the 
lower-priced range and to facilitate the transition from the 
emergency Title VI program. Among other things, made mortgages 
on new single-family dwellings up to $6,000 covering up to 95 
percent of value eligible for insurance, and increased the 
maximum amortization period of all mortgages financing new 
homes to 25 years, and in the case of the 95 percent mortgage 
up to $6,000, to 30 years.
    <bullet> To stimulate building activity in the low-cost 
field, authorized FHA to make firm mortgage insurance 
commitments to builders of such housing in amounts up to 85 
percent of appraised value.
    <bullet> Made State-regulated redevelopment and other 
housing corporations eligible for FHA rental housing mortgage 
insurance.
    <bullet> Amended the FHA Section 207 rental housing 
mortgage insurance program by:
          (i) including in the statutory definition of project 
        ``value'' and ``costs'' certain previously excluded 
        costs, such as taxes, utilities, financing charges, and 
        other expenses;
          (ii) authorizing insurance of mortgages up to $50 
        million in amount (general limitation $5 million) where 
        the housing project was undertaken by a Federal, State 
        or municipal instrumentality, or a limited-dividend, 
        redevelopment, or housing corporation restricted by 
        Federal or State laws or regulations of State banking 
        or insurance departments;
          (iii) substituting per-family unit limits for per-
        room limits on the amount of the mortgage;
          (iv) authorizing a special supplemental program of 
        mortgage financing of rental projects for families of 
        lower income involving a combination of a 90 percent 
        loan, 40-year maturity, and a maximum interest rate of 
        4 percent;
          (v) making this liberalized program (iv above), 
        available for cooperative-ownership housing undertaken 
        by nonprofit cooperative housing corporations;
          (vi) providing increased insurance benefits to 
        mortgage lending institutions; and
          (vii) permitting mortgage limits to be based on 
        replacement costs and per-room limits where the needs 
        of veterans' housing cooperatives could be more 
        adequately met by such limits.
    <bullet> Increased the FHA Title I authorization for home 
improvement and modernization (and to a limited extent, 
construction) loan insurance by $35 million, and authorized 
insurance of multifamily house loans of up to (i) $10,000 in 
amount (general limit was $2,500) and (ii) seven years 
maturity.
    <bullet> Authorized RFC to make loans for the production of 
prefabricated houses or prefabricated housing components, or 
for large-scale modernized site construction.
    <bullet> Made new rental housing loans insured by the FHA 
eligible for purchase by FNMA, and raised the limit on the 
amount of FHA and VA mortgages in the portfolio of a single 
mortgagee which could be purchased by FNMA from 25 percent to 
50 percent.
    <bullet> Directed the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to undertake technical research and studies for 
the development and promotion of standardized building codes 
and regulations, and standardized dimensions and methods for 
the assembly of home-building materials and equipment.
    <bullet> Authorized a special FHA yield insurance program 
designed to encourage equity investment in rental housing at 
rents within the capacity of families of moderate incomes by 
guaranteeing, to those making such an investment to the extent 
of 100 percent of project cost, a minimum return (exclusive of 
amortization) of not exceeding 2 \3/4\ percent per annum on 
outstanding investment until such time as only 10 percent of 
the original capital investment remained unamortized. 
Authorized an appropriation of $10 million to be made to the 
Secretary of the Treasury for use in this program by the FHA 
Commissioner.
    <bullet> Title V of the Act contained basic administrative 
provisions including the power of the Administrator and heads 
of constituent agencies to delegate and authorize successive 
redelegations of powers and functions; general authority for 
appropriations to carry out functions, powers and duties for 
administrative expenses; and other significant provisions 
relating to contracts, expenditures, and the handling of and 
accounting for funds.
    <bullet> Eliminated the restriction on removal of over-
income tenants from low-rent public housing projects. Housing 
and Rent Act of 1949 (Public Law 81-31, March 30, 1949)
    <bullet> Extended: a. Rent control through June 30, 1950; 
and b. Veterans' preference in new housing through June 30, 
1950. Alaska Housing Act (Public Law 81-52, April 23, 1949)
    <bullet> Provided special Federal assistance to housing in 
Alaska, including: a. More liberal FHA mortgage insurance; b. 
Federal loans: c. FNMA to provide a more liberal secondary 
mortgage market; d. Construction of sale or rental housing by 
the Alaska Housing Authority; e. Housing construction and 
repair loans to be made by the Alaska Authority; f. $15 million 
in Federal loans to the Alaska Housing Authority (through the 
purchase of the Authority obligations) by theHousing and Home 
Finance Administrator. Sale of Suburban Resettlement Projects 
(Public Law 81-65, May 19, 1949)
    <bullet> Authorized sale of the suburban resettlement 
projects known as Greenbelt, Md., Greendale, Wisconsin, and 
Greenhills, Ohio, by means of negotiated sale and without 
competitive bidding or public advertising. A sales preference 
was to be given to nonprofit organizations of veterans and 
tenants.

                          Housing Act of 1949

                   (Public Law 81-171, July 15, 1949)

National Housing Policy and Goal
    <bullet> Declared the national housing policy to be that 
the general welfare and security of the Nation required the 
realization as soon as feasible of the goal of a decent home 
and suitable living environment for every American family.
    <bullet> Provided that private enterprise should be 
encouraged to serve as large a part of the total need as it 
could and that governmental assistance should be given to the 
elimination of standard and inadequate housing through 
clearance of slums and blight and to the provision of adequate 
housing for families of low incomes where the need was not 
being met by private enterprise.
Title I--Slum Clearance and Urban Redevelopment
    <bullet> Authorized $1 billion in loans and $500 million in 
capital grants over a five-year period to localities to assist 
slum clearance and community development and redevelopment 
programs. To be eligible for grants, project areas were to be 
predominantly residential in character either before of after 
redevelopment, or both.
    <bullet> Authorized advances to finance planning of 
projects, and loans for the acquisition and clearance of land 
and its preparation for reuse.
    <bullet> Authorized capital grants to help meet the loss 
involved in slum clearance. The loss was to be shared on a two 
to one basis the Federal Government making up two- thirds of 
the loss and the local government one-third. The local share 
could be provided in cash or through the provision of parks, 
schools, or other public facilities necessary to serve the new 
uses of the land in the project areas, or the use of municipal 
labor and equipment to clear a project area.
    <bullet> Federal advances were made payable from the first 
proceeds of temporary loans made to finance the projects. 
Temporary loans were repayable from the proceeds of the sale of 
the land, Federal grants, local cash grant-in-aid and 
definitive loans. The interest rate on all loans could not be 
less than the going Federal rate, as determined by most 
recently issued Federal bonds of 10 years or more maturity. 
Local government agencies could pledge their contracts for 
Federal loans as security for funds obtained from other sources 
at lower rates of interest. To obtain funds for loans, the 
Housing Administrator could issue notes and other obligations 
for purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury.
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator to contract to make 
capital grants, and to make advance or progress payments on a 
grant contract. The faith of the United States was pledged to 
the payment of the grants and appropriations were authorized to 
the extent necessary to provide for payments of the grants.
    <bullet> Required as a condition to Federal aid that there 
be a feasible method for the temporary relocation of families 
displaced from the project area and the permanent provision of 
decent dwellings at prices and rents within the financial means 
of such families.
    <bullet> Not more than 10 percent of the funds provided for 
loans or grants could be expended in any one State.
    (New contracts under Title I were prohibited after January 
1, 1975, by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, 
P.L. 93-383, August 22, 1974.)
Title II--Amendments to National Housing Act
    <bullet> Authorized a $500 million increase in FHA Title II 
mortgage insurance, covering homes, rental housing, and 
cooperative housing.
Title III--Amendments to United States Housing Act of 1937
    <bullet> Authorized Federal contributions and loans for not 
to exceed 810,000 additional units of low-rent public housing.
    <bullet> Amended the program to facilitate 100 percent 
private-capital financing by the local housing authorities, 
reduce the maximum period of annual contributions from 60 to 40 
years, increase statutory construction cost limits to reflect 
postwar price levels, and provide additional assurance that 
public housing would not compete with decent private housing.
Title IV--Housing Research
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to conduct technical research and studies which 
would promote reduction in housing construction and maintenance 
costs and stimulate the increased production in housing.
Title V--Farm Housing
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to provide 
a new program of technical services, loans and grants, and an 
expanded farm housing research program for the improvement of 
farm housing and other farm buildings.
Title VI--Miscellaneous
    <bullet> Directed the Director of the Census to take a 
census of housing in 1950 and decennially thereafter.
    <bullet> Amended the National Bank Act to authorize 
national banks and State member banks of the Federal Reserve 
System to purchase or underwrite certain obligations of local 
public housing and slum-clearance agencies.
    <bullet> Authorized the District of Columbia to participate 
in the slum clearance and urban redevelopment benefits 
authorized under Title I of the Act.

                     Increase in FNMA Authorization

                   (Public Law 81-176, July 19, 1949)

    <bullet> Increased FNMA authorization to purchase FHA Title 
II and Title VI insured mortgages and VA guaranteed mortgages 
(veterans' loans) to $1.5 billion.
    <bullet> Added a new Title VIII (Wherry Act Housing) to the 
National Housing Act to provide special FHA mortgage insurance 
for rental housing for military and civilian personnel in areas 
adjacent to military installations, and made these mortgages 
eligible for purchase by FNMA.

 Substantive Legislation in Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 
                                  1950

                  (Public Law 81-266, August 24, 1949)

    <bullet> Authorized the HHFA Administrator to transfer 
temporary Veterans' Reuse Housing to a State, county, city, or 
other public body in accordance with the terms of Public Law 
80-796 upon application filed within 120 days after August 24, 
1949.
    <bullet> Limited occupancy in public housing, for contracts 
after April 17, 1940, to U.S. citizens except for families of 
servicemen or veterans. (This provision was continued in each 
annual appropriation act through FY 1954.)
    <bullet> Annual contributions not to be available for 
payments in lieu of taxes above amounts in original contracts. 
(Found unworkable, this provision was repealed retroactively to 
August 24, 1949, by P.L. 81-358, October 14, 1949.)

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                  (Public Law 81-278, August 30, 1949)

    <bullet> Increased the Title II mortgage insurance 
authority (homes and rental housing) to $6 billion.
    <bullet> Advances for Reserve of Planned Public Works 
(Public Law 81-352, October 13, 1949)
    <bullet> Authorized the General Services Administration (to 
whom the Federal Works Agency's Advance Planning Program had 
been transferred on July 1, 1949 by P.L. 81-152, June 30, 1949) 
to make loans and advances (for studies, designs, plans, 
working drawings, specifications and other actions preliminary 
to construction of needed public works) to States, subdivisions 
and public agencies. Loans and advances were contingent upon 
conformance of the proposed project to an overall State, local 
or regional plan approved by competent authority therein, and 
were repayable without interest when and if construction began.
    <bullet> Authorized $100 million to be appropriated and to 
remain available until expended. (Program transferred to HHFA 
under Reorganization Plan No. 17 of 1950, May 24, 1950).

                 Amendments to the National Housing Act

                 (Public Law 81-387, October 25, 1949)

    <bullet> Increased FNMA's authorization for the purchase of 
mortgages, loans and investments from $1.5 billion to $2.5 
billion.
    <bullet> Liberalized FNMA's authority to purchase VA 
housing loans.
    <bullet> Extended the time limit by which temporary war and 
veterans' housing provided under the Lanham Act should be 
removed from January 1, 1950 to January 1, 1951.
    <bullet> Amended the Federal Reserve Act to permit national 
banks to make FHA Title VIII military housing loans.
      IV. THE 1950s--EVOLUTION OF A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

 Report, Subcommittee No. 2 of House Committee on Banking and Currency

           (Committee Print, 81st Congress, January 31, 1950)

    <bullet> Recommended that the Congress should enact 
legislation as soon as possible to provide for the orderly and 
expeditious disposition of Government-owned and controlled war 
veterans' housing.

        Housing Act of 1950 (Public Law 81-475, April 20, 1950)

Amendments to FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of loans that 
could be insured under the FHA Title I programs by $5 million.
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for the Title II 
mortgage insurance programs by $2.25 billion.
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for the Section 608 
rental housing program by $500 million.
    <bullet> Authorized a new Section 8 FHA mortgage insurance 
program for very low-cost homes in suburban and outlying areas 
where it was not practical to obtain conformity with FHA 
property location and other requirements essential for housing 
in built-up urban areas. (This program was terminated by the 
Housing Act of 1954, P.L. 83-560, August 2, 1954.)
    <bullet> Provided that the loan under Section 8 could be 
insured if found to be an ``acceptable risk'' giving 
consideration to the need of families of low or moderate 
incomes in outlying areas. (Under other programs the loans were 
required to be ``economically sound.'')
    <bullet> Amended the Title II programs to provide 
incentives for the production of lower-cost homes, especially 
those with three and four bedrooms. FHA could under certain 
circumstances increase the dollar limits on mortgages insured. 
(It was stated in a committee report that the ``several 
escalator clauses are intended to help meet the higher 
construction costs which generally prevail within the larger 
metropolitan areas and under no circumstances shall be 
administered in such a manner as will tend to permit the 
allowable higher mortgage ceilings to become general.'')
    <bullet> Amended FHA Section 207 rental housing mortgage 
limits to stimulate rental housing construction formerly 
provided by the temporary Section 608 war and veterans' rental 
housing program.
    <bullet> Added a provision to Section 207 requiring 
certification by the mortgagor that there would be no 
discrimination in the selection of tenants by reason of the 
fact that there were children in the families.
    <bullet> Authorized a new Section 213 cooperative housing 
mortgage insurance program which liberalized the previous FHA 
cooperative housing mortgage insurance requirements. Mortgage 
limits were made more liberal for veterans' cooperatives.
    <bullet> Authorized a new Assistant Commissioner of FHA to 
administer cooperative housing programs and furnish technical 
advice and assistance in the organization of cooperatives and 
in the planning, development, construction, and operation of 
their housing projects.
    <bullet> Increased mortgage insurance authority under the 
Section 608 war and veterans' rental housing program in order 
that applications received prior to March 1, 1950 could be 
processed.
    <bullet> Made the FHA Section 610 mortgage insurance 
program available for the sale of Government-owned war housing 
in connection with the sale by the Government or any public 
housing agency of war housing constructed under Public Law 76-
671.
    <bullet> Liberalized FHA requirements for insurance of 
loans for manufactured houses and large-scale site construction 
of housing.
Secondary Market
    <bullet> Made the new Section 8 FHA insured mortgages on 
low-cost homes eligible for purchase by FNMA.
    <bullet> Made the 50 percent limitation on the amount of 
certain mortgages which could be sold to FNMA inapplicable to 
VA-guaranteed farm home mortgages (previously done for VA 
nonfarm home mortgages).
    <bullet> Authorized RFC to provide an additional $250 
million to FNMA for its secondary market operations and 
directed FNMA to exert every effort to sell its present and 
future mortgage holdings in an orderly manner.
    <bullet> Permitted FNMA to purchase mortgages only if 
guaranteed or insured at time of contract.
Disposition of War and Veterans' Housing
    <bullet> Added provisions to the Lanham Act for the 
disposition of all war and veterans' housing under the 
jurisdiction of the Housing and Home Finance Administrator.
    <bullet> Required farm labor camps under the jurisdiction 
of the Secretary of Agriculture to be transferred to the Public 
Housing Administration for management and disposal.
College Housing Loans
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to make loans to public or private nonprofit 
institutions of higher learning for housing for their students 
and faculties, where the institution showed that it was unable 
to secure the necessary funds from other sources upon terms and 
conditions generally comparable to the terms provided in the 
Act for loans (40 years and going Federal rate of interest plus 
\1/4\ of 1 percent per annum).
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to issue 
obligations in an amount up to $300 million outstanding at any 
one time to obtain funds for the loans.
Loan Charges and Fees
    <bullet> Directed FHA to issue regulations limiting the 
charges and fees imposed upon builders, veterans, or purchasers 
in connection with the financing of the construction or sale of 
housing built or sold with the assistance of an FHA-insured or 
loan. Required the mortgagees to certify compliance with the 
regulations. (Repealed in the Housing Act of 1954, P.L. 83-560, 
August 2, 1954.)

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                    (Public Law 81-498, May 2, 1950)

    <bullet> Amended Title VIII (FHA mortgage insurance for 
military housing) to permit the military services to employ 
architects to draft plans for housing projects, thus obviating 
the necessity of each prospective sponsor preparing separate 
plans and specifications.

                      Agencies Transferred to HHFA

               (Reorganization Plan No. 17, May 24, 1950)

    <bullet> The President transferred from the General 
Services Administration to the Housing and Home Finance Agency 
the administration of:
          a. the program of advances to State and local 
        governments for planning public works, and
          b. the management and disposal of sewers, schools, 
        hospitals, and other community facilities constructed 
        under the Lanham Act (war housing law).

                      Housing and Rent Act of 1950

                   (Public Law 81-574, June 24, 1950)

    <bullet> Extended rent control until December 31, 1950, 
except in localities which declared the continuation was 
required and in such cases to June 30, 1951.
    <bullet> Continued until June 30, 1951, veterans' 
preference in new housing completed after June 30, 1947.

  Amendments to Federal Home Loan Bank Act and National Housing Act, 
                                Title IV

                   (Public Law 81-576, June 27, 1950)

    In order to strengthen the savings and loan industry and 
the provision of housing credit:
    <bullet> Increased the insurance by FSLIC of savings 
accounts from $5,000 to $10,000 for each account.
    <bullet> Required members of Federal Home Loan Banks to 
maintain a minimum liquidity as a condition of membership. 
Effective six months after enactment, no member could make any 
loan at any time when it did not hold cash and obligations of 
the U.S. in such minimum amount as prescribed in regulations to 
be promulgated by the Home Loan Bank Board.
    <bullet> Required the amount of stockholdings by members of 
Federal Home Loan Banks in their respective Banks to equal at 
least 2 percent of the unpaid principal of the members' home 
mortgage loans within one year. Each Federal Home Loan Bank was 
required to retire an amount of its Government-owned stock 
equal to the amount by which the stock held by members exceeded 
the amount required under the existing law. Annually thereafter 
each Federal Home Loan Bank was required to retire Government 
stock equal to 50 percent of the net increase in members' stock 
since the last previous retirement.
    <bullet> To assure Government support of the Federal Home 
Loan Banks in supplying the credit needs of their members in 
any possible future emergency in which the Banks could not 
obtain sufficient funds in the private money market, authorized 
the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase Federal Home Loan 
Bank obligations up to a total of $1 billion.
    <bullet> Directed the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance 
Corporation to retire annually at par an amount of its capital 
stock equal to 50 percent of its net income for each fiscal 
year. (The Corporation's capital stock of $100 million was then 
held by the Secretary of the Treasury.)
    <bullet> Required FSLIC to pay the Secretary of the 
Treasury a return on the average amount of its capital stock 
outstanding during each fiscal year. This return would be in 
lieu of any and all unpaid dividends whether for any past, 
present, or future period. In addition, required FSLIC to pay 
to the Secretary of the Treasury an amount equal to 2 percent 
simple interest per annum on its capital stock from the time of 
organization of FSLIC to June 30, 1950, less any amount 
previously paid by FSLIC as dividends on the capital stock.
    <bullet> Authorized FSLIC to borrow from the U.S. Treasury 
such funds as in the judgment of the Home Loan Bank Board were 
required for insurance purposes, not exceeding in the aggregate 
$750 million outstanding at any one time. Repealed other 
borrowing authority of FSLIC.
    <bullet> Reduced the premium rate paid by insured savings 
and loan associations to the FSLIC from 1/8 of 1 percent of the 
insured accounts and creditor obligations of each insured 
institution of 1/12 of 1 percent.

                    Territorial Enabling Act of 1950

                   (Public Law 81-615, July 18, 1950)

    <bullet> Permitted the governments of Puerto Rico, Alaska, 
Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands to authorize public bodies or 
agencies to undertake slum clearance and urban redevelopment 
activities, and revised the low-rent public housing enabling 
statutes of Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii to assist the 
program.

              Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1951

                 (Public Law 81-759, September 6, 1950)

    <bullet> Extended the deadline established in the 1950 
Appropriation Act (P.L. 81-266, August 24, 1949) to December 
31, 1950, for transferring reuse housing to States and local 
public bodies. Provided that educational institutions and 
nonprofit organizations were eligible to accept transfer of 
such housing.

         Reorganization Plan No. 22 of 1950, September 7, 1950

    <bullet> Transferred the Federal National Mortgage 
Association from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to the 
Housing and Home Finance Agency.

         Reorganization Plan No. 23 of 1950, September 7, 1950

    <bullet> Transferred the lending functions of the 
Reconstruction Finance Corporation with respect to the 
production and distribution of prefabricated houses and 
components to the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

                     Defense Production Act of 1950

                 (Pubic Law 81-744, September 8, 1950)

    <bullet> Authorized the President to:
          a. control real estate credit;
          b. use priority and allocation powers;
          c. requisition defense departments to guarantee loans 
        made by financial institutions for production and 
        delivery of defense materials.
          Authorized price and wage stabilization and 
        prohibited the hoarding of scarce materials.

                Executive Order 10161, September 9, 1950

    <bullet> Delegated the function of imposing credit controls 
on Government-aided housing to the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator.
    <bullet> Delegated to the Federal Reserve Board the 
function of imposing credit controls on new construction the 
financing of which was not aided by Government agencies. 
(Superseded by Executive Order 10480, August 14, 1953)

               Amendments to Housing and Rent Act of 1947

       (Public Laws 82-8 and 82-69, March 23, and June 30, 1951)

    <bullet> Extended the provisions of the Act for rent 
control and veterans' preference in housing to June 30, 1951, 
and then for an additional month from June 30.

                   Termination of HOLC (May 29, 1951)

    <bullet> Announcement was made by the Home Loan Bank Board 
that the Home Owners Loan Corporation had closed its doors 
following delivery of a check for nearly $14 million of surplus 
to the U.S. Treasury.

               Amendments to Housing and Rent Act of 1947

                   (Public Law 82-96, July 31, 1951)

    <bullet> Provided that the President should administer rent 
control through the Economic Stabilization Agency.
    <bullet> Terminated the Office of the Housing Expediter.

              Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1952

                  (Public Law 82-137, August 31, 1951)

    <bullet> With respect to public housing projects initiated 
after March 1, 1949, prohibited construction starts during 
fiscal 1952 of more than 50,000 units, or construction 
authorization where projects have been rejected by the 
governing body of the locality or by public vote. (The 
provision prohibiting construction in localities rejecting 
public housing was repeated in each fiscal year through 1954.)
    <bullet> Prohibited additional prefabricated housing loans 
by the Housing Administrator unless for the furtherance or 
refinancing of an existing loan determined to be in the best 
interest of the Government.
    <bullet> Rescinded contract authority for Public Works 
Planning Advances. (This program, initiated under P.L. 81-352, 
was terminated October 13, 1951.)

   Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951

                 (Public Law 82-139, September 1, 1951)

    <bullet> Authorized $50 million for the provision of public 
defense housing in critical defense areas where housing could 
not be provided in any other manner.
    <bullet> Authorized $60 million for loans and grants for 
assistance to or the provision of community facilities and 
services in critical defense areas.
    <bullet> Added Title IX to the National Housing Act to 
provide a new liberal FHA mortgage insurance program for 
certain defense housing.
    <bullet> Increased the total FHA insurance authorization by 
$1.5 billion.
    <bullet> Permitted FHA limits on the maximum amounts of 
mortgages on housing in Alaska to be increased up to one-half 
instead of one-third.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to provide 
sites for necessary development in connection with isolated 
defense installations.
    <bullet> Authorized loans to assure the maintenance of 
industrial capacity for the production of prefabricated houses 
and housing components for defense purposes. (Authority was 
terminated by Housing Amendments of 1953, P.L. 83-94, as of 
June 30, 1954.)
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA until December 31, 1951 to make 
commitments to purchase mortgages on defense housing or housing 
for families who were victims of disaster.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to extend time limits 
beyond which vacancies in Lanham Act war housing were not to be 
filled.

                       Amendments to Housing Acts

                 (Public Law 82-214, October 26, 1951)

    <bullet> Amended the low-rent public housing law, the 
Lanham Act war housing law, and the FHA cooperative mortgage 
insurance law to grant veterans' preferences to veterans of the 
Korean conflict.

                        FNMA Advance Commitments

                 (Public Law 82-243, October 30, 1951)

    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to make advance commitments 
aggregating up to $30 million at any one time to purchase FHA 
cooperative housing mortgages.

                      Investigation of VA and FHA

                    (H. Res. 82-436, February 1952)

    <bullet> Authorized a special Subcommittee on House Banking 
and Currency Committee to be established to investigate the 
guaranteeing and insuring of housing loans by VA and FHA.

                 Additional Advance Commitments by FNMA

                   (Public Law 82-309, April 9, 1952)

    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to make additional advance 
commitments up to $252 million to purchase defense or disaster 
housing mortgages.

               Defense Production Act Amendments of 1952

                   (Public Law 82-429, June 30, 1952)

    <bullet> Extended the authority to control real estate 
credit to June 30, 1953.
    <bullet> Required relaxation of real estate credit control 
whenever for any consecutive three months the annual rate of 
starts of houses fell below 1,200,000 units.
    <bullet> Continued priorities and allocation powers to June 
30, 1953.
    <bullet> Continued rent control until September 30, 1952, 
except that under certain conditions in certain localities rent 
control might be continued to April 30, 1953.

              Substantive Provisions in Appropriation Act

                   (Public Law 82-455, July 5, 1952)

    <bullet> Limited new units which could be authorized for 
construction during FY 1953 to 35,000 and during subsequent 
years to 35,000 unless more were authorized in appropriation 
acts.
    <bullet> Prohibited occupancy by subversives, as designated 
by the Attorney General. (This prohibition was repeated in the 
1954 Appropriation Act, P.L. 83-176, July 31, 1953.)

                          Housing Act of 1952

                   (Public Law 82-531, July 14, 1952)

    <bullet> Authorized an additional $400 million of FHA 
mortgage insurance for defense, military and disaster housing.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of commitments 
by FNMA which could be outstanding for the purchase of defense 
and disaster housing mortgages by $900 million.
    <bullet> Changed the law governing the purchase of 
mortgages by FNMA to assure adequate purchase authority for 
defense and disaster housing.
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for appropriations for 
defense housing from $50 million to $100 million and for 
defense community facilities and services from $60 million to 
$100 million.
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for appropriations for 
the purchase by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator of 
bonds of the Alaska Housing Authority from $15 million to $20 
million. (The proceeds of the bonds were used for housing loans 
to public agencies or private nonprofit or limited dividend 
housing in Alaska or for housing provided by direct 
construction by the Authority.)
    <bullet> Amended the laws governing the FHA mortgage 
insurance program, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance 
Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Bank System, the 
prefabricated housing loan program and Federal assistance in 
the provision of sites for isolated defense installations to 
permit these programs to operate in Guam.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal savings and loan associations 
to purchase loans secured by first liens on improved real 
estate which were insured by the FHA without regard to the 50 
mile area restriction previously applicable.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages made to finance 
the sale of multi-unit housing projects by States or 
municipalities or their public agencies where the housing is 
permanent and was constructed by the State or other public body 
primarily for veterans of World War II.
    <bullet> Amended the Lanham Act to permit the President to 
extend the December 31, 1952, date prescribed for the removal 
of temporary war and veterans housing.
    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of the Treasury to cancel 
notes of the HHFA Administrator to the extent of net losses 
sustained by the HHFA in the liquidation of defaulted loans on 
prefabricated housing.

               Relaxation of Residential Credit Controls

                 (Executive Order 10373, July 14, 1952)

    <bullet> Delegated to the Federal Reserve Board the 
authority to announce (subject to HHFA concurrence) the 
beginning or termination of a period of relaxed residential 
credit controls.

                            Disaster Relief

               (Executive Order 10427, January 16, 1953)

    <bullet> Transferred the directing and coordinating 
functions delegated to the HHFA Administrator under Executive 
Order 10221 (supra) to the Office of Emergency Planning.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 83-5, March 10, 1953)

    <bullet> Increased the FHA Title I home moderation and 
repair loan insurance authorization by $500 million.
    <bullet> Made provision for repayment to the Treasury 
before June 30, 1954, of the $8.3 million Government investment 
in the FHA Title I insurance fund.

                    Housing Credit Controls Removed

                   (Federal Register, April 18, 1953)

    <bullet> Remaining controls on housing were removed by the 
Housing Administrator.

                      Housing and Rent Act of 1953

                   (Public Law 83-23, April 30, 1953)

    <bullet> Allowed Federal rent controls to expire July 31, 
1953, except that the expiration date was extended to April 30, 
1954, in critical defense housing areas.

                         Disposition Functions

                 (Executive Order 10462, June 19, 1953)

    <bullet> Delegated functions of the President relating to 
the timing of the disposition of Lanham Act Housing (World War 
II and Veterans' Emergency Housing, Section 611) to the HHFA 
Administrator.

                       Housing Amendments of 1953

                   (Public Law 83-94, June 30, 1953)

FHA Mortgage Insurance Authorization
    <bullet> Increased the FHA mortgage insurance authorization 
by $1.5 billion.
    <bullet> Allowed the President to make allocations from 
that amount to the various FHA mortgage insurance programs as 
needed.
FHA Low-Cost Homes
    <bullet> Authorized the President to allow more liberal 
loan-to-value ratios and longer maturities for FHA-insured 
mortgages under the Section 203 program on new owner-occupant 
homes.
    <bullet> Permitted increases in mortgage amounts of FHA 
Section 8 low-cost homes in outlying and suburban areas.
Section 207 Rental Housing
    <bullet> Increased the maximum mortgage amounts of 
mortgages insured by FHA under its Section 207 rental housing 
program.
Higher FHA Mortgage Maximums in Hawaii
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Housing Commissioner to 
permit the maximum amounts of mortgages financing homes in 
Hawaii to be increased up to, but not exceeding 50 percent, if 
he finds that, by reason of higher costs prevailing in the 
Territory, it is not feasible to construct sound and livable 
dwellings.
Increases in FHA Statutory Maximums on Interest Rates
    <bullet> Increased the statutory maximums on FHA interest 
rates on cooperative housing mortgages from 4 percent to 4 \1/
2\ percent (5 percent when covering individual housing in a 
cooperative project), and on Sections 803 and 908 military and 
defense housing mortgages from 4 percent to 4 \1/2\ percent, 
consistent with other FHA programs.
FHA Military and Defense Housing Authorization
    <bullet> Added provisions to the Title VIII military 
housing mortgage insurance law designed to assure that the 
mortgagor-sponsors or builders of military rental housing have 
an actual investment in the housing over and above funds 
borrowed on the mortgage security, to prevent ``mortgaging 
out.''
    <bullet> Continued this program and Title IX (for defense 
housing programmed as needed for military or defense workers in 
critical defense housing) until June 30, 1954.
FHA Insurance Funds
    <bullet> Directed the FHA to repay the Treasury about $57 
million (exclusive of interest) which had been furnished by the 
Treasury for the establishment of some of the FHA insurance 
funds. The repayments were to be made as rapidly as possible 
without impairing the solvency of the insurance funds involved.
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Housing Commissioner to 
transfer moneys among the various insurance funds (except the 
Title I repair and improvement loan insurance program). (This 
was to expedite repayment to the Treasury and to assure 
available funds for payments of debentures.)
    <bullet> Made other changes in the management of the Title 
II mortgage insurance funds.
Regulation of Fees and Charges Relating to VA and FHA Mortgages
    <bullet> Added a provision to Section 504 of the Housing 
Act of 1950 (P.L. 81-475), which required FHA and VA to limit 
charges and fees imposed upon the mortgagors. The new provision 
was to the effect that the regulations limiting charges and 
fees should not be construed to include any loss suffered by an 
originating lender in the bona fida sale or pledge of or an 
agreement to sell the mortgage. (All of Section 504 was 
repealed by Section 813 of the Housing Act of 1954, P.L. 83-
560, August 2, 1954.)
FNMA
    <bullet> Extended FNMA's authority to make advance 
commitments to purchase military, defense and disaster housing 
mortgages to July 1, 1954.
    <bullet> Made additional FHA Section 213 cooperative 
housing mortgages eligible for advance commitments to purchase 
by FNMA.
    <bullet> Exempted them from the $10,000 per family dwelling 
unit limit which applied to other mortgages purchased by FNMA.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to enter into contracts, in 
connection with the sale of its mortgages, to purchase 
mortgages in amounts not exceeding the amounts being sold. 
(This was designed to encourage the purchase of mortgages from 
FNMA by lenders.) Authority was to expire July 1, 1954, and the 
amount of the contracts was limited to a total of $500 million.
Extension of Defense Housing
    <bullet> Extended for one year the authority in the Defense 
Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951 to 
provide Government-constructed temporary defense housing in 
critical defense areas to June 30, 1954.
    <bullet> The authority for permanent housing was not 
extended.
Termination of Prefabricated Housing Loans
    <bullet> After June 30, 1954, no prefabricated housing loan 
could be made by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator 
except pursuant to commitments to make loans issued on or 
before June 30, 1953, or where an existing loan held by the 
Administrator on June 30, 1953 was being refinanced.
Extension of Aid to Defense Community Facilities and Services
    <bullet> Continued the Federal aid for community services 
and facilities in critical defense housing areas to June 30, 
1954.
Capital Grants for Slum Clearance and Urban Redevelopment
    <bullet> Authorized $35 million in contracts for capital 
grants for slum clearance and urban redevelopment without 
regard to the statutory provision that not more than 10 percent 
of the Federal grants for this purpose could be expended in any 
one State.
Interest Rate on Federal Loans
    <bullet> Provided a new formula for determining the 
interest rates on Federal loans for slum clearance and urban 
redevelopment, college housing and low-rent public housing.

               Defense Production Act Amendments of 1953

                   (Public Law 83-95, June 30, 1953)

    <bullet> Extended for two years (until June 30, 1955) the 
priorities and allocations powers.
    <bullet> Allowed authority for real estate credit controls 
to expire as of June 30, 1953.

                          RFC Liquidation Act

                   (Public Law 83-163, July 30, 1953)

    <bullet> Provided for liquidation of the RFC.
    <bullet> Authorized the President up until June 30, 1955, 
through such agency as he might designate, to make loans to 
State and local agencies, and public corporations, boards and 
commissions to aid in financing public projects.

            Independent Offices Appropriation Act of FY 1954

                   (Public Law 83-176, July 31, 1953)

Public Housing
    <bullet> Prohibited authorization of the commencement of 
construction during FY 1954 of more than 20,000 low-rent public 
housing units, or entering into any new agreements with respect 
to loans or annual contributions for any additional dwelling 
units unless thereafter authorized by Congress.
    <bullet> Provided, in addition to other prohibitions and 
limitations (not affecting the number of new units) contained 
in the 1950, 1952 and 1953 appropriation acts and continued 
through 1954, that locally unwanted public housing under 
construction could be stopped by the locality, if expenses 
already incurred were repaid to the Government. (None of these 
provisions were continued after FY 1954.)
    <bullet> Directed the Commissioner of Public Housing to 
make every effort to refund all local bonds on low-rent housing 
converted to war housing, held by PHA under the U.S. Housing 
Act of 1937, as amended. (This proviso was applicable to FY 
1954, and was repeated in the FY 1955 appropriation act, but 
dropped thereafter.)
Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Directed the Administrator, before approving any 
local program, to give consideration to the efforts of the 
locality to enforce local codes and regulations relating to 
adequate standards of health, sanitation and safety, and to the 
feasibility of achieving slum clearance objectives through 
rehabilitation of existing dwelling units and areas.
    <bullet> Directed that authority under Title I of the 
National Housing Act (home improvement loans) be used to the 
utmost in connection with slum rehabilitation needs. (This 
proviso was continued in the FY 1955 appropriation act (P.L. 
83-428, June 24, 1954), but dropped thereafter.)
Research
    <bullet> Closed out the Housing Research Program authorized 
by the Housing Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-901, August 10, 1948) by 
the following proviso: ``* * * that not to exceed $125,000 
shall be available for liquidation of the Housing Research 
Program not later than April 30, 1954.''

               Executive Order 10486, September 12, 1953

    <bullet> Established the Advisory Committee on Government 
Housing Policies and Programs.

  Report of the President's Advisory Committee on Government Housing 
                         Policies and Programs

                          (December 14, 1953)

Recommended Actions
    <bullet> Federal assistance to communities to help them 
attack the problem of the spread of slums.
    <bullet> Long-term FHA mortgage insurance for designated 
older areas to assist building and rehabilitating housing for 
sale or rent.
    <bullet> Establishment of an advisory service in HHFA to 
help cities keep posted on new techniques for urban renewal.
    <bullet> Formation outside of Government of a 
representative national organization to help promote renewal of 
towns and cities.
    <bullet> Making one-third of Federal grants available to 
communities with outstanding performance records in attacking 
urban decay.
    <bullet> Adapting FHA-insured mortgage lending on new and 
existing homes to the special housing needs of low-income 
families.
    <bullet> Continuation of low-rent public housing program.
    <bullet> Preference in admission to low-rent public housing 
be given to low-income families displaced by slum clearance, 
rehabilitation, or other public works, and mortgage insurance 
for displaced families.
    <bullet> Vigorous activities by public and private 
officials to provide housing for minority families.
    <bullet> Establishment of privately financed secondary 
market facility to level out peaks and valleys in flow of 
mortgage funds, particularly in the smaller communities and 
areas of chronically short investment capital.
    <bullet> Grouping of housing activities within a single 
agency, headed by an administrator with supervisory authority.

           President's Special Message to Congress on Housing

               (House Document 83-306, January 25, 1954)

Recommendations
    <bullet> Broadening existing programs to assist prevention 
of blight and rehabilitation of salvable areas.
    <bullet> A new program of FHA mortgage insurance for 
housing for low-income families displaced by slum clearance and 
similar activities.
    <bullet> Additional FHA loan insurance assistance for 
existing housing and rehabilitation of housing.
    <bullet> Broader authority to the President to adjust from 
time to time, in the light of economic conditions, permissible 
terms on Government guaranteed and insured mortgages.
    <bullet> Reorganization of FNMA with purchase of initial 
stock by the Federal Government, but with private capital funds 
to be supplied by the users of FNMA.

               Independent Office Appropriation Act, 1955

                   (Public Law 83-428, June 24, 1954)

Included Substantive Legislation
    <bullet> Ended authority to purchase additional notes or 
obligations after June 24, 1954, from funds appropriated 
pursuant to the Alaska Housing Act (P.L. 81-52, April 23, 1949) 
as amended, except for the furtherance or refinancing of an 
existing loan.
    <bullet> Established the Revolving Fund, Liquidating 
Programs, to include and account for all assets and liabilities 
of:
          (1) Defense Community Facilities, Title II of Lanham 
        Act (P.L. 76-849, October 10, 1940) or Title III of 
        Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services 
        Act of 1951 (P.L. 82-139, September 1, 1951);
          (2) Loans and advances pursuant to Title V (First 
        Advance Planning Program) of the War Mobilization and 
        Reconversion Act of 1944 (P.L. 78-458, October 13, 
        1944) or the Act of October 13, 1949 (Second Advance 
        Planning Program, P.L. 81-352);
          (3) Functions transferred under Reorganization Plan 
        23 of 1950 or authorized under Sections 102, 102a, b, 
        and c of the Housing Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-901, August 
        10, 1948) as amended (Prefabricated Housing Loans);
          (4) Notes or other obligations pursuant to the Alaska 
        Housing Act (P.L. 81-52, April 23, 1949);
          (5) Subsistence Homesteads and Greentowns (June 29, 
        1936 and May 19, 1949);
          (6) Public War Housing under Title I of Lanham Act 
        and Defense Housing under Title III of Defense Housing 
        and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951 
        (Public Law references in (1) above);
          (7) Veterans' Reuse Housing under Title V of the 
        Lanham Act (Public Law reference in (1) above). Amounts 
        determined to be in excess of requirements were to be 
        returned to the Treasury at least annually.
    <bullet> Provided funds for an agency-wide Compliance staff 
in the Office of the Administrator; and also provided, ``* * * 
and the Administrator's general supervision and coordination 
responsibilities under Reorganization Plan 3 of 1947 shall 
hereafter carry full authority to assign and reassign 
functions, to reorganize and to make whatever changes, 
including the reallocation and transfer of administrative 
expense funds and authority where applicable, necessary to 
promote economy, efficiency and fidelity in the operations of 
HHFA.''

               Amendments to Farmers Home Administration

                   (Public Law 83-438, June 29, 1954)

    <bullet> Increased the loan authority for farm housing and 
buildings by $8.5 million on and after July 1, 1954.

            Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1954, July 1, 1954

    <bullet> Assigned to different agencies the liquidation of 
certain affairs of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 
including assignments to the Federal National Mortgage 
Association of the functions relating to mortgages made or 
acquired under the authority of the RFC Mortgage Company or the 
Defense Homes Corporation.

                          Housing Act of 1954

                  (Public Law 83-560, August 2, 1954)

Liberalization of FHA Regular Sales Housing Program
    <bullet> Amended the FHA Section 203 regular sales housing 
mortgage insurance program to simplify the statutory limits on 
the amounts of mortgages which could be insured and to increase 
the limits on the amounts and terms of the mortgages. Statutory 
distinctions relating to existing housing were simplified and 
liberalized.

New Program for Low-Cost Homes in Disaster Areas (Section 203h)
    <bullet> Discontinued the Section 8 insurance program for 
low-cost homes and disaster housing.
    <bullet> Authorized a new program of FHA mortgage insurance 
to take the place of the previous Section 8 program, for 
single-family dwellings in suburban and outlying areas where it 
was found the project is an acceptable risk giving 
consideration to the need for low- and moderate- income 
housing. Mortgages covering construction of farm homes could 
also be insured under the new program where the farm home was 
on a plot of land five or more acres in size adjacent to a 
public highway. The total outstanding insurance on farm 
mortgages could not exceed $100 million. The amount of a 
mortgage was limited to $6,650 and 95 percent of value if the 
mortgagor was the owner-occupant of the property, or $5,950 and 
85 percent of value if the mortgagor was the builder.

Regular FHA Rental Housing Program
    <bullet> Amended Section 207 of the National Housing Act, 
which authorized the regular FHA mortgage insurance program for 
rental housing, to make it clear it applied to existing 
multifamily structures located in slum or blighted areas.
    <bullet> Permitted the mortgage limits on elevator type 
structures to be raised by the Federal Housing Commissioner to 
compensate for the higher costs incident to this type 
construction.
    <bullet> Made special liberal provisions in the Section 207 
rental housing program that were applicable to rental housing 
in Alaska applicable to Guam.

Cooperative Housing--FHA
    <bullet> Raised FHA mortgage insurance limitations on 
cooperative housing mortgages and the cost basis was changed to 
a valuation basis.
    <bullet> Struck the statutory provision for an Assistant 
Commissioner for Cooperative Housing.

New FHA Assistance for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Slums
    <bullet> Added a new Section 220 mortgage insurance program 
to assist rehabilitation of existing dwellings and the 
construction of new dwellings in slum clearance or urban 
renewal areas. The program covered one- to four-family 
dwellings and multifamily housing. A redevelopment plan or 
urban renewal plan must have been approved for the area and, in 
addition, in the case of an urban renewal area, the locality 
was required to have a ``workable program'' for the elimination 
and prevention of the spread of slums and urban blight which 
had been approved by the Housing Administrator.
    <bullet> Added a new Section 221 program to provide FHA 
mortgage insurance for low-cost housing for families displaced 
as the result of governmental action in a community which had a 
workable program approved by the Housing Administrator for the 
elimination and prevention of the spread of slums and urban 
blight, or in a community where there was being carried out a 
slum clearance and urban redevelopment project covered by a 
Federal aid contract approved prior to the effective date of 
the Housing Act of 1954. The program was available only in 
communities which had requested it. Displaced families were 
given preferences and priorities of opportunity to purchase or 
rent Section 221 housing. The total number of Section 221 
housing units could not exceed the aggregate number certified 
by the Housing Administrator to be needed for the relocation of 
displaced families.
    <bullet> Made Section 221 financing available for new 
housing and for mortgages not exceeding 85 percent of value 
covering single-family homes, built, or acquired and repaired 
or rehabilitated for sale, if the financing was required 
pending subsequent sale to a qualified owner-occupant.
    <bullet> Also made Section 221 mortgage insurance available 
for the repair or rehabilitation and construction of dwellings 
for use by 10 or more families as rental accommodations for 
displaced families where the mortgagor was a private nonprofit 
corporation, association, or organization regulated under 
Federal or State laws.
    <bullet> Gave mortgagee lenders under the Section 221 
program the option after 20 years if the loan was not in 
default of assigning the mortgage to FHA and receiving in 
exchange 10-year debentures equal to the original principal 
unpaid at assignment plus accrued interest.

FHA Interest Rate
    <bullet> Made the maximum interest rate on FHA-insured 
mortgages 5 percent per annum or 6 percent if the Commissioner 
found it necessary to meet the mortgage market.
FHA Mortgage Insurance for Servicemen
    <bullet> Added Section 222 to the National Housing Act to 
authorize FHA mortgage insurance for housing for servicemen in 
the Armed Forces and their families. Premiums on the insurance 
were to be paid by Secretary of Defense so long as the home was 
occupied by a serviceman. The program was also available to 
members of the U.S. Coast Guard, with premiums paid by the 
Secretary of the Treasury.

Insurance of Open-End Mortgages
    <bullet> Added Section 225 to the National Housing Act to 
authorize FHA to insure advances for basic improvements or 
repairs of a home by a mortgagor where the advances were made 
pursuant to provisions in an open-end mortgage.

FHA Appraisals
    <bullet> Added Section 226 to the National Housing Act to 
require that the amount of the FHA appraised value of a 
property should be made known to the purchaser of a home for 
his own occupancy prior to the sale. The requirement applied to 
single- and two-family residences and sellers or builders were 
required by FHA to give the purchaser this information.

FHA Military and Defense Housing Program
    <bullet> Extended the Title VIII FHA military housing 
program for one year, to June 30, 1955.
    <bullet> Gave the President stand-by authority up until 
July 1, 1955, to authorize the use of the FHA Title XI defense 
housing program during certain periods for specific projects.
    <bullet> Required dwellings financed by Section 903 
mortgages to be held for rental for at least three years.
    <bullet> Terminated the Title VI program of insurance for 
rental housing for war workers.

FHA Authorizations
    <bullet> Merged all FHA authorizations (except Section 2) 
into one general insurance authorization. The total 
authorization equalled the estimated amount of insurance in 
force and commitments outstanding, plus $1 \1/2\ billion. With 
the approval of the President, the total authorization could be 
increased by amounts up to but not to exceed $500 million.

Prevention of Abuses of FHA Programs
    <bullet> Provisions were contained in the Act to:
          (i) prevent abuse of the home improvement and repair 
        loan insurance program;
          (ii) prevent ``mortgaging out'' by mortgagors where 
        the mortgages financed new or rehabilitated multifamily 
        housing, by requiring cost certification;
          (iii) deny FHA insurance assistance in cases of 
        abuses;
          (iv) prohibit multifamily housing financed with FHA 
        mortgage insurance from being used for hotel purposes; 
        and
          (v) prevent the private or unauthorized use of the 
        initials ``FHA'' or the words ``Housing and Home 
        Finance Agency'' and ``Federal National Mortgage 
        Association.''

Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act
    <bullet> Rechartered the Federal National Mortgage 
Association and made provision for the gradual substitution of 
private investment for Federal investment in the capitalization 
of the Association and provision of funds for the purchase of 
mortgages.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA, under its new charter to:
          (i) provide a secondary market for FHA and VA home 
        loans, except those insured or guaranteed prior to the 
        effective date of the Housing Act of 1954;
          (ii) provide special assistance with respect to 
        special housing programs, or to retard or stop a 
        decline in mortgage lending and home building when 
        authorized by the President; and
          (iii) manage and liquidate the mortgage portfolio of 
        the former FNMA.
          (Special assistance function was terminated by the 
        Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983, P.L. 98-
        181, November 30, 1983.)
    <bullet> Included in the special assistance program 
authority to make commitments to purchase and to purchase home 
mortgages, including the new Section 221 mortgages for homes 
for displaced families where necessary.
    <bullet> Required lenders selling mortgages to FNMA in its 
secondary market functions to make capital contributions to 
FNMA equal to not less than 3 percent of the unpaid principal 
amount of the mortgages involved, or such greater percentage as 
might be determined by FNMA. Common stock was to be issued to 
the mortgage sellers as evidence of their capital 
contributions. Initial capital was subscribed for by the 
Secretary of the Treasury (approximately $10 million) and 
preferred stock was issued to the Treasury.
    <bullet> Required that, after all of the preferred stock of 
FNMA held by the Treasury had been retired, the Housing 
Administrator transmit recommendations to the President and the 
Congress for legislation placing the secondary market 
operations of FNMA on a privately-owned basis.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to issue obligations for sale to 
the investing public in order to carry out its secondary market 
operations. The aggregate amount outstanding at any time could 
not exceed 10 times the sum of its capital, capital surplus, 
general surplus, reserves, and undistributed earnings. The 
Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to purchase the 
secondary market obligations of FNMA, but not more than $1 
billion. This authority terminated when all of the capital 
stock held by the Treasury had been retired.
    <bullet> Limited the total amount of purchases and 
commitments to purchase mortgages under FNMA's special 
assistance functions to $200 million outstanding at any one 
time. Also, under these operations, the President could 
authorize FNMA to enter into commitments to purchase immediate 
participations and to make related deferred participation 
agreements up to $100 million outstanding at any one time.

Voluntary Home Mortgage Credit Program (Title VI)
    <bullet> Established a voluntary home mortgage credit 
program under which private financing institutions undertook to 
make mortgage credit available where needed, particularly in 
remote areas and small communities.
    <bullet> Established a National Voluntary Credit Extension 
Committee, consisting of the Housing Administrator as Chairman, 
and 14 persons representing lending institutions, home 
builders, and real estate boards. (Regional subcommittees were 
appointed.)

Slum Clearance and Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Broadened the slum clearance and urban 
redevelopment program of Title I of the Housing Act of 1949 to 
authorize Federal assistance to local communities not only in 
the clearance and redevelopment of slum areas but to help in 
preventing the spread of slums and urban blight through the 
rehabilitation and conservation of blighted and deteriorating 
areas.
    <bullet> Changed the name of the program to ``Slum 
Clearance and Urban Renewal.''
    <bullet> Provided that new contracts for Federal assistance 
to slum clearance and urban renewal could not be entered into 
unless the applicant community had presented and had approved a 
workable program for eliminating and preventing slums and urban 
blight.
    <bullet> Continued the requirement that project areas be 
predominantly residential either before or after redevelopment, 
except that 10 percent of the grant authorization could be used 
for projects not meeting this requirement.
    <bullet> Made Federal grants available for assistance of 
rehabilitation and conservation projects in accordance with the 
same two-thirds, one-third formula as for slum clearance and 
urban redevelopment projects.
    <bullet> Provided FHA mortgage insurance assistance 
(Sections 220 and 221, supra) to assist in rehabilitation and 
in rehousing of families displaced by public action.

Low-Rent Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorized new contracts for low-rent public 
housing to be entered into during FY 1955 for up to 35,000 
additional units.
    <bullet> Made new contracts available only for communities 
where a slum clearance and urban redevelopment or urban renewal 
project was being carried out with Federal assistance, and only 
if the local governing body of the community certified that the 
housing project was needed to assist in meeting the relocation 
requirements of the urban renewal law by providing housing for 
persons displaced by slum clearance operations.
    <bullet> Required the community to have a workable program 
for eliminating and preventing slums and blight which had been 
approved by the Housing Administrator before the new contracts 
for public housing could be entered into.
    <bullet> Provided that the total number of dwelling units 
provided for under the new contracts could not exceed the 
number of such units needed for the relocation of families 
displaced as a result of Federal, State, or local governmental 
action in the community.
    <bullet> Broadened provisions in the public housing law 
requiring first preference in admission to public housing be 
given to families displaced by public housing or by a slum 
clearance or redevelopment project, to make them applicable to 
families displaced by other activities, such as the closing of 
substandard dwellings or demolition of dwellings by highway 
widening or bridge construction.
    <bullet> Amended the payments in lieu of taxes provisions 
to assure that the tax payments would not reduce the local 
contributions to public housing below 20 percent of the Federal 
contributions. (Deleted by Section 404, Housing Act of 1964, 
P.L. 88-560.)
    <bullet> Enacted provisions designed to make the public 
housing program self-liquidating so far as possible.

Urban Planning Grants
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
grants to official State, metropolitan, or regional planning 
agencies empowered under State or local laws to perform 
planning work in metropolitan and regional areas, and to State 
planning agencies for the provision of planning assistance to 
cities and other municipalities with populations of less than 
25,000. Planning to be assisted included surveys, land-use 
studies, urban renewal plans, and technical services. Grants 
could not exceed 50 percent of the estimated cost of the 
planning work.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations up to $5 million for the 
grants.

Planned Public Works
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator, until July 
1, 1957, to make advances to States, their agencies and 
political subdivisions for the planning of public works (other 
than housing) which conform to an overall State, local or 
regional plan approved by a competent State, local, or regional 
authority.
    <bullet> Provided that the advances were repayable, without 
interest, if and when the construction of the public works 
contemplated by the advance was undertaken. If payment was not 
made promptly the unpaid amount of the advance would bear 
interest at the rate of 4 percent per annum from the date of 
Federal demand for repayment.
    <bullet> Authorized up to $10 million to be appropriated 
for the program.

Public Facility Loans
    <bullet> Amended the RFC Liquidation Act to authorize the 
Housing Administrator (formerly the President) to make the 
loans authorized by that Act to State and local public agencies 
for public facilities.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations up to $50 million to 
establish a revolving fund in the Treasury for the loans.
    <bullet> Extended the termination of the program from June 
30, 1955 to June 30, 1956.

Home Loan Bank Board
    <bullet> Amended the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to increase 
from $20,000 to $35,000 the maximum home mortgage acceptable as 
collateral security for an advance by a Federal Home Loan Bank.
    <bullet> Increased the maximum amount of a home loan made 
by a Federal savings and loan association from $20,000 to 
$35,000. Also, the maximum amount of an unsecured home repair 
and improvement loan in which a Federal savings and loan 
association could invest was raised from $1,500 to $2,500.

Builders' Warranty
    <bullet> Directed the Federal Housing Commissioner to 
require that the builder or seller of a new home built with an 
FHA loan deliver to the purchaser or owner a warranty that the 
dwelling was constructed in substantial conformity with the 
plans and specifications (including approved amendments) on 
which the FHA valuation of the dwelling was based. The 
requirement applied to dwellings designed for not more than 
four families.

College Housing Loans
    <bullet> Provided that the interest rate on college housing 
loans made by the Housing Administrator be determined on the 
basis of the going Federal rate in effect at the time the loan 
was approved, instead of the time the loan was executed, as 
previously required.

Defense Housing and Community Facilities
    <bullet> Gave the President standby authority up until July 
1, 1955, to designate periods when aid in the provision of 
defense housing and community facilities and services in 
critical defense areas under the Defense Housing and Community 
Facilities and Services Act of 1951 could be used.

Control of Lenders' Charges and Fees
    <bullet> Repealed Section 504 of the Housing Act of 1950 
(P.L. 81-475), which directed the Federal Housing Commissioner 
to limit and control the fees and charges imposed by lenders 
upon builders and purchasers. (It was stated that authority for 
the control of fees and charges was otherwise available.)

Farm Housing
    <bullet> Made additional authorizations of (1) $100 million 
in loan funds for farm housing, (2) $2 million per annum in the 
amount of annual contribution commitments for housing on 
potentially adequate farms, and (3) $10 million for loans and 
grants for improvements and repairs on farm housing.
Advisory Committee
    <bullet> Authorized heads of HHFA constituent agencies to 
establish advisory committees. (Formerly, under the Housing Act 
of 1949, this authority extended only to the Administrator.)

     Administrator's Reorganization Order No. 1, December 23, 1954

    <bullet> Established the Community Facilities 
Administration and the Urban Renewal Administration as 
constituents of the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

                     FHA Increase in Authorization

                   (Public Law 84-10, March 11, 1955)

    <bullet> Provided an interim increase in authorization for 
all FHA loan insurance programs with the exception of the Title 
I home repair and improvement program, to continue the programs 
through June 30, 1955.

                        AE Community Act of 1955

                  (Public Law 84-221, August 4, 1955)

    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages for the 
purchase of housing owned by the Atomic Energy Commission at 
Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Richland, Washington.

                  Amendment to Defense Production Act

                  (Public Law 84-295, August 9, 1955)

    <bullet> Continued the powers in the Defense Production Act 
for two years.

         Amendment to Terms for National Bank Real Estate Loans

                  (Public Law 84-343, August 11, 1955)

    <bullet> Lengthened the maximum term of residential real 
estate loans made by national banks from 10 to 20 years, and 
for their construction loans (residential or farm buildings) 
from six to nine months.

                       Housing Amendments of 1955

                  (Public Law 84-345, August 11, 1955)

FHA Loan Insurance
    <bullet> Increased the FHA loan insurance authorization by 
an amount estimated to be sufficient during FY 1956.

Rental Housing
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of a multifamily 
housing project mortgage insured by FHA from $5 million to 
$12.5 million in the case of private mortgagors in all 
multifamily FHA programs.
    <bullet> Made rental housing projects with eight or more 
family units (rather than the previous requirement of 12 or 
more units) eligible for FHA- insured mortgages.

Cooperative Housing
    <bullet> Directed the Federal Housing Commissioner to 
appoint a Special Assistant for Cooperative Housing.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to enter into advance commitments 
to purchase FHA cooperative housing mortgages, limited to $50 
million outstanding at any one time and $5 million per State.
    <bullet> Permitted the maximum amount of an FHA-insured 
mortgage financing cooperative housing to be determined on the 
basis of ``replacement cost'' of the project rather than 
``estimated value.''
    <bullet> Made FHA mortgage insurance available to assist 
cooperatives in the purchase of housing being disposed of by 
the Government.

FHA Section 220 Housing in Slum Clearance or Urban Renewal Areas
    <bullet> Permitted the maximum amount of an FHA-insured 
Section 220 mortgage financing the construction of housing in 
slum clearance or urban renewal areas to be determined on the 
basis of ``replacement cost'' of the housing rather than 
``estimated value'' where the housing was new construction. In 
the case of rehabilitated housing the maximum amount of the 
mortgage continued to be based on ``value.''

FHA Section 221 Housing for Displaced Families
    <bullet> Removed the requirement that builders of single-
family homes financed with Section 221 mortgages must provide 
cost certifications.

FHA Mortgage Insurance for Trailer Courts
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages on trailer 
courts (but not the trailers). Required the projects to be 
economically sound.

Defense Housing Mortgage Insurance
    <bullet> Continued the availability of FHA Title IX defense 
housing mortgage insurance for any commitments by FHA 
outstanding on August 1, 1955 to insure such mortgages.

FHA Military Housing (Capehart Housing)
    <bullet> Authorized a new FHA mortgage insurance program 
for housing for military personnel, including the Coast Guard, 
and continued the previous program for certain mortgages. The 
new program was made available until September 30, 1956, with a 
separate insurance authorization.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to make advance commitments to 
purchase the new Title VIII military housing mortgages up to a 
total amount outstanding at any one time of $200 million.

Slum Clearance and Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Increased the capital grant authorization for 
Federal assistance to slum clearance and urban renewal by $200 
million as of July 1, 1955, and an additional $200 million 
after June 30, 1956. The President was also authorized to 
provide an additional $100 million of authorization.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on State allocations of 
grants.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal loans and advances (but not 
grants) to assist the redevelopment of either predominantly 
open land or open land for industrial or other nonresidential 
uses.

Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorized the Public Housing Administration to 
enter into new contracts for the assistance of up to 45,000 
additional low-rent public housing units prior to July 31, 
1956.
    <bullet> Removed certain requirements of the Housing Act of 
1954 (P.L. 83-560) which had to be met by local communities 
before a contract for Federal aid to low-rent public housing 
could be entered into. (See 1954 Act, supra for these 
requirements.)

Home Loan Bank Board
    <bullet> Separated, effective August 11, 1955, the Home 

Loan Bank Board (including the Federal Savings and Loan 
Insurance Corporation) from the Housing and Home Finance Agency 
and established it as an independent agency.
    <bullet> Changed the name to the Federal Home Loan Bank 
Board.

Planning Advances
    <bullet> Eliminated the July 1, 1957 expiration date for 
the Section 702 (Housing Act of 1954, P.L. 83-560) advance 
planning program.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to establish 
a revolving fund for the making of planning advances to local 
agencies for the preparation of a ``reservoir'' rather than a 
``shelf'' of planned public works.
    <bullet> Authorized additional amounts to be appropriated 
to the revolving fund for three fiscal years. In addition, 
there was authorized to be appropriated such amounts from year 
to year after July 1, 1958, as might be necessary to maintain 
not to exceed a total of $48 million in outstanding advances. 
Public agencies would be required to repay only proportionate 
amounts of advances when only a portion of a planned project 
was undertaken.

New Public Facility Loan Programs
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to purchase 
obligations of, and make loans to, States, municipalities and 
other political subdivisions of States, public agencies and 
instrumentalities of one or more States, municipalities and 
political subdivisions of States, and public corporations, 
boards and commissions established under State laws, to finance 
specific public projects under State or municipal law. No loan 
could be made unless the assistance applied for was not 
otherwise available on reasonable terms, and the securities and 
obligations purchased were required to be of such sound value 
or secured as to assure retirement or repayment. Loans could be 
made either directly or in cooperation with banks or other 
lending institutions. Maturities of the loans were limited to 
40 years.
    <bullet> Required priority in processing applications for 
loans to be given to municipalities with a population of less 
than 10,000, for assistance in the construction of ``basic 
public works'' urgently and vitally needed.
    <bullet> Authorized funds for the loans to be obtained 
through Treasury borrowings. Treasury borrowings outstanding at 
any one time could not exceed $100 million.
    <bullet> Terminated the public facility loan program under 
the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Liquidation Act.
    (New contracts under these programs were prohibited after 
January 1, 1975, by the Housing and Community Development Act 
of 1974, P.L. 93-383, August 23, 1975.)

College Housing Loans
    <bullet> Authorized college housing loans to be made not 
only for housing, but also for ``other educational 
facilities,'' such as cafeterias, student centers or student 
unions, infirmaries or other health facilities, and other 
essential service facilities.
    <bullet> Permitted loans to be made to junior colleges and 
nonprofit corporations established by colleges for the sole 
purpose of providing housing or educational facilities for the 
students or faculty.
    <bullet> Prohibited loans if the educational institution 
could obtain funds from private lending sources upon terms 
``equally as favorable'' as the terms of the Government loan. 
(Prior to this change the educational institutions were 
required to show that they could not secure the funds from 
private sources upon terms and conditions ``generally 
comparable'' to the terms and conditions applied to Government 
loans.)
    <bullet> Increased maximum term of a loan from 40 years to 
50, with interest rates lower than under previous provisions of 
the program. The new interest rates established by the 
Administrator could not exceed the higher of 2.75 percent or 
0.25 percent more than the Treasury interest rate to him.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the Treasury borrowing 
authorization to provide funds for loans from $300 million to 
$500 million, of which no more than $100 million could be used 
for ``other educational facilities.''
Farm Housing
    <bullet> Provided additional authorization for loans and 
subsidies to farm housing.

                      Lanham Act Personal Property

                  (Public Law 84-349, August 11, 1955)

    <bullet> Authorized the HHFA Administrator to sell any 
personal property held under the Lanham Act (not sold with a 
project or building) at fair value to any agency organized for 
slum clearance or to provide subsidized housing for low-income 
persons.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                 (Public Law 84-405, February 10, 1956)

    <bullet> Authorized FHA Title I loan insurance for loans to 
repair new homes damaged by major disaster.

                        Disposal of AEC Housing

               (Executive Order 10657, February 14, 1956)

    <bullet> Transferred to the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator the functions of disposal of Government-owned 
housing at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington.

                          Relocation Payments

                   (H. Report 84-2303, June 11, 1956)

    <bullet> Subcommittee of House Select Committee on Small 
Business recommended that the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator be authorized to make payments up to $50,000 to 
small business concerns to compensate them for business losses 
occasioned by their displacement in an urban renewal area.

                   Amendment to National Housing Act

                   (Public Law 84-574, June 13, 1956)

    <bullet> Made FHA Title VIII mortgage insurance available 
for homes for essential civilian employees of the armed 
services at research and development installations.

         Amendments to the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955

                   (Public Law 84-802, July 25, 1956)

    <bullet> Permitted the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to make advances for necessary repairs, 
rehabilitation or enlargement of single and duplex residential 
properties at Oak Ridge and Richland bought by priority 
purchasers.
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator to finance the 
purchase of commercial property by lessees if private financing 
were not available on reasonable terms.

                  Federal Flood Insurance Act of 1956

                  (Public Law 84-1016, August 7, 1956)

    <bullet> Directed the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to establish a system of indemnification for 
losses sustained in flood and tidal disaster; to reinsure 
private insurance coverage of such losses; and to assure a line 
of credit, where necessary, for the restoration and 
reconstruction of properties damaged or lost as a result of 
flood.
    <bullet> Provided for establishment of a Federal flood 
insurance plan, a Federal flood reinsurance program, and a 
Federal loan contract program covering flood losses.

                          Housing Act of 1956

                  (Public Law 84-1020, August 7, 1956)

FHA Title I Home Repair and Improvement Program
    <bullet> Raised the maximum amount of a loan for 
improvement of existing single-family and nonresidential 
structures from $2,500 to $3,500.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to increase the maximum maturity of 
such loans from three years to five years if it was determined 
to be in the public interest.
    <bullet> Raised the limits on a loan for the improvement of 
multifamily structures from $10,000 to $15,000 with an average 
limit of $2,500 per family unit.
    <bullet> Established a maximum rate for Title I loans of 5 
percent a year, discounted, on the amount of the loan up to 
$2,500, and 4 percent on that portion in excess of $2,500.

FHA Mortgage Insurance
    <bullet> Permitted the FHA Section 203 maximum ratio of 
loan to value for a mortgage on a dwelling more than a year old 
to be the same as for a new home.
    <bullet> Increased the maximum amount of a mortgage 
financing disaster housing from $7,000 to $12,000.
    <bullet> Increased the dollar and per-room limits on FHA 
Section 207 rental housing mortgages, and the maximum ratio of 
loan to value from 80 percent to 90 percent of the estimated 
value of the project.

FHA Housing for the Elderly
    <bullet> Permitted the downpayment on the purchase of a 
home by a person 60 years of age or over to be made by a 
corporation or person other than the mortgagor where the 
mortgage was insured by FHA under its Section 203 program.
    <bullet> Added a provision to the Section 207 FHA rental 
housing program which permitted the maximum amount of a 
mortgage to be 90 percent of replacement cost instead of 90 
percent of value where the mortgage financed a project for the 
elderly and the mortgagor was a nonprofit organization. The 
mortgage could finance new construction or rehabilitation.
    <bullet> Directed the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to establish an advisory committee on housing for 
the elderly.

Cooperative Housing
    <bullet> Reduced the percentage of veteran membership 
required to qualify a cooperative for the most liberal limits 
on an FHA-insured cooperative housing mortgage from 65 percent 
to 50 percent.
    <bullet> Permitted World War I veterans to be counted in 
determining the percentage.
    <bullet> Increased the dollar limits per room on 
cooperative housing mortgages insured under the Section 213 
program by not to exceed $1,000 per room in high cost areas.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages under the 
Section 213 cooperative housing program where the mortgagor-
builder certified that upon completion of the project it 
intended to sell the project to a nonprofit cooperative. 
Builder's profit could be included.

Mortgage Insurance Authorization
    <bullet> Fixed the general mortgage insurance authorization 
of FHA at $3 billion outstanding at any one time plus the 
amount of principal balances of insured mortgages and 
commitments as of July 1, 1956.
    <bullet> Made clear that the Title VIII military housing 
authorization was separate from the general mortgage insurance 
authorization.

Section 220 Housing in Urban Renewal Areas
    <bullet> Provided that replacement cost could include an 
allowance for builder's and sponsor's profit and risk of 10 
percent of all of the allowable cost items except the land, in 
estimating replacement cost to determine the maximum amount of 
a mortgage which could be insured by FHA on Section 220 urban 
renewal housing.
    <bullet> Made clear that increases in mortgage amounts 
permitted for high cost areas under Section 220 could apply to 
garden type apartments as well as elevator type projects.

Section 221 Housing for Displaced Persons
    <bullet> Liberalized the Section 221 program for low-cost 
housing for families displaced by urban renewal or other 
governmental action, by increasing the dollar limits on the 
mortgages, increasing the loan-to- value limit from 95 percent 
of appraised value to 100 percent and changing the maximum 
maturity from 30 to 40 years.

Cost Certifications
    <bullet> Clarified and expanded the requirements for cost 
certification to FHA with respect to multifamily housing.
FNMA
    <bullet> Removed the $15,000 per dwelling unit limit on the 
amount of an FHA mortgage which could be purchased by FNMA with 
respect to FHA Title VIII military housing mortgages, and 
mortgages covering houses in Alaska, Guam, or Hawaii.
    <bullet> Reduced the amount of FNMA common stock which 
sellers of mortgages to FNMA under its secondary market 
operations were required to buy from 3 percent of the unpaid 
principal of the mortgages sold to FNMA to 2 percent. FNMA was 
given authority to raise or lower the percentage except that it 
could not be less than 1 percent.
    <bullet> Required FNMA purchase prices in its secondary 
market operations to be ``within the range of market prices'' 
rather than ``at the market price'' as previously provided.
    <bullet> Required the price paid by FNMA for mortgages 
purchased under its special assistance operations to be not 
less than 99 (with adjustments for interest and comparable 
items) for a period of one year after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
    <bullet> Gave FNMA new authority to make advance 
commitments to purchase mortgages under its secondary market 
operations. The commitments could be issued only at prices 
which were sufficient to facilitate advance planning of home 
construction, but which were sufficiently below the price then 
offered by FNMA for immediate purchase to prevent excessive 
sales to FNMA pursuant to the commitments.
    <bullet> Made clear that the FNMA $5 million advance 
commitment limit per State for FHA Section 213 cooperative 
housing mortgages should operate as a revolving fund.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Added provisions to Title I of the Housing Act of 
1949 (P.L. 81-171) to authorize the making of relocation 
payments to individuals, families, and business concerns 
displaced by an urban renewal project respecting which a 
contract for a Federal capital grant had been executed. They 
were to cover the reasonable and necessary moving expenses and 
any actual direct losses of property, except good will or 
profit, which were incurred on and after the enactment of this 
Act resulting from displacement by an urban renewal project. 
They could not exceed $100 in the case of an individual or 
family, or $2,000 in the case of a business concern. The 
capital grant for the urban renewal project was to be increased 
by the amount of the relocation payments so that no part of the 
relocation payments would be required to be contributed as part 
of the local grants-in-aid. Contracts for Federal capital 
grants which had been executed prior to enactment of the 1956 
Act could be amended to provide relocation payments incurred on 
or after that date.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to make urban renewal planning advances to a 
single local public body acting on behalf of all the local 
public bodies having authority for surveys and plans for an 
urban renewal project.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator to make advances to local public agencies for the 
preparation of ``General Neighborhood Renewal Plans'' for urban 
renewal areas of such scope that urban renewal activities might 
have to be carried out in stages, over a period of not more 
than 10 years, rather than as a single project.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
advances to local public agencies for surveys of urban areas to 
determine whether the undertaking of urban renewal projects in 
the areas might be feasible.
    <bullet> Simplified the definition of ``urban renewal 
project'' by consolidating the provisions relating to slum 
clearance and redevelopment with those relating to 
rehabilitation and conservation. The requirement that an urban 
redevelopment area (with certain exceptions) had to be either 
predominantly residential to begin with or else be redeveloped 
for predominantly residential uses was made applicable to the 
urban renewal area as a whole rather than only to those parts 
which were to be cleared and redeveloped, as was previously the 
case.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the aggregate amount of 
capital grant contracts which could be entered into without 
regard to the 10 percent limitation on the expenditure of funds 
in any one State from $70 million to $100 million in States 
where more than two- thirds of the maximum capital grants 
permitted had been obligated.
    <bullet> Added provisions to the urban renewal law to make 
urban renewal assistance more quickly available in disaster 
areas.
    <bullet> Provided that local grants-in-aid, together with 
the local grants-in-aid to be provided in connection with all 
other projects, should not be required in excess of one-third 
of the aggregate net project costs of all projects of the local 
public agency on which contracts for capital grants had been 
made.

Urban Planning
    <bullet> Amended the urban planning law to permit Federal 
urban planning grants for a community affected by a major 
disaster without regard to the fact that the community's 
population was 25,000 or more.
Low-Rent Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorized new contracts for loans and annual 
contributions for not more than 35,000 additional low-rent 
public housing units each year for two years. Any balance of 
the existing authorization which was not utilized by July 31, 
1956, was also made available.
    <bullet> Provided that no new contract for public housing 
assistance could be entered into unless the locality had a 
workable program for the prevention and elimination of slums 
which had been approved by the Housing Administrator.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on annual contributions and 
grant funds for public housing which could be made to any one 
State from 10 percent to 15 percent of the total amount of such 
contributions and grant funds.
    <bullet> Made low-income elderly single persons (65 years 
of age or over) eligible for admission to low-rent public 
housing.
    <bullet> Authorized assistance to the construction of new 
housing or the remodeling of existing low-rent public housing 
in order to provide accommodations designed specifically for 
the elderly.
    <bullet> Allowed the elderly to be given first preference 
in admission to public housing suitable to their needs, and 
they were not required to come from substandard dwellings as in 
the case of other tenants admitted to public housing.
    <bullet> Permitted the maximum cost per room for dwellings 
designed specifically for the elderly to be $500 more than the 
maximum permissible for other public housing.
    <bullet> Directed the Public Housing Administration to 
transfer farm labor camps without monetary consideration to any 
local public housing agency whose area of operation included a 
farm labor camp, for use first by low-income agricultural 
workers and their families and, second, by other low-income 
persons and their families.

Disposition of Defense Housing
    <bullet> Transferred certain defense housing projects from 
the Housing Agency to the Department of Defense. Housing 
constructed under the Defense Housing Act of 1951 (P.L. 82-139) 
which was not transferred was required to be disposed of not 
later than June 30, 1957.

Disposition of Permanent War Housing
    <bullet> Added provisions to the Lanham Act designed to 
accelerate the disposition of permanent war housing.
FHA Title VIII Military Housing
    <bullet> Continued this mortgage insurance program to June 
30, 1958, and increased the mortgage insurance authorization to 
$2,300,000,000.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on monthly payments which the 
Secretary of Defense could make for the payment of principal, 
interest, and other obligations on Title VIII housing mortgages 
from $9 million to $21 million.

College Housing Loan Fund
    <bullet> Increased the revolving loan fund for college 
housing and other educational facilities from $500 million to 
$750 million.

Research Program
    <bullet> Directed the Housing Administrator to conduct a 
research program designed to develop and supply data and 
information on the housing inventory, mortgage market problems, 
the availability of low-income and middle-income housing, 
housing for elderly persons, residential design, assembly 
methods, and materials use, and characteristics of current and 
prospective housing market demand.

Loans by Federal Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Raised the limit on property alteration, repair or 
improvement loans made by Federal savings and loan associations 
from $2,500 to $3,500.
    <bullet> Permitted the associations to increase from 15 to 
20 percent the proportion of their assets that could be loaned 
without regard to the $35,000 loan amount limit for any one 
property and without regard to the 50 mile area limit.

Hospital Construction
    <bullet> Temporarily revised and extended to June 30, 1958 
the authority to make hospital construction loans or grants or 
other payments under the Defense Housing and Community 
Facilities Act of 1951 (P.L. 82-139), in cases where the loans, 
grants or payments were denied because of the unavailability of 
funds.

      Administrator's Organization Order No. 1, September 28, 1956

                (Redesignated No. 2 on December 7, 1956)

    <bullet> Established the Federal Flood Indemnity 
Administration.
    <bullet> (The Federal Flood Indemnity Administration 
suspended operations because Congress refused funds for 
starting its operations, June 30, 1957.)

                            FNMA Operations

                   (Public Law 85-10, March 10, 1957)

    <bullet> Increased FNMA's authority to borrow for its 
secondary market operations.
    <bullet> Increased its revolving fund for special 
assistance to FHA-insured cooperative housing mortgages.

              Proposed ``Insured Debenture Financing Act''

             (Committee Print, 85th Cong., March 29, 1957)

    <bullet> The Subcommittee on Housing, House Committee on 
Banking and Currency, proposed the ``Insured Debenture 
Financing Act,'' to permit the development of a form of 
investment security ``better suited than a real estate mortgage 
to the needs of substantial sources of investment capital (such 
as pension trusts, college endowments, and similar funds) which 
in the past, have not placed any substantial portion of their 
assets in housing investments.''

                 Voluntary Home Mortgage Credit Program

                   (Public Law 85-66, June 29, 1957)

    <bullet> Extended the Voluntary Home Mortgage Credit 
Program until August 15, 1957.

              RFC Public Agency Loans Transferred to HHFA

               (Reorganization Plan No. 1, July 1, 1957)

    <bullet> Transferred to the Housing and Home Finance Agency 
the remaining functions of the RFC in connection with its 
portfolio of public agency loans.

                          Housing Act of 1957

                   (Public Law 85-104, July 12, 1957)

Amendments to FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Reduced downpayments required for purchase of FHA 
housing under its Section 203 mortgage insurance program to 
permit insurance of loans which did not exceed 97 percent of 
the first $10,000 of the appraised value of the property, plus 
85 percent of the value in excess of $10,000, but 70 percent of 
value in excess of $16,000.
    <bullet> Provided that loans insured under Section 203 (i) 
covering housing in suburban and outlying areas could not 
exceed $8,000 and the downpayment could be 3 percent of the 
value of the property where the mortgagor was the owner-
occupant of the property.
    <bullet> Amended the Section 220 urban renewal housing 
program to permit downpayments to be 3 percent of the first 
$10,000 of replacement costs of the property, plus 15 percent 
of the next $6,000, and 30 percent in excess of $16,000 (the 
same as Section 203(b) except the ratio was based on 
replacement cost rather than value).
    <bullet> Amended the Section 222 mortgage insurance program 
for housing for servicemen in the same way as the Section 
203(b) program.

FHA Farm Housing Program
    <bullet> Repealed the FHA Section 203(d) special farm 
housing mortgage insurance provision.

FHA Housing for the Elderly
    <bullet> Raised the maximum amount of a mortgage financing 
elevator-type rental housing for the elderly to $8,400 per 
family unit where the mortgagor was a nonprofit organization.
    <bullet> Amended Section 207 to make it clear that units 
could be designed for and occupied by single elderly persons.

Amendments to Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Limited the amount of FNMA stock a mortgage seller 
had to purchase under FNMA's regular secondary market 
operations to 2 percent. (Previously there was no limit except 
that the stock purchase could not be less than 1 percent of the 
mortgage amount.)
    <bullet> Increased the amount of FNMA preferred stock which 
could be held by the United States Treasury by $65 million, 
thereby increasing mortgage purchase authority.
    <bullet> Increased the amount of FNMA obligations which 
could be purchased by the United States Treasury from $1.35 
billion to $2.25 billion.
    <bullet> Required FNMA purchases of mortgages under its 
special assistance program to be at par, until August 8, 1958. 
(Previously FNMA was required to purchase at 99 or more.)
    <bullet> Limited FNMA's fees and charges for special 
assistance purchases to 1 \1/2\ percent of the unpaid principal 
amount of a mortgage, not more than half to be collected at the 
time of the commitment to purchase.
    <bullet> Increased authority available to FNMA under its 
special assistance functions to $450 million, at the discretion 
of the President.
    <bullet> Increased the special assistance authority for FHA 
Section 213 cooperative housing from $100 million to $200 
million. $50 million of the total authorization was reserved 
for consumer cooperatives.
    <bullet> Increased the special assistance authority for FHA 
Title VIII military housing from $200 million to $450 million 
and part of the authorization was made available for housing 
for essential civilians at military research and development 
centers.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Increased the capital grant authorization for slum 
clearance and urban renewal by $530 million.
    <bullet> Provided an alternative basis for calculating the 
Federal capital grants that could be paid to urban renewal 
projects. In place of the 2/3 Federal to 1/3 local grant 
formula for a project, the local public agency could choose a 
3/4 Federal to \1/4\ local grant formula, if the community 
bears all expenses of planning, surveys, legal services, and 
administrative costs.
    <bullet> Increased the proportion of the urban renewal 
capital grant authorization that could be allocated within any 
one State from 10 to 12 \1/2\ percent.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to permit 
local public agencies to make relocation payments in fixed 
amounts (up to $100) to individuals and families without the 
necessity of investigating the actual costs incurred in each 
case.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on relocation payments to 
individual business concerns from $2,000 to $2,500.

Public Housing
    <bullet> Changed the income limits for continued occupancy 
of public housing by permitting an exemption from the net 
income of the family to be allowed for minors (other than the 
head of the family and his spouse) of either $100, or all or 
part of the minor's annual income.
    <bullet> Increased the cost limits per room of public 
housing from $1,750 to $2,000 for regular units, and from 
$2,250 to $2,500 per room for units for elderly persons.
    <bullet> Enabled public housing to be built by either 
conventional or any of various prefabrication techniques.
    <bullet> Required specifications for public housing to 
follow the principle of modular measure in every case deemed 
feasible by the local public housing agency.

College Housing
    <bullet> Increased the college housing loan authorization 
by $175 million. Limited the specified amount for hospitals 
training nurses and interns to $25 million.

Farm Housing Research
    <bullet> Directed the Housing Administrator to carry out a 
program for the study of farm housing in the United States. The 
study was to be conducted by land-grant colleges financed with 
grants made to them by the Administrator.
    <bullet> Authorized grant authority of $300 million in each 
of FYs 1958 and 1959. (Authority expired June 30, 1959. $75,000 
was appropriated for FY 1958 (P.L. 85-170, August 28, 1957), 
without providing administrative expense authorization and 
program was not implemented by HHFA.)

FHA Mortgages
    <bullet> Directed the Federal Housing Commissioner and the 
Veterans' Administrator to fix reasonable limits on the 
charges, fees, and discounts imposed upon the builder, seller, 
or purchaser, in connection with the financing of the 
construction or sale of housing covered by an FHA mortgage.

Urban Planning Grants
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
matching urban planning grants to (1) official governmental 
planning agencies for areas threatened with rapid urbanization 
as a result of the establishment or rapid and substantial 
expansion of a Federal installation, and (2) State planning to 
be used for the provision of planning assistance to such areas.

Exchange of Data with Foreign Countries
    <bullet> Directed the Housing Administrator to exchange 
data relating to housing and urban planning and development 
with other nations where the exchange is deemed by him to be 
beneficial to the programs of the Housing Agency.

                         Executive Order 10734

                           (October 17, 1957)

    <bullet> Amended and clarified certain provisions of EO 
10657 (February 14, 1956) in which the functions of disposing 
of AEC communities were transferred to HHFA.

                       Expedition of Public Works

(Presidential Letter to the Housing Administrator and the Secretary of 
                      Agriculture, March 19, 1958)

    By letter, the President:
    <bullet> Released $100 million of reserved balance for the 
public facility loan program and instructed that preference by 
given to loans for projects ready for immediate construction.
    <bullet> Liberalized the public facility loan program by 
extending eligibility for loans to larger communities and by 
broadening the categories of public works eligible for loans.
    <bullet> Instructed the Housing Administrator to expedite 
construction of college housing, structures on urban renewal 
sites, and low-rent public housing.

                       1958 Emergency Housing Act

                   (Public Law 85-364, April 1, 1958)

Stimulative Measures
    <bullet> Reduced downpayments on FHA Sections 203 and 220 
sales housing.
    <bullet> Increased by $500 million the FNMA special 
assistance fund for purchase of home mortgage which were not 
otherwise marketable, and for the purchase of mortgages 
generally as a means of aiding and maintaining the stability of 
a high-level national economy, and created a new FNMA special 
assistance revolving fund of $1 billion for the purchase of FHA 
and VA mortgages not exceeding $13,500 on new homes.
    <bullet> Provided an additional $50 million for FNMA 
special assistance to FHA military housing and housing at 
research and development centers.
    <bullet> Increased from 4 to 4 \1/2\ percent the interest 
rate ceiling on FHA Section 803 military housing mortgages.
    <bullet> Repealed the requirement that FHA control 
discounts on FHA home loan mortgages.
    <bullet> Strengthened the Voluntary Home Mortgage Credit 
Program to provide housing credit for veterans living in rural 
areas and small cities and towns. Authorized special 
commitments to builders or sponsors who would construct 
dwellings in areas determined by the Administrator to be 
``housing credit shortage areas,'' and to veterans purchasing 
homes in such areas.

                  FHA Mortgage Insurance Authorization

                   (Public Law 85-442, June 4, 1958)

    <bullet> Increased FHA mortgage insurance authorization by 
$4 billion.

     Housing Stimulation Presidential Announcement, August 27, 1958

    <bullet> Announced that in the absence of legislation 
authorizing further Federal assistance for urban renewal, 
college housing and other recommendations to stimulate housing 
construction with private capital, he was:
          a. Releasing $100 million for urban renewal.
          b. Directing that available public facility loan 
        funds be channeled to smaller applicants without 
        established credit in private markets.

                      Housing Act of 1959--Vetoed

                (S. 86-57; S. Doc. 86-34, July 7, 1959)

    <bullet> Congress passed S. 57, the Housing Act of 1959 an 
omnibus bill which, among other things, would have extended and 
increased authorizations for FHA insurance, urban renewal, FNMA 
special assistance, public housing and college housing. The 
bill would also have authorized new programs of direct loan 
assistance for housing for the elderly, and for the 
construction of college classrooms, laboratories and similar 
facilities.
    <bullet> The President returned the bill to the Senate 
without his approval, on five grounds, namely that the bill:
          1. Was extravagant, citing especially the amounts 
        proposed for urban renewal, public housing and college 
        classroom loans.
          2. Was inflationary.
          3. Would tend to substitute Federal spending for 
        private credit, citing especially the requirement that 
        FNMA purchase mortgages at par under its special 
        assistance program.
          4. Would needlessly limit FHA, and might impair the 
        soundness of its insurance programs.
          5. Was discriminatory and unfair, especially in 
        connection with certain non-cash grant-in-aid credits 
        proposed to be allowed in the urban renewal program.

                      Housing Act of 1959--Vetoed

             (S. 86-2539, H. Doc. 86-52, September 4, 1959)

    <bullet> Congress passed S. 2539, the Housing Act of 1959. 
The bill was substantially similar to S. 57 (see above), but 
contained numerous deletions and modifications, said to be 
responsive to the objections of the President in his veto 
message on the previous bill, as well as certain additions.
    <bullet> The President returned the bill to the Senate 
without approval. His message again stressed his view that the 
bill contemplated excessive expenditures, and renewed his 
objections to the provisions relating to public housing and to 
loans for housing for the elderly and for college classrooms 
and related facilities.

                          Housing Act of 1959

                (Public Law 86-372, September 23, 1959)

Amendments to FHA
    <bullet> Increased the general mortgage insurance 
authorization of FHA by $8 billion.
    <bullet> Increased the statutory limits on interest rates 
on FHA insured mortgage:
          (i) from 4 \1/2\ percent to 5 \1/4\ percent on 
        Section 207 rental housing mortgages and management-
        type cooperative housing mortgages, and
          (ii) from 5 percent to 5 3/4 percent for sales-type 
        cooperative housing mortgages.
    <bullet> Raised the dollar limits and loan to value 
(replacement cost under Section 220) limits on FHA Section 203 
and 220 sales housing mortgages, resulting in a decrease in 
downpayments for houses valued over $13,500.
    <bullet> To facilitate trade-in financing by avoiding 
duplicate closing costs, permitted the maximum insured mortgage 
loan for a non occupant owner to be as high as that for an 
occupant owner, but the non occupant owner was required to 
place 15 percent of the mortgage proceeds in escrow pending the 
sale of the property to an occupant owner within 18 months.
    <bullet> Changed the FHA Section 203(i) mortgage insurance 
program for low-cost housing in outlying areas by increasing 
the dollar limit on the amount of a mortgage from $8,000 to 
$9,000, by making existing housing eligible for insurance under 
the program, by permitting FHA to accept VA construction 
inspections, and by removing a separate insurance ceiling on 
certain farm housing.
    <bullet> Raised the dollar limit on a Section 207 rental 
housing mortgage from $12,500,000 to $20 million and also 
increased the per-room and per-unit limits.
    <bullet> Increased the $1,000 per space, $300,000 mortgage 
limits for trailer courts to $1,500 and $500,000, respectively.
    <bullet> Increased the limits on the amounts of FHA 
management-type cooperative housing mortgages and made existing 
housing purchased by a management-type cooperative eligible for 
FHA cooperative housing mortgage insurance.
    <bullet> Permitted the mortgage of an investor building for 
sale to a management type cooperative to include commercial and 
community facilities adequate to serve the project. (Previously 
this was permitted for management-type cooperatives only.)
    <bullet> Permitted FHA-insured mortgages for sales-type 
cooperatives to include community facilities adequate to serve 
the housing.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to extend the time for curing a 
mortgage default covering a one- to four-family residence and 
to protect the lender against any interest losses resulting 
from the extension. In order to avoid foreclosure, authorized 
FHA to acquire a defaulted mortgage on a one- to four-family 
residence and to issue to the mortgagee debentures in an amount 
necessary to protect the mortgagee against loss.
    <bullet> Raised the FHA Section 222 mortgage limits on 
housing for servicemen from $17,100 to $20,000, except, where a 
home met the standards of the Section 203(i) program for homes 
in outlying areas, the Section 203(i) $9,000 limit applied.
    <bullet> Made the increases in FHA mortgage limits 
available for housing in Alaska, Guam, and Hawaii.
    <bullet> Authorized the termination of home mortgage 
insurance where there was mutual agreement between the 
mortgagee and mortgagor without the necessity, as previously 
required, of paying off the mortgage, thus avoiding refinancing 
expenses.
    <bullet> Repealed a separate insurance authorization 
ceiling for FHA's yield insurance program.

FHA Armed Services Housing
    <bullet> Continued the FHA Title VIII military housing 
program until October 1, 1961, and raised the maximum term of a 
mortgage from 25 to 30 years. Permitted the mortgage to cover 
the cost of non dwelling facilities.
    <bullet> Authorized a new Section 810 program to provide up 
to 5,000 units of housing for military and essential civilian 
personnel, including those at AEC and NASA installations. If 
FHA determined the housing was not an acceptable risk it could 
require the Secretary of Defense to guarantee the FHA insurance 
fund against loss.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Defense to acquire FHA 
Section 207 rental housing completed before July 1, 1952, which 
was situated adjacent to a military installation and which was 
certified as necessary military housing prior to construction.

FHA Section 220 and Section 221 Mortgage Insurance
    <bullet> Raised limits on FHA Section 220 urban renewal 
housing mortgages consistent with the changes in the Section 
203 and 207 regular mortgage insurance programs made by the 
law. The trade-in provision was also made applicable to the 
Section 220 housing.
    <bullet> Encouraged exterior land improvements for rental 
housing projects in urban renewal areas by permitting them to 
be included in the Section 220 mortgage without being computed 
as part of the per-room or per- unit cost limits.
    <bullet> Permitted to be included in a Section 220 mortgage 
were such non dwelling facilities as the FHA deemed adequate to 
serve the project occupants and other housing in the 
neighborhood.
    <bullet> Made the Section 221 mortgage insurance program 
available to families displaced from within the environs of a 
community that has ``a workable program'' for the prevention 
and elimination of slums.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of a Section 221 
mortgage covering a single-family home in a high-cost area from 
$10,000 to $12,000.
    <bullet> Made two-, three-, and four-family structures 
eligible for Section 221 sales housing mortgage insurance where 
the owner agreed to rent the additional units to families 
displaced by urban renewal or other governmental activities. 
The minimum downpayment for owner-occupants was $200 per family 
dwelling. For non occupant owners, the amount of the mortgage 
was limited to 85 percent of value.
    <bullet> Made profit-motivated corporations eligible for 
FHA Section 221 rental housing mortgages. The mortgage could 
not exceed $12,500,000 nor 90 percent of replacement cost in 
the case of new construction and 90 percent of value after 
repair and rehabilitation were completed in the case of 
rehabilitated housing.

Housing for the Elderly
  Insurance
    <bullet> Enacted a new Section 231 FHA mortgage insurance 
program for both nonprofit and profit-making rental housing for 
the elderly. The property could include such commercial and 
special facilities as FHA deemed adequate.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of a mortgage to $12,500,000, 
except that it could be up to $50 million where the mortgagor 
was a public instrumentality or nonprofit organization subject 
to certain governmental controls. In the case of a public or 
nonprofit mortgagor the mortgage was limited also to 100 
percent of the estimated replacement cost if the construction 
was new and 100 percent of estimated value if the structures 
were being rehabilitated. In the case of the a profit-motivated 
mortgagor it was 90 percent.

  Section 202 Direct Loans
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
direct Federal loans for rental housing for the elderly to 
private nonprofit corporations. The property could be new or 
rehabilitated rental housing structures and could include 
dining halls, community rooms, infirmaries, and other essential 
service facilities.
    <bullet> Limited a loan to not more than 98 percent of the 
total development cost and limited the interest rate to the 
higher of (i) 2 3/4 percent or (ii) a rate derived by adding 
\1/4\ of one percent to the average annual interest rate on all 
interest bearing obligations forming a part of the Federal 
debt.
    <bullet> Limited the term of a loan to not more than 50 
years.
    <bullet> Authorized up to $50 million to be appropriated to 
a revolving fund for the program. Not more than $5 million of 
the fund could be outstanding at any one time for ``related 
facilities.''

FHA Nursing Homes
    <bullet> Authorized a new program of FHA mortgage insurance 
for privately-owned nursing homes. The property could be new or 
rehabilitated.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of a mortgage to $12,500,000 
and 75 percent of estimated value.
    <bullet> Limited the maximum interest rate to 5 percent, or 
6 percent if found necessary to meet the mortgage market.

Low-Rent Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorized contracts for an additional 37,000 
units of low-rent public housing.
    <bullet> Eliminated the statutory ceilings on family income 
for both admission and continued occupancy of low-rent public 
housing.
    <bullet> Authorized the local housing agency, with Public 
Housing Administration approval, to establish income limits and 
rent limits.

Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Authorized an additional $25 million for special 
assistance by FNMA for FHA cooperative housing mortgages. Half 
of the increase was for consumer cooperative mortgages, and 
half for builder-sponsor cooperatives.
    <bullet> Removed previous limits on the amounts of fees and 
charges FNMA could impose under its special assistance program.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a mortgage which 
could be purchased by FNMA from $15,000 (for each dwelling unit 
covered by the mortgage) to $20,000 if purchased in its 
secondary market operations, and from $15,000 to $17,500 if 
purchased in its special assistance program; FHA Section 220 
urban renewal housing was excepted from the dollar limits.
    <bullet> Permitted advance commitments by FNMA to purchase 
mortgages in its secondary market operations with respect to 
mortgages covering existing housing in addition to new housing.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to invest in obligations which 
were lawful investments for fiduciary, trust, or public funds. 
(Previously it was restricted to government obligations and 
government-guaranteed obligations.)
    <bullet> Directed FNMA to renew any special assistance 
commitment issued prior to August 27, 1958, if it was 
established that hardship would otherwise occur and that 
failure to deliver the mortgage on time was beyond control of 
the mortgage seller.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Increased the urban renewal capital grant 
authorization by $350 million, and by an additional $300 
million to be available on July 1, 1960.
    <bullet> Increased the amount of the urban renewal grant 
authorization available for nonresidential redevelopment 
projects from 10 percent to 20 percent effective the date of 
approval of the law.
    <bullet> Removed the 12 \1/2\ percent ceiling on the 
proportion of loan funds for urban renewal which could be 
expended in any one State.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to permit Treasury 
borrowing in excess of $1 billion, as a back-up for private 
financing where the loan contract was pledged as a security. 
(This reflected the fact that most of the amounts contracted to 
be loaned was not disbursed. Instead, the contract was used by 
the local public agency as ``back-up'' to borrow private funds. 
Accordingly, the $1 billion on borrowings from the Treasury was 
removed, as such, and made applicable only to loans actually 
disbursed, or committed and estimated to be disbursed.)
    <bullet> Authorized eligible local public improvements 
started by the locality within three years prior to the signing 
of a loan and grant contract for urban renewal to be credited 
as noncash grants-in-aid to the urban renewal project.
    <bullet> Authorized temporary Federal loans for land 
acquisition and slum clearance in an urban renewal area prior 
to or after the approval of the urban renewal plan by the local 
governing body, if that body approved the acquisition and 
clearance.
    <bullet> Directed the Housing Administrator to encourage 
the utilization of local public agencies established to operate 
on a Statewide basis in behalf of smaller communities within 
the State which were undertaking urban renewal programs.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal assistance to an urban renewal 
project without regard to the predominantly residential 
requirement where an institution of higher learning was located 
in or near a project and the local governing body determined 
that the project would assist the institution and further 
promote the public welfare and proper development of the 
community. Expenditures made by the institution in purchasing 
and clearing property within, adjacent to, or in the immediate 
vicinity of the project could be counted as a local grant-in-
aid.
    <bullet> Permitted land in an urban renewal project to be 
made available for public housing (whether Federally or State 
or locally assisted) at a price equal to the fair value of land 
to a private redeveloper who wanted to buy a site in the 
community for private rental housing similar in physical 
characteristics to the proposed low-rent housing project.
    <bullet> Authorized national and State member banks of the 
Federal Reserve System to underwrite long-term urban renewal 
obligations of local public agencies if such obligations were 
secured by a prescribed agreement with the Housing 
Administrator. (Previously, the banks could underwrite only 
urban renewal obligations having a short term.)

Community Renewal Programs
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to contract 
to make grants up to 2/3 of cost for the preparation or 
completion of community renewal programs which would include 
identification of slum or blighted areas in the community, 
measurement of blight, determination of resources needed and 
available to renew such areas, identification of potential 
project areas and types of action contemplated, and scheduling 
of urban renewal activities.
    <bullet> Relocation Payments
    <bullet> Authorized urban renewal relocation payments when 
the displacement from the urban renewal area was a result of 
any governmental activity in the area, code enforcement, or 
programs of voluntary repair and rehabilitation. (Previously 
relocation payments were available only where displacement 
resulted from an urban renewal project.)
    <bullet> Increased the maximum relocation payments from 
$100 to $200 when made to individuals and families, and from 
$2,500 to $3,000 when made to business concerns.

Urban Planning
    <bullet> Authorized an additional $10 million for Federal 
matching grants to assist State and urban planning.
    <bullet> Broadened the scope of the urban planning grant 
program by authorizing Federal matching grants to agencies and 
communities not previously eligible and by authorizing grants 
directly to any city and county which had suffered a major 
disaster. Under new provisions the grants could be used for 
metropolitan or regional planning under interstate compacts.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to encourage 
planning on a unified metropolitan basis and to provide 
technical assistance for such planning and the solution of 
problems relating to such planning.

College Housing
    <bullet> Increased the college housing loan revolving fund 
by $250 million; $25 million was made available for ``other 
educational facilities'' such as dining halls and student 
centers; and $25 million was available for student-nurse and 
intern housing facilities.
    <bullet> Made nonprofit student housing cooperatives 
eligible for college housing loans. The note securing the loan 
was required to be co-signed by the educational institution at 
which the cooperative was located.

Public Works Planning
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to use during 
any fiscal year up to $50,000 of the revolving fund from which 
advances were made to localities for advance planning of public 
works, to conduct surveys of the status and current volume of 
State and local public works planning and surveys of estimated 
requirements for State and local public works.
Real Estate Loans by National Banks
    <bullet> Excepted FHA Section 203 sales housing loans from 
calculating the amount of real estate loans which a national 
bank may make in relation to its capital and surplus or its 
time and savings deposits.

Farm Housing Research
    <bullet> Continued the authority of the Housing 
Administrator (in the Housing Act of 1957, P.L. 85-104) to make 
grants to land grant colleges for farm housing research, until 
June 30, 1961.
    <bullet> Limited grants to $100,000 during the two-year 
period beginning July 1, 1959.

Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Authorized a Federal savings and loan association 
to use up to 20 percent of its assets to make or purchase 
participating interests in first mortgages on one- to four-
family homes without regard to the area restriction.
    <bullet> Limited the aggregate sums invested in the 
participations plus all outstanding loans and participations 
which the association had made under the previous exception 
from the area restrictions to not more than 30 percent of its 
assets.
    <bullet> Excluded the amount of participations in FHA or VA 
loans in determining the amount of loans which a Federal 
savings and loan association might make within any of the 
percentage limits in the Home Owners' Loan Act.
    <bullet> Authorized a Federal savings and loan association 
to invest up to 5 percent of its withdrawable accounts in loans 
to finance the acquisition and development of land for 
primarily residential use if its general reserves, surplus, and 
undivided profits aggregated a sum in excess of 5 percent of 
its withdrawable accounts.

              V. THE 1960s--ECONOMIC AND POPULATION GROWTH

                           Amendments to FHA

                (Public Law 86-788, September 14, 1960)

    <bullet> Removed the dollar limitation on the amount of 
loans insured in the FHA Title I home repair and improvement 
loan insurance program.
    <bullet> Increased the college housing and public facility 
loan authorizations.

 Report of the President's Commission on National Goals, November 16, 
                                  1960

Recommendations:
    <bullet> A full range of housing opportunities outside the 
central cities for minority families and for other low-income 
families.
    <bullet> An adequate supply of suitable housing for low- 
and middle-income families who need or want to live in central 
areas.
    <bullet> A greater volume of investment, private and 
public, in renewal and redevelopment.
    <bullet> Effective regional planning and stronger land use 
controls.
    <bullet> Incentives for effective planning, land-use 
control, and strong local government, in all Federal and State 
programs of financial assistance.
    <bullet> Responsible programming of local housing 
requirements.
    <bullet> Expansion of the market for new and improved 
housing and of the range of consumer housing choices.

                  Presidential State of Union Message

                   (H. Doc. 87-73, January 30, 1961)

    <bullet> Stated a new housing program under a new 
Department of Housing and Urban Affairs was needed.

                Stimulation of the Provision of Housing.

  (Presidential Message to Congress. H. Doc. 87-81, February 2, 1961)

    <bullet> Reported Presidential actions designed to expand 
long-term credit to stimulate residential construction and 
public works program by:
    <bullet> Ordering a reduction in interest rates on FHA-
insured loans and on new loans under the public facility loan 
program.
    <bullet> A temporary reduction of 50 percent in the FNMA 
stock subscription requirement applicable to mortgage sales in 
the secondary market.
    <bullet> Expansion of the public facility loan program.
    <bullet> Acceleration of the programs of low-rent public 
housing, urban renewal, and college housing.

                          Presidential Actions

                   (H. Doc. 87-94, February 23, 1961)

    <bullet> Requested all Federal agencies concerned to 
provide data on flood hazards in specified areas, and to assist 
States in their efforts for effective regulation and zoning of 
the flood plains.
    <bullet> Directed the Housing Agency and other Federal 
agencies concerned with urban development to coordinate their 
activities with flood control agencies in order to utilize 
flood information to advantage.

                   Urban Renewal and Highway Planning

  (Presidential Message to Congress. H. Doc. 87-96, February 28, 1961)

    <bullet> Reported directing the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator and the Secretary of Commerce to increase their 
joint planning activities to improve coordination of urban 
renewal and freeway construction plans in the same area, and to 
invite the cooperative efforts of State and local highway and 
housing officials and private experts.
    <bullet> Recommended amendments to the Federal Aid Highway 
Act to assist families displaced by future highway projects to 
relocate in suitable housing at reasonable costs.

                      Presidential Housing Message

                    (H. Doc. 87-102, March 9, 1961)

    <bullet> Listed three basic national objectives:
          a. to renew cities and assure sound growth of rapidly 
        expanding metropolitan areas;
          b. to provide decent housing for all Americans; and
          c. to encourage a prosperous and efficient 
        construction industry as an essential component of 
        general economic prosperity and growth.
    <bullet> Recommended establishment of a new Department of 
Housing and Urban Affairs.
    <bullet> Recommended broadening and extending existing 
housing, community development, and urban renewal programs; and 
new programs:
          a. to enable private enterprise to provide housing 
        for moderate income families;
          b. to enable the owners of deteriorated homes to 
        repair and improve them with FHA insurance loans; and
          c. to acquire open land to be used for park and 
        recreational purposes and for future public or private 
        development.
    <bullet> Directed an extensive study of urban 
transportation problems by the Housing Administrator and the 
Secretary of Commerce.

        Department of Urban Affairs and Housing, April 18, 1961

    <bullet> The President transmitted a draft bill to Congress 
which would establish a Department of Urban Affairs and 
Housing.

                         Area Redevelopment Act

                    (Public Law 87-27, May 1, 1961)

    <bullet> Provided loans and grants for public facilities 
and for commercial and industrial facilities in ``redevelopment 
areas'' of substantial and persistent unemployment or 
underemployment.
    <bullet> Authorized a $300 million revolving loan fund to 
be established through Treasury borrowings, with one-third to 
be made available for public facility loans, one-third for 
commercial and industrial loans in industrial redevelopment 
areas, and one-third for such loans in rural redevelopment 
areas. $75 million in grants for public facilities were also 
authorized.
    <bullet> Waived the ``predominantly residential'' 
requirement of the urban renewal law in the case of projects in 
redevelopment areas.
    <bullet> Permitted land in such projects to be sold to a 
public body or nonprofit corporation for subsequent disposition 
to a redeveloper rather than for direct redevelopment. Up to 10 
percent of a all new urban renewal grant authorizations could 
be used in connection with these provisions.
    <bullet> Made urban planning grants available in industrial 
redevelopment areas either directly or through State planning 
agencies, and for up to three-fourths (rather than two-thirds) 
of the cost of the planning.

                           Amendments to FHA

                    (Public Law 87-38, May 25, 1961)

    <bullet> Made an interim increase of $1 billion in FHA's 
mortgage insurance authorization.

                          Housing Act of 1961

                   (Public Law 87-70, June 30, 1961)

FHA Sec. 221 Mortgage Insurance
    <bullet> Made the FHA Section 221 mortgage insurance 
program for displaced families available on more liberal terms 
and broadened it to apply to low- and moderate- income families 
generally.
    <bullet> Repealed the requirement that a community must 
have a ``workable program'' for the prevention and elimination 
of slums as a prerequisite for Section 221 housing, except for 
limited or nonprofit or cooperative housing financed under the 
Section 221(d)(3) program. (The authority to insure mortgages 
for moderate-income families terminated July 1, 1963, but there 
was no termination date on the authority for displaced 
persons.)
    <bullet> Amended the existing Section 221 rental housing 
program to liberalize its terms and make it available for low- 
and moderate-income families as well as displaced families. 
(The rental housing program for moderate-income families 
terminated July 1, 1965.)
    <bullet> Amended Section 221(d)(3) to authorize insurance 
of rental housing mortgages bearing interest at a ``below 
market rate'' with a partial or no insurance premium and 
liberalized provisions for payment of insurance claims. 
Mortgagors could be nonprofit organizations, limited dividend 
corporations, cooperatives, and public bodies or agencies which 
certified that they were not receiving financial assistance 
from the U.S. exclusively for public housing. The interest rate 
could be not less than the annual rate of interest based on the 
average market yield on all outstanding marketable obligations.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to purchase Section 221(d)(3) 
mortgages under its special assistance program notwithstanding 
the fact the mortgagors were public bodies or agencies or any 
other requirements in their charter act that might prevent the 
purchases.

Other FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Authorized a new program of FHA insured home 
improvement loans for dwellings in urban renewal areas (220(h)) 
and for one- to four-family dwellings not restricted to urban 
renewal areas (203(k)). Loans could be up to $10,000 per 
dwelling unit, or the cost of repairs, whichever was lesser. 
The maturity could be up to 20 years, or three-quarters of the 
remaining economic life of the property, whichever was lesser.
    <bullet> Authorized purchase of these insured loans (with 
or without mortgage security) by FNMA.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages on homes or 
rental housing incorporating new and untried materials, design, 
and construction methods and involving experimental property 
standards and neighborhood design. Mortgages and property were 
to be eligible for insurance where the project was an 
``acceptable risk'' rather than being found economically sound.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA in Section 234 to insure a mortgage 
to finance the purchase of a family unit in a multifamily 
structure and an undivided interest in the common areas and 
facilities which serve the structure (condominiums). The 
program was restricted to structures that were or had been 
covered by FHA-insured mortgages, other than cooperative 
housing mortgages. The structures could be new, existing or 
rehabilitated.
    <bullet> Reduced downpayments under the Sections 203 and 
220 sales housing programs and raised maximum terms from 30 to 
35 years for new construction.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a nursing home 
mortgage from 75 percent of value to 90 percent.
    <bullet> Increased the per-space limit on the amount of a 
mortgage covering a trailer park from $1,500 to $1,800.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure supplementary loans made 
with respect to a management- type cooperative for improvements 
or repairs, or necessary community facilities.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of a mortgage 
covering elderly family housing (Section 231) where the number 
of rooms in the unit was four or more.
    <bullet> Removed the requirement that the Secretary of 
Defense guarantee the FHA insurance fund against losses on 
Section 810 mortgages on housing in defense-impacted areas.
    <bullet> Gave the FHA discretionary authority to provide 
for cash payment of insurance claims, rather than payment in 
debentures, in specified programs.
Housing for the Elderly
    <bullet> Increased the loan authorization for housing for 
the elderly from $50 million to $125 million.
    <bullet> Made consumer cooperatives and public bodies which 
certified they were not receiving Federal financial assistance 
exclusively for public housing eligible borrowers.
    <bullet> Increased the maximum loan amount from 98 percent 
to 100 percent of the development cost.
    <bullet> Repealed a $5 million limitation on ``related 
facilities.''

Public Housing
    <bullet> Made available the remaining balance of the $336 
million annual contributions authorization in the 1949 Act 
(covering approximately 100,000 units).
    <bullet> Limited contracts for any one State, after 
enactment of the Act, to not more than 15 percent of the amount 
of authorized contributions not under contract on that date.
    <bullet> Authorized, but did not guarantee, additional 
Federal payments of up to $120 a year per unit, if required to 
maintain the solvency of a low- rent project.
    <bullet> Permitted an over-income family to continue 
occupancy during the period the local housing agency determined 
that the family was unable to find decent private housing 
within its financial reach, if the family paid a rental related 
to its income.
    <bullet> Repealed the requirement of repayment of 
subsidies, when the bonds outstanding on a project were paid 
off.
    <bullet> Increased the cost ceiling per unit by $500 for 
units used by the elderly and for units in Alaska.
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Government to give an 
incontestable obligation to the holder of local housing 
authority obligations when backed by a financial contract under 
the public housing law.

Demonstration Program for Low-Income Housing
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to enter into 
contracts to make grants, up to $5 million, to public or 
private bodies for developing and demonstrating new or improved 
means of providing housing for low-income persons and families.

Amendments to Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Increased the FNMA special assistance 
authorization by $750 million.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to make loans, with maturities up 
to one year, on the security of FHA or VA mortgages. The loans 
could not exceed 80 percent of the unpaid balance of the 
mortgages securing them.
    <bullet> Required borrowers to make nonrefundable capital 
contributions up to \1/2\ of 1 percent of the loan.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Increased the urban renewal grant authorization by 
$2 billion, except that $25 million of this amount was to be 
used for contracts for mass transportation demonstration 
projects.
    <bullet> Increased the amount of the authorization 
available for nonresidential projects from 20 percent to 30 
percent of the amount of grants authorized to be contracted for 
after the Housing Act of 1959 (P.L. 86-372).
    <bullet> Increased the Federal contribution from 2/3 to 3/4 
for any municipality having a population of 50,000 or less, or 
150,000 or less for a municipality in an economically 
distressed area.
    <bullet> Gave credit to cities for expenditures for land 
acquisition and clearance by hospitals near urban renewal 
areas, in the same manner as such credit had been given for 
similar expenditures by colleges. Increased to seven years the 
period prior to the loan and grant contract during which these 
expenditures could be counted.
    <bullet> Permitted real property in an urban renewal area 
to be made available to (1) a limited dividend corporation, 
nonprofit corporation, cooperative, public body, or (2) any 
purchaser who was eligible for a Section 221 FHA-insured 
mortgage for a profit- making rental housing project for 
moderate-income families.
    <bullet> Authorized local public agencies to carry out 
rehabilitation demonstrations in certain urban renewal areas.
    <bullet> Authorized Small Business Administration loans on 
special terms for displaced business firms. Made available a 
special fund of $25 million.
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Government to give an 
incontestable obligation to the holder of local public agency 
obligations backed by Federal contract.
    <bullet> Authorized a local public agency to pool its 
surplus local grant-in-aid credit between projects on the 2/3 
basis and projects on a 3/4 basis.

Urban Planning
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for appropriation for 
urban planning grants from $20 million to $75 million.
    <bullet> Increased the Federal share of the cost of urban 
planning from one-half to two-thirds.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to provide 
technical assistance to State and local governments and their 
agencies undertaking planning, and to make studies on related 
problems.

Public Facility Loans
    <bullet> Increased the aggregate revolving loan 
authorization by $500 million (to $650 million) of which not 
more than $50 million would be available only for loans for 
mass transportation facilities.
    <bullet> Eliminated States as eligible borrowers for public 
facility loans (thus limiting eligibility to municipalities and 
other political subdivisions and instrumentalities of States).
    <bullet> Also limited eligibility to communities having a 
population of less than 50,000, or, if located in an 
economically depressed areas, less than 150,000.
    <bullet> Set the interest rate charged by the Housing 
Administrator to public facility loan borrowers at a rate based 
on the average annual interest rate on all interest bearing 
obligations of the United States plus one-half percent. 
(Previously the rate had been set by the Administrator.)
    <bullet> Gave the Housing Administrator discretionary 
authority to postpone the payment of interest on not more than 
50 percent of any public facility loan for a period up to 10 
years under specified conditions. The postponed payments were 
to be payable with interest during the remaining life of the 
loan.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to provide 
technical services to communities in budgeting, financing, 
planning, and constructing community facilities.

Urban Mass Transportation
    <bullet> Made comprehensive planning for mass 
transportation eligible for urban planning grants.
    <bullet> Authorized $25 million in grants to come from 
urban renewal grant funds to local public agencies for 
demonstration projects designed to contribute to the 
improvement of mass transportation or the reduction of mass 
transportation needs. The grant could not exceed 2/3 of the 
project costs and could not be used for major capital 
improvements.
    <bullet> Authorized loans aggregating $50 million from 
Public Facility Loan (PFL) funds to be made to public bodies to 
provide for financing the acquisition, construction, and 
improvement of transportation facilities and equipment, until 
December 31, 1962.

Title VII--Open-Space Land
    <bullet> Authorized up to $50 million for a new program of 
Federal grants, to assist local public bodies in the 
acquisition of land to be used as permanent open space. The 
amount of a grant could not normally exceed 20 percent of the 
total cost of acquiring the title to, or other permanent 
interest in, the land. The grant could be as high as 30 percent 
if it was extended to a public body which exercised 
responsibilities relating to open land for an urban area as a 
whole or which participated in the exercise of such 
responsibilities for all or a substantial part of an urban area 
pursuant to an interstate or other inter-governmental compact 
or agreement.
    <bullet> Provided that no grant could be made unless the 
open-space land was important to the execution of a 
comprehensive plan for the urban area and unless a program of 
comprehensive planning was being actively carried on for the 
area.
    (Authority to enter into contracts under Title VII was 
repealed, effective January 1, 1975, by the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974, P.L. 93-383, August 22, 
1974.)

College Housing Loans
    <bullet> Increased the aggregate revolving authorization 
for college housing loans by $300 million on July 1 of each of 
the four years from 1961 through 1964.
    <bullet> Increased the sublimitation for such other 
facilities as dining halls and student unions by $30 million 
for each of the years, and the sublimitation for student nurses 
and medical residents and interns housing by $30 million for 
each of the years.

Public Works Planning
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for Federal advances 
for the planning of specific non-Federal public works by $10 
million, bringing the total authorization for appropriations to 
$58 million.
Farm Housing
    <bullet> Authorized housing loans to owners of nonfarm 
building sites in rural areas (defined by regulation as open 
country and rural towns of not more than 2,500 population).
    <bullet> Authorized $250,000 each year for four years for 
the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct farm housing research.
National Banks
    <bullet> Authorized national banks to make home improvement 
loans insured by FHA under its new home improvement loan 
program without regard to the loans not being secured by first 
liens.

                Department of Urban Affairs and Housing

                           (January 24, 1962)

    <bullet> The House Rules Committee denied a rule for 
consideration by the House of a bill which would have 
established a Department of Urban Affairs and Housing.

                       Reorganization Plan No. 1

                   (H. Doc. 87-320, January 30, 1962)

    <bullet> Proposed to create a Department of Urban Affairs 
and Housing. (The House of Representatives agreed to a 
resolution disapproving Reorganization Plan No. 1. H. Res. 87-
530, February 21, 1962.)

                          Consumer Protection

        (Presidential Message (H. Doc. 87-364, March 15, 1962))

    <bullet> Recommended among other things, legislation 
requiring lenders to disclose to borrowers in advance the 
actual amounts and rates they pay for credit.

                     Public Works Acceleration Act

                (Public Law 87-658, September 14, 1962)

    <bullet> Authorized a $900 million program of Federal 
assistance by the President to public works for those areas 
which were designated as ``redevelopment areas'' under the Area 
Redevelopment Act.
    <bullet> Provided that funds advanced to such areas under 
the Public Works Planning Advance Program need not be repaid, 
and that loans under the Public Facility Loan Program could be 
made without regard to size-of-locality restrictions otherwise 
applicable.

                  Senior Citizens Housing Act of 1962

                (Public Law 87-723, September 28, 1962)

    <bullet> Increased the authorization for direct loans by 
the Housing and Home Finance Administrator for rental housing 
and related facilities for the elderly by $100 million.
    <bullet> Limited loans by the Administrator to new 
construction.
    <bullet> Amended Title V of the Housing Act of 1949:
          (i) to include loans to buy previously occupied 
        dwellings and minimum adequate building sites;
          (ii) to authorize direct and insured loans by the 
        Secretary of Agriculture for housing for elderly in 
        rural areas and related facilities, and
          (iii) to increase the limit on grants for rural 
        housing repair from $500 to $1,000.

                   Amendment to National Housing Act

                  (Public Law 87-756, October 2, 1962)

    <bullet> Authorized FHA Commissioner to make payments in 
lieu of taxes with respect to properties acquired by him under 
Section 803.

                 Federal Savings and Loan Associations

                  (Public Law 87-779, October 9, 1962)

    <bullet> Permitted the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to 
authorize Federal savings and loan associations to invest up to 
an additional 15 percent of their assets in loans on 
multifamily housing. The loan limits could not exceed those 
permitted by FHA on multifamily housing.

                      Equal Opportunity in Housing

               (Executive Order 11063, November 20, 1962)

    <bullet> Directed Federal departments and agencies to take 
action to prevent discrimination in the sale, lease, or 
occupancy of residential property owned or operated by the 
Federal Government, or the provision of which is assisted by 
the Federal Government through loans, grants, loans insured or 
guaranteed, or Federal assistance to slum clearance or urban 
renewal projects.
    <bullet> Established the President's Committee on Equal 
Opportunity in Housing to promote the coordination of Federal 
activities under the Order.

   Report of Committee on Federal Credit Programs, February 11, 1963

    <bullet> Sent by the President to agency heads 
administering Federal credit programs.
    <bullet> Suggested that all departments and agencies 
administering loans, loan guarantee and insurance programs be 
guided by a set of principles detailed in the Report. These 
principles related mainly to various means of giving priority 
to the use of private rather than Federal credit.

                          Presidential Message

                   (H. Doc. 88-72, February 21, 1963)

Requested for Housing for the Elderly:
          a. Additional appropriations for direct Federal loans 
        for rental housing for the elderly;
          b. That the Housing Agency give greater emphasis to 
        the construction of group residences suitable for older 
        families and individuals who need housekeeping 
        assistance, central food service, and minor nursing 
        care; and
          c. Legislation that would make elderly individuals 
        eligible for FHA Section 221 housing for low- and 
        moderate-income families.
    <bullet> Instructed the President's Council on Aging to 
study problems of modernization and rehabilitation of homes of 
the elderly.

                          Presidential Message

                    (H. Doc. 88-124, June 19, 1963)

    <bullet> Transmitted draft legislation:
          a. To enforce the constitutional right to vote;
          b. To confer jurisdiction upon the District Courts of 
        the U.S. to provide injunctive relief against 
        discrimination in public accommodations;
          c. To authorize the Attorney General to institute 
        suits to protect constitutional rights in education;
          d. To establish a community relations service;
          e. To extend for four years the Commission on Civil 
        Rights;
          f. To prevent discrimination in Federally-assisted 
        programs; and
          g. To establish a Commission on Equal Employment 
        Opportunity.

                              Civil Rights

                 (Executive Order 11114, June 23, 1963)

    <bullet> Extended the existing program for 
nondiscrimination in government contracts established by E.O. 
10925 of March 6, 1961, to include certain contracts for 
construction financed with assistance from the Federal 
Government.
    <bullet> Amended the Order to clarify the authority of the 
President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.
    <bullet> Designated the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator a member of the Committee.

     Report of the President's Council on Aging, December 16, 1963

Recommendations:
    <bullet> Repayment of home rehabilitation loans be deferred 
for low- and moderate-income elderly homeowners living in urban 
renewal areas.
    <bullet> Mortgage insurance for nonprofit nursing homes.
    <bullet> Further study of a program to assist elderly 
homeowners to supplement their incomes with benefits based on 
equities in their homes while continuing to live in their 
homes.
    <bullet> Single elderly persons be made eligible for 
certain special programs for moderate- income housing and 
relocation.
    <bullet> Increased effort in appraisal of total housing 
needs of the elderly.

                     Foreign Assistance Act of 1963

                 (Public Law 88-205, December 16, 1963)

    <bullet> Raised the ceiling on the total face amount of the 
guarantees which could be outstanding at any one time for 
housing projects in Latin-American countries from $60 million 
to $150 million.
    <bullet> Directed the utilization of the services of 
private enterprise and Federal agencies in the provision of 
assistance in such fields as housing, health, education or 
agriculture.
    <bullet> Presidential Budget Message (H. Doc. 88-265, 
January 21, 1964)
Recommendations:
    <bullet> Legislation to provide authority and funds for 
continuing urban renewal, urban planning and open space grants, 
housing loans for the elderly and low-rent public housing.
    <bullet> Legislation to create a Department of Housing and 
Community Development.
    <bullet> Action on Federal aid to urban communities in 
order to modernize and enlarge necessary mass transportation 
facilities.
    <bullet> Legislation to facilitate the sale of Federally-
owned mortgages to private investors.

                      Presidential Housing Message

                   (H. Doc. 88-306, January 27, 1964)

Recommendations:
Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorization of 50,000 additional public housing 
units for each of the next four years; amendments to the public 
housing units, including rehabilitation where necessary, for 
use as public housing; authorization for local housing 
authorities to lease 40,000 housing units over the next four 
years; and an additional $5 million authorization to continue 
the demonstration program authorized by the 1961 Act.

Housing for the Elderly
    <bullet> Recommended that the low interest direct Federal 
loan program for housing for the elderly be extended and 
additional funds appropriated, and that single elderly persons 
be made eligible for housing financed by Federally-insured 
below market interest loans.

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Recommended that Congress enact an insured rural 
housing loan program and legislation to assist the housing 
problems of domestic farm labor.

Recommendations for Other Housing Programs
    <bullet> Authorization to FHA and VA to correct substantial 
defects in new construction they have approved.
    <bullet> Authority to FHA to encourage the temporary 
withholding of foreclosures against homeowners who default on 
their mortgages due to circumstances beyond their control.
    <bullet> Authority for the pooling of mortgages held by 
FNMA and the VA and the sale of participations in such pools.
Recommendations for Urban Renewal
    <bullet> An additional $1.4 billion of urban renewal funds 
for a two-year period.
    <bullet> Additional relocation assistance for low- and 
moderate income families and small businessmen.
    <bullet> A program of Federal insurance and purchase of 
low-interest loans with a deferral of amortization of principal 
for home rehabilitation by elderly homeowners in urban renewal 
areas.

Community Development
    <bullet> Extension of the urban planning assistance program 
and the open space programs.
    <bullet> A program of grants and loans to States and local 
governments for the planning and provision of necessary public 
facilities and of loan insurance for private developers 
constructing such facilities.
    <bullet> A program of public facility loans with deferred 
amortization to enable communities to plan and build ahead of 
growth.
    <bullet> Public facilities loans to be made available for 
advance acquisition of land for public improvements.
    <bullet> Federal insurance of loans to private developers 
for acquisition and improvement of land for planned 
subdivisions.

Urban Mass Transportation
    <bullet> Early enactment of a mass transit program along 
the lines proposed by the Administration and passed by the 
Senate in 1963.

Training
    <bullet> A program of up to $25 million a year in matching 
grants to States for the establishment of urban public service 
training and research programs.

New Department
    <bullet> Establishment by Congress of a Department of 
Housing and Community Development.

                        Civil Rights Act of 1964

                   (Public Law 88-352, July 2, 1964)

    <bullet> Provided assurances and protections for a wide 
range of civil rights, including voting.
    <bullet> Prohibited discrimination in public accommodations 
and under any program or activity receiving Federal financial 
assistance.
    <bullet> Extended the life of the Civil Rights Commission.
    <bullet> Gave enforcement power to the Attorney General.

                        Federal Credit Union Act

                   (Public Law 88-353, July 2, 1964)

    <bullet> Authorized credit unions to treat insurance of FHA 
Title I home improvement loans as security for a loan.

                 Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964

                   (Public Law 88-365, July 9, 1964)

    <bullet> Authorized grants or loans by the Housing and Home 
Finance Administrator to assist States and local public 
agencies in financing the acquisition, construction and 
improvement of mass transportation facilities and equipment. 
Grants could be for up to 2/3 of that part of the cost of the 
facilities and equipment that could not reasonably be financed 
by revenues.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriation of $375 million over 
three years for grants.
    <bullet> Authorized loans where reasonable terms could not 
be obtained privately, if such loans would make effective mass 
transportation possible without grant assistance.
    <bullet> Required the preparation of an areawide 
transportation plan as a part of comprehensive planning for the 
development of the urban area.
    <bullet> Authorized for a three-year period, loans and 
grants on an emergency basis with less strict planning 
requirements but with reduced grants which could be raised if 
full planning requirements were met within three years.
    <bullet> Authorized a $30 million research, demonstration 
and development program.
    <bullet> Authorized assistance for acquisition of, or 
competition with, an existing private company only if just 
compensation was paid and it was found that such action was 
essential.

                  Amendments to the Alaska Omnibus Act

                  (Public Law 88-451, August 19, 1964)

    <bullet> Authorized appropriations of $55,650,000 to 
provide assistance to the State of Alaska for reconstruction of 
areas damaged by the 1964 earthquake.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to compromise 
or release notes or obligations held by him with respect to 
property in Alaska pursuant to public facility loans.
    <bullet> Provided a special $25 million urban renewal grant 
authority for projects made necessary by the earthquake.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to loan to 
the State, under the public facility loan program, up to $25 
million to help the State finance reconstruction activities 
related to the earthquake or to complete capital improvements 
begun prior to the earthquake.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal matching grants to be made to 
the State to retire or adjust outstanding mortgages on one- to 
four-family homes severely damaged or destroyed by the 
earthquake.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to 
compromise or release a portion of borrowers indebtedness under 
programs administered by the Farmers Home Administration in 
Alaska as he found necessary due to loss resulting from the 
earthquake.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to 
refinance outstanding indebtedness on loans under the Housing 
Act of 1949 (P.L. 81-171) for construction or improvements of 
farm housing and buildings for the repair, reconstruction or 
replacement of earthquake-damaged or destroyed farm homes or 
buildings.
    <bullet> Extended the terms of Small Business 
Administration disaster loans for dwellings in Alaska from 20 
to 30 years.

                    Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

                  (Public Law 88-452, August 20, 1964)

    <bullet> Authorized among other means of combating poverty, 
financial and technical assistance for urban and rural 
Community Action Programs in a number of enumerated fields, 
including housing.
    <bullet> Authorized for grant assistance up to 90 percent 
of the cost of such programs for the first two years and 50 
percent thereafter.
    <bullet> Established an Economic Opportunity Council of 
which the HHFA Administrator was a member.

                          Housing Act of 1964

                 (Public Law 88-560, September 2, 1964)

Amendments to FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Increased the dollar limits on FHA-insured home 
mortgages ($25,000 to $30,000 for single-family homes) under 
the regular home mortgage insurance program and the urban 
renewal and condominium programs.
    <bullet> Increased dollar per-unit limits on multifamily 
projects insured under Section 207.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on a Section 220 (urban 
renewal) multifamily housing mortgage from $20 to $30 million 
in the case of a private mortgagor.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure supplemental loans made 
to consumer management-type cooperative mortgagors when made to 
provide funds to finance cooperative purchases and resales of 
memberships. Authorized FNMA to purchase the supplemental loans 
under its special assistance functions.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA under certain circumstances to 
correct structural defects in homes purchased with FHA-insured 
mortgages, pay the homeowners' claims on account of the 
defects, or acquire the property, where the homeowners were 
unable to obtain relief from the builder or other sources.
    <bullet> Permitted any mortgagor, including a trust, 
partnership, or individual, to be a mortgagor under the below-
market rental housing program for low- and moderate- income 
families (sec. 221(d)(3)) if the mortgagor is regulated by the 
FHA as to rents, charges, and methods of operation. Also 
authorized FHA to approve as a mortgagor under the program a 
mortgagor which has entered into an agreement with a private 
nonprofit corporation eligible for an insured mortgage under 
the program provided that the mortgagor will sell the project 
when it is completed to the corporation at the actual cost of 
the project.
    <bullet> Required the mortgagor to whom the property was 
sold to be regulated by the FHA as to occupancy restrictions, 
income limits on tenants, rentals, and other restrictions.
Housing for the Elderly and Handicapped
    <bullet> Made individual elderly persons 62 years of age or 
over eligible the same as families to purchase or occupy sales 
or rental housing financed under the FHA Section 221 program 
for low- and moderate-income and displaced families. (This 
included the low-rent housing financed with FHA-insured 
mortgages bearing below-market- interest rates.)
    <bullet> Amended other provisions of housing laws to 
provide the same special treatment for handicapped persons and 
families as for the elderly.
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for the direct loan 
program for housing the elderly and handicapped (sec. 202) by 
$75 million.

Nonprofit Nursing Homes
    <bullet> Made nonprofit nursing homes eligible for FHA-
insured mortgages to finance their construction or 
rehabilitation on the same basis as proprietary nursing homes 
(to which the program was previously limited).

New Rehabilitation Housing Loan Program (Section 312)
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make low-
interest rate (3 percent) Federal loans to owners or tenants of 
homes or business property in urban renewal areas to finance 
the rehabilitation required to make the property conform to 
code requirements or to carry out the objectives of the urban 
renewal plan for the area in order to reduce the need for 
demolition and removal of structures which could be 
rehabilitated. (Repealed by the National Affordable Housing 
Act, P.L. 101-625.)
    <bullet> Required the loan to be an acceptable risk and the 
borrower to be unable to secure the necessary funds from other 
sources on reasonable terms and conditions.
    <bullet> Limited the maturity to 20 years or three-fourths 
of the remaining economic life of the structure after 
rehabilitation, whichever was less.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of a loan to the cost of 
rehabilitation (except in the case of refinancing) or $10,000 
in the case of a dwelling unit, or $50,000 in the case of 
business property.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations up to $50 million, to be 
made to a revolving fund for the loan program.

Relocation Payments
    <bullet> Authorized relocation adjustment payments to be 
made for small businesses, and families and elderly individuals 
displaced from urban renewal areas. (These payments were in 
addition to the existing urban renewal relocation payments 
covering moving expenses and direct losses of property.)
    <bullet> Made families, individuals, businesses, and 
nonprofit organizations displaced from low-rent public housing 
project sites eligible to receive the same relocation payments 
as those displaced by urban renewal.
    <bullet> Required suitable relocation housing to be 
provided for those displaced in the acquisition of public 
housing sites, as in the case of urban renewal.

Public Housing
    <bullet> Included single persons displaced by urban renewal 
or other governmental action among families eligible for 
admission to public housing.
    <bullet> Authorized additional annual contributions 
payments, up to $120 per year, for units occupied by families 
displaced as a result of urban renewal or acquisition of public 
housing sites (in addition to those for elderly).
    <bullet> Deleted the provision adopted in the Housing Act 
of 1954 (P.L. 83-530) which limited payments in lieu of taxes 
by public housing authorities to amounts which would not reduce 
the local contribution to less than 20 percent of the Federal 
contributions.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Authorized a new type of urban renewal project 
consisting entirely or substantially of a program of intensive 
code enforcement in an urban renewal area. Authorized the cost 
of code enforcement activities carried out in clearance and 
redevelopment projects, and in rehabilitation or conservation 
projects to be included as part of eligible project cost.
    <bullet> Required after September 2, 1967, that no workable 
program could be certified or recertified unless the locality 
involved had in effect for at least six months an adequate 
minimum standards housing code and was carrying out an 
effective program of enforcement compliance with the code.
    <bullet> Authorized urban renewal projects which use air 
space rights and elevated platforms to provide sites for low- 
and moderate-income housing and related facilities and uses. 
Permitted an air rights project to be undertaken in an area 
which was not itself a slum, blighted or deteriorated area but 
which consisted principally of land in highways, railway or 
subway tracts, bridge or tunnel entrances, or other similar 
facilities which have a blighting influence on the surrounding 
area.
    <bullet> Permitted the sale of rural property in an urban 
renewal area at a special reduced price to purchasers who will 
use the property to provide housing for low- or moderate-income 
individuals.

Training and Fellowship Programs
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
grants to States to assist in carrying out a new system of 
Federal-State training programs designed to develop the skills 
needed for economic and efficient community development and to 
provide new and improved methods of dealing with community 
development problems.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations up to $10 million for 
the grants.
    <bullet> Authorized up to $500,000 a year for a three-year 
period to be appropriated to provide fellowships in public and 
private nonprofit institutions of higher learning for the 
graduate training of professional city planning and urban and 
housing technicians and specialists.

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Authorized an additional $150 million for housing 
loans by the Farmers Home Administration.
    <bullet> Increased the amount of a loan which could be made 
for rental housing and related facilities for elderly persons 
and elderly families in rural areas from $100,000 to $300,000.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to be made of up to two-thirds 
of the cost of providing low-rent housing for domestic farm 
labor, upon the application of a State or political subdivision 
of a State, or any public or private nonprofit organization.
    <bullet> Changed the definition of ``domestic farm labor'' 
to include aliens who had been admitted to the United States 
with the expectation of becoming permanent residents.
    <bullet> Authorized up to $10 million for the new program 
for the period ending September 30, 1965.

Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to sell beneficial interests or 
participations in first mortgages (or interests in them) in 
which the U.S. had a financial interest.
    <bullet> Enabled national banks and Federal Home Loan Banks 
to invest in instruments issued by FNMA in its fiduciary 
capacity.
    <bullet> Enabled the Veterans Administration to join in the 
pooling and sale of mortgages by FNMA and participations in 
mortgages.
    <bullet> Eliminated the statutory limit of $20,000 per 
family residence or dwelling unit on a mortgage purchased by 
FNMA in its secondary market operations.
    <bullet> Increased the authority of FNMA (under its 
secondary market operations) to make short-term loans on the 
security of insured or guaranteed mortgages to not to exceed 90 
percent (rather than 80 percent as previously provided) of the 
unpaid principal amounts of mortgages securing the loans.

Savings and Loans Associations
    <bullet> Permitted savings and loan associations to make 
loans in a 100-mile area rather than the previous 50-mile area.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a home loan made 
by a Federal savings and loan association from $35,000 to 
$40,000.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal savings and loan associations 
to invest up to 5 percent of assets in real property or 
interests in real property located in urban renewal areas and 
obligations secured by first liens on real property in such 
areas.
    <bullet> Permitted a Federal Home Loan Bank to accept as 
collateral for advances to a member nonfederally insured or 
guaranteed home mortgages with maturities of up to 30 years and 
amounts up to $40,000 (previously 25 years and $35,000).
    <bullet> Authorized Federal savings and loan associations 
to invest in general obligations of States and their political 
subdivisions and in participations or other instruments of, or 
fully guaranteed by, FNMA or any agency of the U.S.
    <bullet> Permitted Federal savings and loan associations to 
invest up to 20 percent of assets (previously 15 percent) in 
FHA-insured property and home improvement loans, VA- insured 
and guaranteed loans, and other loans for property alteration 
repair, or improvement. Increased the maximum amount of any 
such loan which was not insured or guaranteed by FHA or VA from 
$3,500 to $5,000.
    <bullet> Permitted Federally-controlled public funds and 
funds of Federal corporations to be invested in insured 
accounts held by savings and loan associations.

           Federal Development Planning Committee for Alaska

                (Executive Order 11182, October 2, 1964)

    <bullet> Established the Federal Field Committee for 
Development Planning in Alaska with the Housing and Home 
Finance Administrator a member of the Committee.
    <bullet> Directed the Committee to develop coordinated 
plans for Federal programs which contribute to economic and 
resources development in Alaska.

                   The Foreign Assistance Act of 1964

                  (Public Law 88-633, October 7, 1964)

    <bullet> Increased the ceiling on Latin American housing 
guarantees from $150 million to $250 million.

                Presidential State of the Union Message

                    (H. Doc. 89-1, January 4, 1965)

    <bullet> Recommended, among other things, establishment of 
a Department of Housing and Urban Development.

                         Relocation Assistance

  (Report of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, 
                             January 1965)

    <bullet> Entitled ``Relocation: Unequal Treatment of People 
and Business.''
    <bullet> Recommended a uniform policy of relocation 
payments and advisory assistance for persons and businesses 
displaced by grant-in-aid or direct Federal programs.

          Delegation of Functions to the Housing Administrator

               (Executive Order 11196, February 2, 1965)

    <bullet> Delegated to the Housing and Home Finance 
Administrator functions relating to public housing, and the 
Alaska Omnibus Act. (The provisions of this Order supersede the 
following: Part III of EO 10530, May 10, 1954; EO 10573, 
October 26, 1954; EO 10852, November 27, 1959; portions of EO 
11184 (October 13, 1964) which amend EO 10530.)

                   Presidential Message on the Cities

                     (H. Doc. 89-99, March 2, 1965)

Proposals:
    <bullet> Establishment of a Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
    <bullet> A program of matching grants to local governments 
for building new basic community facilities, contingent upon 
comprehensive area-wide planning for future growth.
    <bullet> A program for financial assistance to help in 
advance acquisition of land.
    <bullet> A program of Federally-insured private loans 
backed by Federal mortgage purchases where necessary to finance 
the acquisition and development of land for entire new 
communities and planned subdivisions.
    <bullet> Establishment of an Institute of Urban Development 
as part of the new Department, to help support training of 
local officials in a wide range of administrative and program 
skills; administer grants to States and cities for studies and 
the other basic research and support research aimed especially 
at reducing the costs of building and home construction through 
the development of new technology.
    <bullet> Establishment of a Temporary National Commission 
on Codes, Zoning, Taxation and Development Standards.
    <bullet> Emphasis on relocation and rehabilitation by:
          (1) providing rent supplement assistance to those 
        forced out of their homes by code enforcement and all 
        forms of Federally-assisted government action from 
        highways to urban renewal;
          (2) using both urban renewal funds and public housing 
        funds to rehabilitate existing housing and make it 
        available to low and moderate income families;
          (3) emphasizing residential construction and 
        rehabilitation on a neighborhood-wide scale in the 
        urban renewal program.
    <bullet> Continuation of the public housing program with 
authorization enough to permit an increase in the number of new 
units as well as to conduct a program of rehabilitation.
    <bullet> Continuation at the rate of 40,000 additional 
units for FY 1966 of the program of below-market interest rate 
mortgage benefits for housing for moderate-income families.
    <bullet> Continued support for the college housing program.
    <bullet> Increasing the urban renewal program to a level of 
$750 million a year by 1968, with the requirement that every 
city of 50,000 or more have a community renewal program as a 
condition of additional Federal help for urban renewal.
    <bullet> A new program of matching grants to help local 
governments build multipurpose neighborhood centers for health 
and recreational and community activities.
    <bullet> Changes in the open space program broadening its 
authority to help local governments acquire and clear areas to 
create small parks and squares, malls and playgrounds.
    <bullet> Special grants to cities for landscaping, the 
planting of trees, the improvement of city parks, and other 
measures.

              Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965

                    (Public Law 89-4, March 9, 1965)

    <bullet> Established the Appalachian Regional Commission to 
develop and coordinate plans for the economic development of 
the Appalachian area and to establish a framework for joint 
Federal-State efforts toward meeting the area's special 
problems.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretaries of Commerce, HEW and 
Agriculture, respectively, to carry out grant programs in the 
region in support of such various public facilities and 
activities as highways and access roads, health facilities, and 
programs of land development, conservation and management.
    <bullet> Made the Commission and participating States 
eligible for urban planning grants from the Housing and Home 
Finance Administrator.
    <bullet> Authorized supplemental Federal grants for 
programs for construction or equipment of facilities and the 
acquisition of land under the Water Pollution Control Act, 
Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963, and the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund Act of 1965, among others.
    <bullet> Authorized grants for administrative expenses of 
local development districts and for research and demonstration 
projects furthering purposes of the Act.

                            Disaster Relief

                   (Public Law 89-41, June 17, 1965)

    <bullet> Provided disaster assistance to the Northwest area 
for the reconstruction of areas damaged by floods late in 1964 
and early in 1965.
    <bullet> Extended the maximum maturity of a disaster loan 
by the Small Business Administration for the replacement, 
reconstruction, or repair of a dwelling from 20 years to 30 
years, effective until June 30, 1966.

                    Amendment to Small Business Act

                   (Public Law 89-59, June 30, 1965)

    <bullet> Extended from 20 years to 30 years the maximum 
maturity of Small Business Administration 3 percent disaster 
loans to rebuild homes and business establishments.

                        National Housing Council

               (Reorganization Plan No. 4, July 27, 1965)

    <bullet> Abolished the National Housing Council and 
transferred its functions to the President.

               Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965

                  (Public Law 89-117, August 10, 1965)

Rent Supplements
    <bullet> Authorized a new program of rent supplement 
payments to help make certain privately-owned housing available 
to low-income individuals and families who were elderly, 
handicapped, displaced by governmental action, occupants of 
substandard housing, or occupants or former occupants of 
dwellings damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster subsequent 
to April 1, 1965.
    <bullet> Limited assistance to tenants whose income did not 
exceed the maximum amount permitted in the area for occupancy 
of low-rent public housing.
    <bullet> Limited rent supplement payments to the amount by 
which the fair market rental for the unit exceeded one-fourth 
of the tenant's income. (Payments were reduced as the income of 
the tenant increased. When the tenant could pay the full rent 
he could continue to occupy the unit.)
    <bullet> Limited payments to the owner of the housing to an 
amount specified in the contract with the Housing Administrator 
for a period of not more than 40 years.
    <bullet> Authorized, subject to appropriation, a total of 
$150 million by July 1, 1968; payments could not exceed $30 
million before July 1, 1966, and this amount was increased by 
$35 million on July 1, 1966, $40 million on July 1, 1967, and 
$45 million on July 1, 1968.
    <bullet> Made available on an experimental basis: (1) 5 
percent of the funds approved for rent supplements, for housing 
financed with FHA-insured mortgages under the below- market 
interest rate program; and (2) 5 percent for housing for the 
elderly financed with a direct Federal loan or under the FHA 
mortgage insurance program for rental housing for the elderly.
Amendment of FHA Sec. 221 Program for Low- or Moderate-Income Housing
    <bullet> Reduced the interest rate ceiling on the below-
market interest rate mortgages to 3 percent (previously 4 
percent).

Low-Rent Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorized contracts for assistance to 
approximately 240,000 additional low-rent public housing units 
over the next four years.
    <bullet> Permitted the public housing program to use 
existing housing through purchase, purchase and rehabilitation, 
or leasing (Section 23).
    <bullet> Raised the ceiling on the construction and 
equipment cost per room from $2,000 to $2,400 with 
corresponding increases in the special cost limits for Alaska 
and dwelling units designed specifically for the elderly.

Direct Loans for Housing for the Elderly or Handicapped
    <bullet> Increased the limit on appropriations for Federal 
loans for housing for the elderly or handicapped from $350 
million to $500 million.
    <bullet> Reduced the interest rate on the loans to a 
maximum of 3 percent (previously 4 percent).

Rehabilitation Grants
    <bullet> Authorized rehabilitation grants to be made to 
owner-occupants of homes in urban renewal areas and Federally-
assisted code enforcement areas for repairs required to make 
the homes conform to applicable codes or urban renewal plan 
requirements. Where the homeowner's income was not over $3,000 
a year the grant could be up to the lesser of $1,500 or the 
cost of the repairs. If the income was over $3,000 a year, the 
grant could not exceed that portion of the cost of repairs 
which could not be paid for with a loan which could be 
amortized along with the borrower's other monthly housing 
expense, within 25 percent of his monthly income.

Title VII--Community and Neighborhood Facilities
    <bullet> Authorized grants to local public bodies and 
agencies to finance up to 50 percent of the development cost of 
basic water and sewer facilities subject to certain planning 
requirements.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to local bodies and agencies to 
finance neighborhood facilities, such as community centers, 
youth centers, health stations, and other public buildings to 
provide health or recreational or social services to a 
neighborhood. Limited a grant to two-thirds of the development 
cost (except that it could be three-fourths if the project were 
located in a redevelopment area designed under the Public Works 
and Economic Development Act). Gave priority to projects that 
benefited primarily low- income families or otherwise furthered 
the objectives of the antipoverty program.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
grants to local public bodies and agencies for the advance 
acquisition of land for community facilities. A grant could not 
exceed the aggregate amount of reasonable interest charges, on 
a loan incurred to finance the acquisition of the land, for a 
period not exceeding the lesser of (1) five years from the date 
the loan was made, or (2) the period between the date the loan 
was made and the date construction of the facility began.
    <bullet> Authorized public facility loans to private 
nonprofit corporations for the construction of works for the 
storage, treatment, purification, or distribution of water or 
the construction of sewage treatment, and sewer facilities, if 
the works or facilities were needed to serve a smaller 
municipality or rural area, and there was no existing public 
body able to construct and operate the works or facilities.

Land Development
    <bullet> Authorized a new FHA mortgage insurance program as 
Title X of the National Housing Act to finance the cost of land 
development for residential and related uses. The development 
financed could include the acquisition of land and the 
installation of water and sewer lines, streets, curbs, 
sidewalks, and storm facilities.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of a mortgage to $10 million or 
50 percent of the value of the land before development plus 90 
percent of the cost of development or 75 percent of value upon 
completion of the land development.
    <bullet> Limited the maturity of a mortgage to seven years, 
or such longer maturity as the FHA deemed reasonable in the 
case of a privately owned system for water or sewerage. FHA 
could prescribe maximum interest rates, the premium charges, 
and service charges and fees.
    (Authority to make grants for water and sewer facilities 
and for neighborhood facilities was repealed, effective January 
1, 1975, in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, 
P.L. 93-383, August 22, 1974. Title X was repealed in the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, 
P.L. 101-235, December 15, 1989.)

Relief for Homeowners Unemployed as a Result of the Closing of a 
        Federal Installation
    <bullet> Authorized FHA and VA to pay, for not more than 1 
year, the principal and interest payments on FHA or VA 
mortgages where the mortgagors were unemployed as a result of 
the closing in whole or in part of a Federal installation and 
this action was the only means whereby mortgage foreclosure 
could be avoided. Required the homeowner to repay the payments 
made by either FHA or VA in accordance with the requirements of 
his agreement with the agency.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Defense to acquire 
one- or two-family dwellings situated at or near a military 
installation which was closed or partially closed after 
November 1, 1964, if he determined that there was no present 
market for the sale of the property upon reasonable terms and 
conditions and that the owner's employment at the installation 
was terminated by its closing. The purchase price paid by the 
Secretary was equal to the average price at which similar 
properties in the locality were sold prior to announcement of 
the closing.

Open-Space Land and Urban Beautification and Improvement
    <bullet> Authorized grants for the development of land for 
open-space uses in addition to the acquisition of land. Defined 
the term ``open-space uses'' to include development for park 
and recreational purposes, conservation of land and other 
natural resources, and historic or scenic purposes.
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of a grant from 
20 percent (or 30 percent where the applicant exercised open-
space responsibility for all or a substantial part of the urban 
area) to 50 percent of the total cost of land acquisition and 
its development for open- space uses.
    <bullet> Authorized the Housing Administrator to make 
grants to State and local public bodies to assist in the 
acquisition of developed land in built-up portions of urban 
areas to be cleared and developed for open- space uses, where 
open-space land could not be provided through the use of 
undeveloped land. The grants could cover 50 percent of the cost 
of land acquisition, removal of improvements, and development.
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator to make grants to 
State and local public bodies to assist in carrying out local 
programs for the greater use and enjoyment of open-space and 
other public land in urban areas (urban beautification and 
improvement) that were important to the comprehensively planned 
development of the locality. Limited the grants to not more 
than 50 percent of the amount by which the cost of the urban 
beautification and improvement exceeded the locality's usual 
expenditures for comparable activities.
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for grants under the 
open-space program by $235 million (from $75 million to $310 
million). Not more than $64 million could be used for the new 
open-space program in built-up urban areas and not more than 
$36 million could be used for the new program of urban 
beautification and improvement.

Other FHA Mortgage Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Increased the dollar limits on the amount of an 
insured mortgage (1) from $11,000 to $12,500 on a home in an 
outlying area; (2) from $20,000 to $30,000 on a home for a 
serviceman; and (3) from $2,250 to $3,000 per family unit in 
rental housing dwelling units with four or more bedrooms.
    <bullet> Decreased downpayments from 25 percent to 20 
percent on that part of the value of a home which exceeded 
$20,000 where it was financed under the regular home mortgage 
insurance program and the programs for the military, NASA and 
AEC.
    <bullet> Authorized a new mortgage insurance program for 
veterans under which a veteran could purchase a home with an 
FHA-insured mortgage with no downpayment required on the first 
$15,000 of the value of the home, a 10 percent downpayment on 
the value of the home over $15,000 but not in excess of 
$20,000, and 15 percent downpayment on the value in excess of 
$20,000.
    <bullet> Directed the FHA to adopt a uniform procedure for 
the acceptance of materials and products used in housing 
financed with FHA-insured loans. Required any material or 
product which was found technically suitable to be accepted. 
(Acceptance did not restrict the discretion of the FHA to 
determine that a structure, with respect to which a mortgage 
was executed, was economically sound or an acceptable risk.)
    <bullet> Placed FHA's mortgage insurance program for 
management-type cooperatives on a mutual basis.
    <bullet> Consolidated all of FHA's insurance funds, except 
the mutual mortgage insurance fund, into a single general 
insurance fund.
    <bullet> Authorized the FHA in its discretion, to pay 
either in cash or in debentures any insurance claim filed by 
the mortgagee under any of its programs. (The FHA was 
authorized to obtain funds for the cash payments by borrowing 
from the U.S. Treasury. Previously, payments had to be in 
debentures, except in limited cases.)
    <bullet> Prohibited FHA from insuring any mortgage which 
covered new construction if the housing was not served by a 
public or adequate community water and sewerage system where 
(1) the property was not served by a system approved by FHA 
under the new mortgage insurance program for land development, 
and (2) was situated in an area certified by appropriate local 
officials to be an area where the establishment of public or 
adequate community water and sewerage systems was economically 
feasible.

Section 220 Urban Renewal Mortgage Insurance
    <bullet> Increased the maximum amount of an FHA Section 220 
urban renewal housing mortgage where the mortgagor was not the 
occupant of the property but intended to hold it for rental 
purposes, from 85 percent of the amount an owner-occupant could 
receive to 93 percent of such amount (i.e., about 90 percent of 
value or cost).
    <bullet> Expanded the class of nondwelling facilities which 
could be included in a project financed under FHA's Section 220 
urban renewal housing program to include such nondwelling 
facilities as the FHA deemed desirable and consistent with the 
urban renewal plan, so long as the project was predominantly 
residential and the FHA found that any nondwelling facility 
included in the mortgage contributed to the economic 
feasibility of the project.

Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Increased the amount of special assistance that 
the President could authorize FNMA to provide for residential 
mortgage by $1,625 million over four years, in specified yearly 
increments.
    <bullet> Increased the President's special assistance 
authority by transferring to it special assistance authority 
provided for FHA Title III mortgages on housing for the 
military, NASA, and AEC.
    <bullet> Enabled FNMA to purchase government underwritten 
mortgages from Federal instrumentalities having authority to 
effect sales of such mortgages to FNMA.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to purchase any obligations 
offered by the Housing Agency, or any mortgages covering 
residential property offered by any Federal instrumentality.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA, under its special assistance 
authority, to purchase below-market interest rate mortgages on 
low- or moderate-income housing (insured under FHA's sec. 
221(d)(3) program) having original principal amounts exceeding 
$17,500 per dwelling unit, where the mortgages covered 
properties having the benefit of local tax abatement. The tax 
abatement had to be in an amount sufficient to keep rentals at 
the level where they would be if the mortgage amount did not 
exceed $17,500 per dwelling unit.
    <bullet> Increased the general limit per dwelling unit on 
the amount of a mortgage FNMA could purchase under its special 
assistance authority from $17,500 to $20,000 in the case of a 
mortgage financing a family residence having four or more 
bedrooms.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Increased the urban renewal grant authorization by 
$2.9 billion over the next four years.
    <bullet> Permitted 35 percent of the additional $2.9 
billion grant authority to be used in nonresidential areas for 
projects contemplating nonresidential use.
    <bullet> Required that (1) a relocation assistance program 
include information as to real estate agencies, brokers and 
boards which deal in residential or business property that 
might be appropriate for the relocating of displaced 
individuals, families, and business concerns; and (2) as a 
condition to further assistance to each urban renewal project 
involving the displacement of individuals or families, the 
local urban renewal agency present satisfactory assurance to 
the Housing Administrator (prior to displacement) that decent, 
safe, and sanitary dwellings were available for the relocation 
of the individuals or families.
    <bullet> Made not less than 10 percent of (1) the 
additional capital grant authority provided by the Act and 
subsequent laws and (2) the rehabilitation loans authority 
available for projects involving primarily code enforcement and 
rehabilitation.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to cities and counties to assist 
them in carrying out programs of concentrated code enforcement 
in deteriorating areas.
    <bullet> Limited the grants to not more than two-thirds (or 
three-fourths in the case of a city or county with a population 
of 50,000 or less) of the cost of planning and carrying out the 
programs. The grants were contingent upon the locality (1) 
having an approved workable program for community improvement, 
(2) having a satisfactory program for providing all necessary 
public improvements for the assisted areas, and (3) agreeing to 
maintain its prior level of expenditures for code enforcement 
in addition to its expenditures for planning and carrying out 
the code enforcement program to be assisted.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to cities and counties to 
finance up to two-thirds of the cost of demolishing unsafe 
structures in urban renewal areas, or, in the case of 
structures outside urban renewal areas, grants could be made if 
(1) the locality had an approved workable program for community 
improvement; (2) the demolition would be on a planned 
neighborhood basis; (3) there was in the locality a program of 
enforcement of housing and related codes; (4) the structures to 
be demolished were a serious hazard to public health or 
welfare, and (5) the local governing body determined that other 
legal procedures for remedial action had been exhausted.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations of $100 million for each 
fiscal year for low-interest rate rehabilitation loans for 
homes and business concerns in both urban renewal and code 
enforcement areas.
    <bullet> Permitted inclusion of the cost of relocating 
historic structures within an urban renewal project area as 
part of an eligible urban renewal project cost.

Condemnation and Relocation
    <bullet> As a condition of eligibility for Federal 
assistance under the low-rent public housing program, the urban 
renewal program, the urban mass transportation program, the 
public facility loans program, the open space land program, the 
programs of grants for community and neighborhood facilities, 
and the advance acquisition of land for future public 
facilities, required each applicant for assistance to satisfy 
the Housing Administrator that the following policies would be 
followed in connection with the acquisition of real property by 
eminent domain under the programs to be assisted:
          (i) The applicant will make every reasonable effort 
        to acquire the property by negotiation.
          (ii) No owner will be required to surrender 
        possession of real property before receiving the agreed 
        purchase price or, in any case where only the amount of 
        payment to the owner is in dispute, not less than 75 
        percent of the appraised fair value of the property.
          (iii) Construction of public improvements will be so 
        scheduled that no person occupying the property will be 
        required to surrender possession without at least 90 
        days written notice of the date the construction would 
        begin.
    <bullet> Made eligible for relocation payments like those 
provided under the urban renewal and public housing programs, 
families, individuals, business concerns, and nonprofit 
organizations displaced by activities assisted under the public 
facility loans program, the urban mass transportation program, 
the open space land program, and the programs of grants for 
community and neighborhood facilities and the advance 
acquisition of land for future public facilities.
    <bullet> Increased the relocation adjustment payment for 
displaced small business concerns from $1,500 to $2,500.
College Housing
    <bullet> Increased the authorization for college housing 
loans by increments of $300 million beginning July 1, in each 
of the years 1965 through 1968 a total of $1.2 million.
    <bullet> Changed the interest rate on college housing loans 
by placing a ceiling of 3 percent (or the amount derived from 
the statutory formula, if lower) on the rate. (Previously the 
rate was 3 7/8 percent.)
    <bullet> Made new colleges and certain public vocational 
and technical institutions eligible for loans.

Urban Planning Grants
    <bullet> Increased the authorization of appropriations for 
urban planning grants by $125 million. Permitted up to 5 
percent of the funds appropriated to be used for grants for 
studies, research and demonstration projects, improvement of 
techniques for planning and for advancement of urban planning 
assistance program.
    <bullet> Made organizations composed of public officials in 
metropolitan or urban regions eligible for urban planning 
grants.

Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Liberalized the authority of Federal savings and 
loan associations to make loans on college, university, or 
hospital residential facilities.
    <bullet> Permitted the associations to make loans secured 
by leaseholds where the terms of the leases were 10 years 
rather than the previous 15 years.
    <bullet> Authorized the associations to invest up to 1 
percent of the association's assets, as approved by the Federal 
Home Loan Bank Board, in certain loans for housing projects in 
Latin America which are guaranteed by the United States.

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Defined term ``rural area'' to mean any open 
country, or any place, town, village, or city which is not part 
of or associated with an urban area and which (1) has a 
population not in excess of 2,500 inhabitants; or (2) has a 
population in excess of 2,500 but not in excess of 5,500 if it 
is rural in character.
    <bullet> Increased the interest rate to 5 percent on direct 
loans for housing on farms and on nonfarm rural homesites, 
except for loans to elderly persons. (The maximum rate on loans 
to the elderly and on certain specialized loans remained at 4 
percent.)
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to charge 
fees on the loans.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
loans to farmers and rural residents for the purchase of 
previously occupied dwellings and related facilities and farm 
service buildings, and for minimum adequate building sites.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to insure 
loans, and to make loans to be sold and insured to persons of 
low- or moderate-income. Limited the interest rate to 5 
percent.
    <bullet> Limited the loans to adequate housing modest in 
size, design, and cost. To assure the marketability of the 
loans at face value and the participation of private lenders in 
the program, authorized the Secretary to insure, or to sell and 
insure, any of the loans on terms giving the insured lender or 
purchaser a specified portion of the interest earnings and an 
optional right to resell to the Secretary within an agreed 
period.
    <bullet> Authorized an aggregate of $300 million per year 
in loans described immediately above.
    <bullet> Established the Rural Housing Insurance Fund. 
Authorized the Secretary to borrow from the Treasury to meet 
loan insurance obligations and to make other authorized 
expenditures from the fund.
    <bullet> Established the Rural Housing Direct Loan Account 
and transferred certain loans and funds available from 
appropriations or Treasury borrowings for the loans to the 
Account.
National Banks
    <bullet> Authorized national banks to make FHA-insured land 
development loans, and increased the maximum maturity of 
industrial, commercial, and residential construction loans from 
18 months to 24 months.

           Independent Offices Appropriations Act for FY 1966

                  (Public Law 89-128, August 16, 1965)

    <bullet> Established annual appropriations control over 
various programs of the Housing and Home Finance Agency which 
had heretofore been carried out under contract authority or 
similar arrangements considered to constitute ``back-door 
financing.'' (In general, back-door financing may be defined as 
any grant of authority in an enabling statute which authorizes 
an Executive officer or agency to enter into contracts binding 
upon the United States to make payments in amounts or for 
purposes authorized, but prior to the inclusion of such amounts 
or purposes in an appropriation act.)
    <bullet> This was accomplished by the inclusion of language 
effectively limiting the Agency's power to make commitments to 
the cumulative amounts appropriated for such commitments, for 
new commitments under the programs of urban renewal, open space 
land grants, and low-income housing demonstration grants.

                     Foreign Assistance Act of 1965

                 (Public Law 89-171, September 6, 1965)

    <bullet> Authorized an appropriation of $210 million for 
technical cooperation and development grants, increased from 
$2.5 billion to $5 billion the ceiling on the volume of 
specific risk guaranties which could be issued, placed a 
limitation of $175 million for purposes other than housing 
projects out of the $300 million previously authorized for 
extended risk guaranties, and increased from $250 million to 
$400 million the total face amount of Latin American housing 
guaranties that could be outstanding at any one time.
    <bullet> Extended provisions expressing the sense of 
Congress on stimulating private home ownership in Latin America 
to include cooperatives, free labor unions, savings and loan 
institutions, and other private enterprise programs engaged 
directly or indirectly in the financing of home mortgages, the 
construction of homes for lower-income families, and the 
increased mobilization of savings and the improvement of 
housing conditions.

            Department of Housing and Urban Development Act

                 (Public Law 89-174, September 9, 1965)

    <bullet> Established the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, headed by a Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development. There were to be in the Department five Assistant 
Secretaries, a General Counsel, and a Director of Urban Program 
Coordination.
    <bullet> Designated one of the Assistant Secretaries to be 
the Federal Housing Commissioner, to administer departmental 
programs relating to the private mortgage market.
    <bullet> Directed the Secretary, among other 
responsibilities, to advise the President with respect to 
Federal programs and activities relating to housing and urban 
development; to develop and recommend to the President policies 
for fostering the orderly growth and development of the 
Nation's urban areas; to exercise leadership at the direction 
of the President in coordinating Federal activities affecting 
housing and urban development; to provide technical assistance 
and information (including a clearinghouse service) to aid 
State, county, town, village, or other local governments in 
developing solutions to community and metropolitan development 
problems; to consult and cooperate with State Governors and 
State agencies, including, when appropriate, holding informal 
public hearings, with respect to Federal and State programs 
which assist communities in solving community and metropolitan 
development problems and which encourage regional cooperation 
in planning and development; to encourage comprehensive 
planning by State and local governments with a view to 
coordinating Federal, State, and local urban and community 
development activities; to encourage private enterprise to 
serve as large a part of the Nation's housing and urban 
development needs as it can and to cooperate fully with private 
enterprise; and to conduct continuing studies of housing and 
urban development problems.
    <bullet> Transferred to the Secretary all the functions, 
powers, and duties of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, the 
Federal Housing Administration, and the Public Housing 
Administration, and the functions, powers, and duties of the 
heads and other officials of those agencies.
    <bullet> Transferred the Federal National Mortgage 
Association, as a corporate entity, together with its 
functions, powers, and duties, to the Department. Vested the 
Secretary of the Department with the functions, powers and 
duties of the Housing and Home Finance Administrator with 
regard to FNMA, and made him Chairman of the Board of Directors 
with power to appoint the other members of the Board.
    <bullet> Directed the President of the United States to 
undertake studies of the organization of housing and urban 
development programs within the Federal Government, and to 
provide Congress with the results of the studies, together with 
recommendations on the possible transfer of functions and 
programs to or from the Department.
    <bullet> Required the Secretary to make an annual report to 
the President for submission to the Congress on Department 
activities during the preceding calendar year.

        Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act Amendments

                  (Public Law 89-240, October 7, 1965)

    <bullet> Authorized grants, loans and loan insurance to 
assist in the development of water, waste disposal and 
recreation projects in rural areas.
    <bullet> Required comprehensive planning, and made 
provision for assistance to needy areas in preparing 
comprehensive plans.
    <bullet> Defined a rural area so as not to include any area 
in any city or town which had a population in excess of 5,500 
inhabitants.

            Southeast Hurricane Disaster Relief Act of 1965

                 (Public Law 89-339, November 8, 1965)

    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development to undertake an immediate study of alternative 
programs which could be established to help provide financial 
assistance to persons suffering property losses in flood and 
other natural disasters, including alternative methods of 
Federal disaster insurance in addition to the existing flood 
insurance program.

        Presidential Message on Demonstration Cities Act of 1966

                   (H. Doc. 89-368, January 26, 1966)

Proposals
    <bullet> A new demonstration cities program, in which 
special supplementary grants would be used to encourage 
selected cities of various sizes to undertake coordinated 
programs utilizing all forms of assistance for housing, 
renewal, transportation, education, welfare, economic 
opportunity and related problems, and emphasizing social 
services as well as improvements to the physical environment.
    <bullet> A program of demonstrations of effective 
comprehensive planning for metropolitan areas. Legislation to 
bar racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.
    <bullet> Improvements in authorizing legislation for 
assistance to developers of new communities.
    <bullet> Continued funding and authorization for various 
existing housing and community development programs.

                      Presidential Economic Report

                   (H. Doc. 89-348, January 27, 1966)

    <bullet> Recommended legislation to give regulatory 
agencies a wider range of effective enforcement remedies; 
strengthen statutory provisions dealing with savings and loan 
holding companies; increase the maximum amount of insurance 
coverage for bank deposits and savings and loan accounts; 
provide safeguards against conflicts of interest in the 
management of these institutions; make regulations applicable 
to various types of institutions as parallel as possible; and 
provide for Federal chartering of mutual savings banks.

                   Presidential Civil Rights Message

            (Congressional Record, p. 9390, April 28, 1966)

    <bullet> Asked the Congress, among other things, to declare 
a national policy against racial discrimination in the sale or 
rental of housing and create effective remedies against such 
discrimination.

          President's Council on Recreation and Natural Beauty

                  (Executive Order 11278, May , 1966)

    <bullet> Established the Council to review plans and 
programs of Federal agencies for or affecting outdoor 
recreation and natural beauty, conduct studies in those fields, 
and accomplish effective coordination in the fields. Designated 
the Secretary of HUD as a member.

 Substantive Provisions in Second Supplemental Appropriation Act, 1966

                   (Public Law 89-426, May 13, 1966)

    <bullet> Required that to receive rent supplements a 
project must be either part of a workable program for community 
improvement or have local official approval for participation 
in the program.

                    Participation Sales Act of 1966

                   (Public Law 89-429, May 24, 1966)

    <bullet> Authorized FNMA, as trustee, to sell certificates 
of participation in pools of mortgages or other types of 
obligations offered to it by the Farmers Home Administration, 
the Office of Education, the Export Import Bank, and the Small 
Business Administration. (FNMA had previously been given this 
authority with respect to obligations owned by the Department 
of Housing and Urban Development and the Veterans' 
Administration and FNMA.)
    <bullet> Reduced the authority of FNMA to purchase 
mortgages under its special assistance program by $450 million. 
Reduced the authority for college housing loans by $300 
million. (These reductions were said to be made possible by the 
increased sales of participations certificates in existing 
loans.)
    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct 
a study on the feasibility, advantages, and disadvantages of 
direct loan programs compared to guaranty or insured loan 
programs, and report his findings to Congress within six months 
after the effective date of the Act.

                      Evaluation of Flood Hazards

                (Executive Order 11296, August 10, 1966)

    <bullet> Directed Federal agencies to provide leadership in 
encouraging a broad effort to prevent uneconomic uses and 
development of the Nation's flood plains and, in particular, to 
lessen the risk of flood losses in connection with Federal 
lands and installations and Federally-financed or supported 
improvements.
    <bullet> Directed all agencies responsible for programs 
which entailed land use planning to take flood hazards into 
account when evaluating plans.

          Amendments to Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964

                 (Public Law 89-562, September 8, 1966)

    <bullet> Authorized grants to States and local public 
bodies and agencies for the planning, engineering and designing 
of urban mass transportation projects and for other technical 
studies to be included in a program for a unified or officially 
coordinated urban transportation system as a part of the 
comprehensively planned development of the urban area.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to States, local bodies and 
agencies to provide fellowships for training of personnel 
employed in the urban mass transportation field.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to public and private nonprofit 
institutions of higher learning to assist in establishing or 
carrying on comprehensive research in the problems of 
transportation in urban areas. Directed the Secretary of HUD to 
undertake a project to prepare a program of research, 
development and demonstration of new systems of urban 
transportation to carry people and goods within metropolitan 
areas speedily, safely, without polluting the air, and in a 
manner that would contribute to sound city planning.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                (Public Law 89-566, September 10, 1966)

    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to issue debentures up to 15 times 
its capital instead of the previous authority of 10 times. 
(This added about $2 billion in new purchasing authority to 
FNMA.)
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA, under its special assistance 
program, to purchase $1 billion of FHA and VA mortgages with 
principal obligations not exceeding $15,000, except that this 
amount could be increased to $17,500 ($22,500 in Alaska, Guam, 
or Hawaii) in high-cost areas as determined by the Secretary of 
HUD. For this purpose, transferred $500 million from the 
existing FNMA special assistance authority, and provided $500 
million of new authority. Use of the funds was to be limited to 
the purchase of mortgages on new construction.

                     Foreign Assistance Act of 1966

                (Public Law 89-583, September 19, 1966)

    <bullet> Raised the limit on volume of specific foreign 
housing investment risk guaranties from $5 to $7 billion; 
increased the amount authorized for extended risk guaranties 
from $300 million to $375 million; and earmarked $160 million 
of the total extended risk authority for use solely for housing 
projects.
    <bullet> Prescribed a minimum rate of interest that the 
Administrator of AID could allow eligible U.S. investors to 
earn on loan investments for housing, and granted authority to 
allow not to exceed 1 percent above the current FHA rate if 
found necessary.
    <bullet> Raised the ceiling on the total face amount of 
outstanding Latin American housing guaranties from $400 million 
to $450 million. $300 million of this total could be used only 
for pilot or demonstration housing projects.
    <bullet> Extended the termination date for Latin American 
housing projects guaranty authority from June 30, 1967 to June 
30, 1969.
    <bullet> Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development 
Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-754, November 4, 1966)
Comprehensive City Demonstration Programs
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide grants and technical 
assistance to help communities of all sizes to plan, develop, 
and carry out comprehensive city demonstration programs. These 
were to be locally prepared programs for rebuilding or 
restoring entire sections and neighborhoods of slum and 
blighted areas by the concentrated and coordinated use of all 
available Federal aids together with local, private, and 
governmental resources.
    <bullet> Authorized grants and technical assistance for 
planning city demonstration programs, to a city demonstration 
agency, which could be a city, county, or any local public 
agency established or designated by the local governing body to 
administer the comprehensive city demonstration program. The 
grants could cover up to 80 percent of the cost of planning and 
developing a program. Authorized $12 million for each of FYs 
1967 and 1968.
    <bullet> Required the applications for assistance to plan 
demonstration programs to show in broad and general terms the 
nature and seriousness of the city's problems and the outlines 
of what the city proposed to do, and to be approved by the 
local governing body.
    <bullet> Required a city's demonstration program to be 
designed to (1) renew entire slum neighborhoods by combined use 
of physical and social development programs; (2) increase 
substantially the supply of standard housing of low and 
moderate cost; (3) make marked progress in reducing social and 
educational disadvantages, ill health, underemployment and 
enforced idleness; and (4) contribute toward a well-balanced 
city.
    <bullet> Made two types of Federal assistance available to 
help finance projects or activities included in approved 
comprehensive city demonstration programs:
          (1) To the extent the projects or activities were 
        eligible for assistance under an existing Federal 
        grant-in-aid program, they would be financed under that 
        program.
          (2) Special grants, supplementing the assistance 
        available under existing grant-in-aid programs, would 
        be provided for the demonstration cities programs. A 
        supplemental grant could be up to 80 percent of the 
        total non-Federal contributions required to be made to 
        all projects or activities assisted by existing Federal 
        grant-in-aid programs which were part of the 
        demonstration cities programs.
    <bullet> Authorized $400 million for FY 1968 and $500 
million for FY 1969.
    <bullet> Authorized an additional $250 million in grant 
authority for urban renewal projects which were part of 
approved comprehensive city demonstration programs. (Authority 
to enter into contracts under this program was repealed, 
effective January 1, 1976, by the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1974, P.L. 93-383, August 22, 1974.)

Planned Metropolitan Development
    <bullet> As an incentive to coordinated planned 
metropolitan development, authorized HUD to make supplemental 
grants to State and local public bodies and agencies for up to 
20 percent of the cost of projects receiving aid under certain 
specified Federal programs in metropolitan areas where 
development was being carried out in accordance with their own 
metropolitan planning and programming. The additional or 
supplemental grant could not exceed (1) 20 percent of the cost 
of the project for which it was made, nor (2) the grant which 
was being supplemented. In addition, the total Federal 
contributions to a project could not exceed 80 percent.
    <bullet> Required that after June 30, 1967, all 
applications for Federal assistance for projects for which 
supplemental grants could be provided be submitted to a 
metropolitan or regional planning agency for review. Required 
that it be accompanied by comments of the planning agency 
concerning the extent to which the project was consistent with 
the comprehensive planning developed or in process for the area 
and the extent to which the project contributed to fulfillment 
of the planning.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to call upon other Federal agencies 
to cooperate in insuring that all the Federal programs related 
to metropolitan development were carried out in a coordinated 
manner.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, upon the request of local 
officials of the central city in any metropolitan area, and 
after consultation with local governmental authorities in the 
area, to appoint a metropolitan expediter for the area. The 
expediter was to provide information, data, and assistance with 
respect to programs and activities conducted in the area by 
HUD, and with respect to other public and private activities 
and needs in the area relating to those programs and 
activities.

FHA Insurance Programs
  New Communities (Title X)
    <bullet> Broadened the FHA mortgage insurance program for 
land development to permit the financing of ``new communities'' 
with FHA-insured mortgages.
  Insurance for Group Practice Facilities (Title XI)
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages made by private 
nonprofit corporations to finance the construction or 
rehabilitation of facilities for group practice of medicine, 
optometry or dentistry, particularly in small communities. The 
mortgages could also finance equipment of the facilities. Both 
profit making and nonprofit groups could utilize the 
facilities.
  Veterans
    <bullet> Made the special mortgage insurance program which 
permitted veterans to purchase homes with FHA-insured mortgages 
and low downpayments available to any veteran without regard to 
whether the veteran had previously received a VA loan or loan 
guarantee.
  New Sales Housing Program for Low-Income Families
    <bullet> Authorized a limited new FHA mortgage insurance 
program (Section 221(h)) of sales housing for low-income 
families financed with below- market interest rate insured 
mortgages. Made private nonprofit organizations eligible for 
insured mortgages at not more than 3 percent interest to 
finance the purchase and rehabilitation of substandard housing 
(not less than five units) for resale to low-income purchasers.
    <bullet> Required the purchaser to pay at least $200 down 
which could be applied to closing costs.
  Areas Affected by Civil Disorders
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure housing mortgages under 
its regular Section 203 sales housing program on the basis of 
acceptable risk rather than economic soundness if it was 
determined that the housing was located in an area or areas 
where rioting or other civil disorders had occurred or were 
threatened, and there was a need for low- and moderate-income 
housing in the area.
  Cooperative Housing
    <bullet> Permitted FHA to insure supplementary loans 
financing improvements and community facilities provided in 
connection with existing FHA-insured cooperative housing, with 
amounts up to 97 percent of the value of the improvements and 
facilities, even though financing to that extent would increase 
the mortgage indebtedness above the original mortgage amount 
(but not above the statutory limits).
  Urban Renewal Housing
    <bullet> Amended the FHA Section 220 urban renewal housing 
mortgage insurance program by lowering the required 
downpayments on sales housing, extending to the sales housing 
program a special liberalized loan-to-replacement-cost ratio 
for veterans, and increasing the mortgage limitations for small 
projects containing large family dwelling units.
  Section 221 Program for Low- and Moderate-Income and Displaced 
        Families
    <bullet> Raised the dollar limits on mortgages under the 
FHA 221(d)(2) housing program for low- and moderate-income and 
displaced families.
    <bullet> Broadened the class of nondwelling facilities 
which could be included in a project in an urban renewal area 
covered by a Section 221 mortgage where the mortgagor waived 
his right to make a profit on any such facilities.
  Land Development
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of an FHA-insured 
mortgage for land development from $10 to $25 million.
Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to purchase under its special 
assistance program FHA-insured mortgages financing new 
communities and the below- market Section 221(h) insured 
mortgages on sales housing for low- income families.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to participate (up to 95 percent) 
in making FHA-insured advances during construction on FHA-
insured mortgages financing cooperative housing, nonprofit and 
limited dividend Section 221(d)(3) housing for low-income 
families and Section 220 urban renewal housing.

Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Required that the redevelopment of an urban 
renewal area, unless it was for predominantly nonresidential 
uses, must provide a substantial number of units of standard 
housing of low and moderate cost and result in marked progress 
in serving the poor and disadvantaged people living in slum and 
blighted areas.
    <bullet> For the purpose of computing local grants-in-aid 
to an urban renewal project, a publicly owned facility which 
was begun not earlier than three years prior to enactment of 
this Act was to be deemed to benefit an urban renewal project 
to the extent of 25 percent of the total benefits of the 
facility or $3,500,000, whichever is less, if the facility:
          (1) is used by the public for cultural, exhibition, 
        or civic purposes, is a city hall or a public safety 
        building, or is constructed or rehabilitated by a 
        public university and devoted to the treatment of 
        physical or mental disabilities and illness or to 
        medical research;
          (2) is located within, adjacent to, or in the 
        immediate vicinity of the urban renewal project;
          (3) is found to contribute materially to the 
        objectives of the urban renewal plan; and
          (4) is not otherwise eligible as a local grant-in-
        aid.
    <bullet> Authorized capital grant assistance to be provided 
on a three-fourths (rather than on the usual two-thirds) basis 
to urban renewal projects in areas designated as 
``redevelopment areas'' under the Public Works and Economic 
Development Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-136, August 26, 1965).

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Authorized loans under Title V of the Housing Act 
of 1949 (P.L. 81-171) for the purchase of newly built homes.
    <bullet> Permitted the Secretary of Agriculture to accept a 
comaker in the case of any applicant for a rural housing loan 
who is deficient in repayment ability. (Previously comakers 
were permitted only in the case of loans to the elderly.)
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a loan, grant, 
or combined loan and grant for repairs and improvements to 
owner-occupied dwellings or farm service buildings from $1,000 
to $1,500. Authorized loans to be made under the rental housing 
program for the elderly for housing for low-income rural 
nonelderly.
    <bullet> Made cooperative housing eligible for direct or 
insured rural housing loans. (Previously, loans could be made 
to consumer cooperatives but only for rental housing.)
    <bullet> Made insured rural housing loans available for 
housing for moderate- income nonelderly persons as well as for 
the rural elderly.
    <bullet> Removed the previous $300 million annual ceiling 
on new loans insured for families with low or moderate incomes 
and substituted an expiration date of October 1, 1969.
    <bullet> Authorized financial assistance for refinancing of 
rural housing and essential farm service buildings.

Alaska Housing
    <bullet> Authorized appropriation of $10 million for loans 
and grants to the State of Alaska to assist in the provision of 
housing and related facilities in accordance with a Statewide 
program, for Alaskan Natives and other Alaska residents 
otherwise not able to afford such housing.

Revisions of State Statutes
    <bullet> Authorized grants to be made under the urban 
planning program to be used to assist in studies and research 
on needed revisions of State statutes which create, govern or 
control local governmental operations.

Urban Information and Technical Services
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make matching grants to States 
to help finance programs to provide small communities (less 
than 100,000 population) with information and data on urban 
needs and assistance activities and technical assistance with 
respect to solution of local problems.

Technology
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to encourage and assist the housing 
industry to reduce the cost and improve the quality of housing 
by the application to housing and urban development of advances 
in technology, and to encourage and assist the application of 
advances in technology to urban development activities.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations of $5 million for FY 
1967 and $10 million for FY 1968 for the program, including 
research and studies.

Urban Environmental Studies
    <bullet> Directed HUD to carry out a comprehensive program 
of studies, surveys, research, and analyses to document and 
define urban environmental factors which must be controlled or 
eliminated, to establish a coordinated system of collecting and 
receiving information and data on urban ecological research and 
evaluations, and evaluating, disseminating, and utilizing 
information and data on urban ecological research.

Housing at or near Military Bases
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Defense (1) to acquire 
housing situated at or near a military installation which had 
been ordered to be closed where the housing was owned by a 
serviceman or other Federal employee whose employment or 
service was to be terminated by the closing, and (2) as an 
alternative, to make cash payments. (Section 108 of the Housing 
Act of 1965, which this provision replaced, was repealed.)

Preservation of Historic Structures
    <bullet> Provided that the acquisition and restoration of 
real property within an urban renewal area to promote historic 
and architectural preservation could, where necessary for that 
purpose, be an urban renewal project activity, and that the 
relocation (within or outside a project area) and restoration 
of properties of historic or architectural value would also be 
eligible as urban renewal project activities.
    <bullet> Authorized local grant-in-aid credit under the 
urban renewal program for assistance provided by a public body 
in relocation and restoration activities related to properties 
of architectural or historic value.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make grants in amounts up to 
$90,000 per structure, to the National Trust for Historic 
Preservation to cover the cost of restoring structures of 
historic or architectural value which the Trust would maintain 
for historic purposes. Authorized appropriations for the 
grants. Authorized HUD to make urban planning grants for 
surveys of historic structures and sites. In addition, 
authorized grants to be made under the open space land and 
urban beautification programs for historic preservation.

                      Disaster Relief Act of 1966

                 (Public Law 89-769, November 6, 1966)

    <bullet> Authorized HUD to refinance loans when necessary 
because of the loss, destruction or damage to property securing 
the loans as the result of a major disaster. The interest rates 
could be reduced and the maturities extended.
    <bullet> Made the FHA Section 221 mortgage insurance 
program for displaced low-income families available to disaster 
victims.
    <bullet> Amended the Consolidated Farmers Home 
Administration Act of 1961 (Title VIII, P.L. 87-70) to permit 
loans or insured loans for the acquisition, construction, 
improvement, replacement, or extension of waste disposal 
systems and other public facilities to associations, public, 
quasi-public, and nonprofit corporations providing community 
services in rural areas when the services were needed to 
rebuild a community. Authorized 50 percent construction grants 
for waste disposal systems, water systems, and other public 
facilities if the user charges to repay a loan would need to be 
beyond the ability of the majority of the users to pay, and if 
these charges would be above average for comparable communities 
in the State.
    <bullet> Required priority to be given to disaster areas 
making application for assistance under the public facilities 
loan programs and public housing programs of the Department of 
HUD.

      Correcting Amendments of Housing and Urban Development Laws

                    (Public Law 90-19, May 25, 1967)

    <bullet> Amended the various housing and urban development 
laws to correct references and provisions made obsolete by the 
creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

  Amendments to Appalachian Regional Development Act and Public Works 
                            Development Act

                 (Public Law 90-103, October 11, 1967)

Title I. Amendments to Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 
        (P.L. 89-4)
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make grants and loans to 
nonprofit, limited dividend or cooperative organizations, or to 
public bodies for the expenses of planning and of obtaining an 
insured mortgage for a housing construction or rehabilitation 
project under the FHA Section 221 program for low-income 
families in any area of the Appalachian Region determined to 
have significant potential for future growth.
    <bullet> Established the Appalachian revolving housing fund 
and authorized $5 million to be appropriated for the purpose of 
the program.
    <bullet> Projects were to be submitted by the States and 
approved by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
    <bullet> Authorized $6 million for grants for the FYs 1968 
and 1969 for construction of sewage treatment facilities in the 
Appalachian area.
    <bullet> Made comprehensive planning local development 
districts eligible for comprehensive planning grants by HUD.
    <bullet> To increase the Federal contribution to projects 
in the area under Federal grant-in-aid programs, authorized 
supplemental grants to be made for the construction or 
equipment of facilities and the acquisition of land.

Title II--Amendments to the Public Works and Economic Development Act 
        of 1965 (P.L. 89- 136)
    <bullet> Permitted supplemental Federal grants-in-aid in 
economic development regions established under that Act to 
increase the Federal contributions to Federally-aided 
construction or equipment of facilities,or the acquisition of 
land.

  Substantive Provisions in Department of HUD Appropriation Act, 1968

                 (Public Law 90-121, November 3, 1967)

    <bullet> Open space grants could not exceed 50 percent of 
eligible cost.
    <bullet> No funds in the appropriation act could be used 
for metropolitan expediters authorized in Section 203 of the 
Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 
(P.L. 89-754, November 4, 1966).
    <bullet> No funds in the appropriation act could be used 
for the implementation or administration of Section 204 of the 
act cited above. (These three provisos continued in 
appropriation acts through FY year 1971.)

              Amendments to Foreign Assistance Act of 1965

                 (Public Law 90-137, November 14, 967)

    <bullet> Raised the ceiling on extended risk coverage under 
the program for guarantees of American investment in developing 
countries to $475 million for other than housing projects, and 
the ceiling on guarantees of investment in housing to $315 
million.

              Presidential Announcement, December 6, 1967

    <bullet> Announced an intention to form an Institute for 
Urban Development, objectives of which were:
          (1) to build a continuing analytical capacity to 
        study complex urban problems as a whole, including 
        their relationship to Federal, State, and local 
        institutions, organizations, policies and programs;
          (2) to get necessary data and conduct long-range 
        studies based on the data;
          (3) to bring together a wide variety of disciplines, 
        for example, architects, administrators, builders, 
        scientists, economists, social organizations and city 
        planners; and
          (4) to provide an independent and objective review 
        and evaluation of the nation's urban problems and 
        programs.

             Amendments to Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

                 (Public Law 90-222, December 23, 1967)

    <bullet> Directed HUD to take all necessary steps under the 
urban renewal program to assure that land for business location 
and expansion purposes was made available for ``special impact 
programs'' directed to the solution of critical problems in 
urban areas having especially large concentrations of low-
income persons.
    <bullet> Directed each community action agency to encourage 
the establishment of housing development and service 
organizations designed to focus on the housing needs of low-
income families and individuals. Directed the organizations to 
provide the technical, administrative, and financial assistance 
required to help those persons to utilize existing programs and 
to enable sponsors to take advantage of existing mortgage 
insurance and housing assistance programs. Where appropriate, 
the organizations could be nonprofit housing development 
corporations. The corporations could themselves become sponsors 
of housing under existing housing program. They were required 
to coordinate their programs with other community action 
programs.

              Coordination of Federal Regional Activities

               (Executive Order 11386, December 28, 1967)

    <bullet> Prescribed arrangements for coordination of the 
activities of regional commissions and activities of the 
Federal Government relating to regional economic development.
    <bullet> Established the Federal Advisory Council on 
Regional Economic Development, with the Secretary of HUD a 
member.

                Presidential State of the Union Message

                   (H. Doc. 90-211, January 17, 1968)

    <bullet> Proposed for the consideration of Congress a 10-
year campaign to build six million new housings units for low- 
and middle-income families.

                      Presidential Budget Message

                   (H. Doc. 90-225, January 29, 1968)

    <bullet> Repeated the recommendation for a program to 
produce six million housing units for low- and middle-income 
families over a 10-year period.
    <bullet> Requested administrative authority to lift the FHA 
and VA interest rate ceilings.
    <bullet> Proposed orderly transfer of ownership of the 
government's secondary market activities into private hands.

                          Presidential Message

                  (H. Doc. 90-262, February 26, 1968)

    <bullet> Proposed a national goal of producing 26 million 
units over a 10-year period, including six million for 
replacement of substandard housing.
    Made a number of substantive new recommendations, 
including:
    <bullet> Interest subsidy programs, with the government 
paying the cost of mortgage interest in excess of one percent 
(to the extent necessary) to provide home ownership or repairs 
reasonably within the means of the poor, the elderly, the 
handicapped, the displaced, and moderate-income families; and 
similarly, to provide rental housing for low- and moderate- 
income families;
    <bullet> Legislation to transfer the secondary market 
functions of FNMA to private ownership and management;
    <bullet> Authorization of a new form of obligation to be 
backed by Federally-insured or guaranteed mortgages, intended 
to attract funds from retirement and trust funds and similar 
sources of capital not ordinarily available for housing 
mortgages;
    <bullet> Establishment of a national housing partnership 
(as proposed by the Kaiser Commission) to encourage private 
housing undertakings through pooling of risks and various tax 
advantages;
    <bullet> Provision of technical assistance to non-profit 
sponsors active in Federally-assisted housing programs;
    <bullet> Grants for improved tenant services in low-rent 
public housing;
    <bullet> Initiation of a Federal system of reinsurance 
against the risks of civil disorders, to encourage availability 
of private insurance against such risks (commonly called ``riot 
insurance'');
    <bullet> A program of incentive grants to stimulate 
comprehensive planning in connection with Federally- assisted 
local public works projects; and
    <bullet> Transfer (by Presidential Reorganization Plan) of 
the program of grants and loans for urban mass transportation 
from HUD to the Department of Transportation.

                    Presidential Reorganization Plan

                 (House Doc. 90-262, February 26, 1968)

    <bullet> Proposed reorganization, which would have the 
effect of transferring to a new Urban Mass Transportation 
Administration in the Department of Transportation the 
functions of HUD relating to mass transportation project 
assistance through loans and grants and related development 
activities.
    <bullet> Proposed to leave with HUD responsibility for 
certain enumerated research and comprehensive planning 
functions having significant impact on urban development.

                        Civil Rights Act of 1968

                  (Public Law 90-284, April 11, 1968)

    <bullet> Made it unlawful (1) to refuse to sell or rent or 
make unavailable or deny a dwelling to any person because of 
race, color, religion, or national origin, and (2) to 
discriminate against any person in the sale or rental of a 
dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in 
connection therewith because of race, color, religion, or 
national origin.
    <bullet> Made it unlawful for any bank, building and loan 
association, insurance company, or other corporation, 
association, firm or enterprise whose business consisted of 
making real estate loans to deny a loan or other financial 
assistance for the purchase, construction, improvement, repair 
or maintenance of a dwelling because of the race, color, 
religion, or national origin of the borrower or persons with 
whom he was associated.
    <bullet> Made HUD responsible for administering the Fair 
Housing provisions, and provided an additional Assistant 
Secretary.
    <bullet> Included criminal provisions to prevent 
intimidation in Fair Housing cases and with respect to riots 
and civil disorders.

                   Amendments to National Housing Act

                    (Public Law 90-301, May 7, 1968)

    <bullet> Authorized HUD, in consultation with the Veterans 
Administration, to set the maximum interest rates for the FHA 
mortgage insurance programs on sales housing at such rates as 
it found necessary to meet the mortgage market.
    <bullet> Raised the statutory maximum interest rate for the 
FHA Section 207 rental housing program, Section 213 cooperative 
housing program, the Section 231 program for housing for the 
elderly or handicapped, and the Section 214 program for 
condominiums to 6 percent.
    <bullet> Established the Commission to Study Mortgage 
Interest Rates. Membership included representatives of the 
House and Senate Committees on Banking and Currency, and 
Veterans Affairs, and appointees by the President and the 
Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. The 
Secretary of HUD was to designate the Executive Director of the 
Commission. (Report was issued August 13, 1969)

                          Truth in Lending Act

                   (Public Law 90-321, May 29, 1968)

    <bullet> Required full disclosure of the terms and 
conditions of finance charges in credit transactions or in 
offers to extend credit, including home mortgages and repair or 
modernization loans.

                  Urban Mass Transportation Functions

           (Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1968, June 30, 1968)

    <bullet> Transferred to the Secretary of Transportation 
certain urban mass transportation functions of the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development, and established within the 
Department of Transportation the Urban Mass Transportation 
Administration.

               Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968

                  (Public Law 90-448, August 1, 1968)

Declaration of Policy
    <bullet> Affirmed the national goal of ``a decent home and 
a suitable living environment for every American family'' and 
stated that there should be the fullest practicable 
utilization, in the Federal housing programs, of private 
enterprise and self-help techniques.
Housing for Lower-Income Families
  Homeownership: Sections 235 and 221(h)
    <bullet> Established the Section 235 program (of the 
National Housing Act) to provide Federal assistance to 
homeownership by lower-income families. Under the program, HUD 
could enter into contracts with lenders who make FHA-insured 
home mortgage loans to these families, to make periodic 
payments to the lenders in the amount necessary to make up the 
difference between 20 percent of the family's monthly income 
and the required monthly payment under the mortgage for 
principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance 
premium. In no case, however, could the payment on a mortgage 
exceed the difference between the required payment under the 
mortgage for principal, interest, and mortgage insurance 
premium and the payment that would be required if the mortgage 
bore an interest rate of 1 percent.
    <bullet> Made the assistance payment available for a 
purchaser having an income, at the time of his initial 
occupancy, not in excess of 135 percent of the maximum income 
limits that could be established in the area for initial 
occupancy in public housing. However, up to 20 percent of the 
funds authorized in appropriation acts for the program could be 
used to assist families with incomes above these limits, but 
not in excess of 90 percent of the income limits for occupancy 
in a Section 221(d)(3) below-market interest rate housing 
project. Required income to be recertified at least every two 
years and appropriate adjustments made in the assistance 
payment to reflect any changes.
    <bullet> Limited the amount of a home mortgage to $15,000 
($17,500 in high cost areas), or $17,500 ($20,000 in high cost 
areas) for families with five or more members.
    <bullet> Established the minimum downpayment at $200 or its 
equivalent in labor for families with income up to 135 percent 
of maximum limits in the area for initial occupancy in public 
housing, and 3 percent of acquisition cost in other cases. The 
downpayment could be applied to closing costs.
    <bullet> Required that the housing be new or substantially 
rehabilitated, except that up to 25 percent of the amount of 
contracts authorized to be made before July 1, 1969, could 
apply to existing housing, with this percentage decreasing to 
15 percent the following year, and 10 percent the third year.
    <bullet> Authorized contracts for assistance payments, 
subject to approval in appropriation acts, of up to $75 million 
annually prior to July 1, 1969. Increased this amount by $100 
million on July 1, 1969, and by $125 million on July 1, 1970. A 
reasonable portion of the authority was to be transferred to 
the Secretary of Agriculture for use in rural areas and small 
towns. Made the Section 235 program available for the purchase 
(and rehabilitation if necessary) by a nonprofit organization 
or a public body or agency of housing in viable, or potentially 
viable, areas for resale to lower-income families, also with a 
Section 235 mortgage. Required the housing to include at least 
four or more dwelling units (or be two-family dwellings, one 
unit of which was to be occupied by the owner), or at least 
four or more one-family units in a condominium, in the cases 
where rehabilitation was involved. Authorized HUD to provide 
counseling services to purchasers of homes with Section 235 
mortgages.
    <bullet> Modified the Section 221(h) program to allow home 
purchasers to finance their purchase with mortgages bearing 
interest rates as low as 1 percent where the purchaser's income 
justified, with periodic adjustments between 1 and 3 percent to 
reflect changes in the homeowner's income. Increased the limit 
on the aggregate amount of mortgages that could be insured and 
outstanding at any one time under the program from $20 million 
to $50 million.
  Special Mortgage Insurance Assistance
    <bullet> Added Section 237 to the National Housing Act to 
authorize FHA insurance of mortgages for families of low and 
moderate income who, through the incentive of homeownership, 
and counseling assistance, appear to be able to achieve 
homeownership but who, for reasons of credit history, irregular 
income patterns caused by seasonal employment, or other 
factors, are unable to meet the credit requirements generally 
applicable for the purchase of a home under the regular FHA 
mortgage insurance program.
    <bullet> Required that a Section 237 mortgage meet the 
basic requirements under one of the various FHA home mortgage 
programs, except as to the credit and income requirements. The 
principal obligation of the mortgage could not exceed $15,000 
($17,500 in high-cost areas). However, if the limit on the 
amount of a mortgage was lower under a particular program, the 
lower limit was made applicable.
    <bullet> Limited the monthly payments, combined with local 
real estate taxes on the property, to 25 percent of the home 
purchaser's income, computed over the previous year or the 
previous three years, whichever was higher. Limited the 
aggregate outstanding balance of mortgages insured under the 
Section 237 program to $200 million at any one time.
  Older Neighborhoods
    <bullet> Authorized mortgage insurance under any of FHA's 
mortgage insurance programs, for the purchase, repair, 
rehabilitation, or construction of housing located in older 
declining urban areas without regard to the normal requirements 
of the particular program if FHA finds that (1) the area is 
reasonably viable, giving consideration to the need for 
providing adequate housing for families of low and moderate 
incomes in the area, and (2) the property is an acceptable risk 
in view of this consideration.
  Conversion of Certain Rental Projects
    <bullet> Permitted rental housing projects financed with 
below-market interest rate FHA 221(d)(3) mortgages to be 
converted to cooperative or condominium ownership, with sale of 
units to low- or moderate-income purchasers at a price not in 
excess of the appraised value of the property and with a 
mortgage bearing the below-market interest rate then in effect. 
Required at least a 3 percent downpayment for purchase in a 
condominium, which could be applied in whole or in part toward 
closing costs.
  Technical Assistance for Nonprofit Organizations
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide to nonprofit 
organizations technical assistance with respect to the 
construction, rehabilitation, and operation of low- and 
moderate-income housing, and to make 80 percent, interest-free 
loans to such sponsors to cover certain preconstruction costs 
under Federally-assisted programs. Established the low- and 
moderate-income sponsor fund as a revolving fund for these 
loans with an authorization for appropriations of $7.5 million 
for FY 1969 and $10 million for FY 1970.
  National Homeownership Foundation
    <bullet> Created the National Homeownership Foundation to 
carry out a continuing program of encouraging private and 
public organizations to provide increased homeownership and 
housing opportunities in urban and rural areas for lower-income 
families.
    <bullet> Authorized the Foundation to make grants and loans 
(not otherwise available from Federal sources) to help defray 
organizational and administrative expenses, necessary 
preconstruction costs, and the cost of counselling or similar 
services to lower-income families for whom housing was to be 
provided. The Foundation could also provide technical 
assistance to the organizations.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriation for the Foundation of up 
to $10 million and the use of donated funds.
  Special Risk Insurance Fund
    <bullet> Established a new special risk insurance fund 
(under Section 238 of the National Housing Act) which was not 
intended to be actuarially sound and out of which claims were 
to be paid on mortgages insured under the new special mortgage 
insurance programs for low- or moderate-income families. 
Authorized appropriations to cover any losses sustained by the 
new fund.
  New Technology (Operation Breakthrough)
    <bullet> Directed HUD to institute a program under which 
public and private organizations submit plans for the 
development of housing for lower- income families, using new 
and advanced technologies, on Federal land made available for 
that purpose, or on other suitable land. Five plans from among 
those submitted were to be selected.
    <bullet> Directed HUD to seek to achieve the construction 
of at least 1,000 dwellings units a year over a five-year 
period for each of the various types of technologies proposed 
in the approved plans. Required HUD to report at the earliest 
practicable date with respect to the projects assisted, 
together with recommendations.
    <bullet> Authorized insurance of mortgages financing the 
projects under the FHA experimental housing program (Section 
233 of the National Housing Act).
  Study of Insurance Protection for Homeowners
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, in cooperation with the private 
insurance industry, to develop a plan for establishing an 
insurance program to enable homeowners to meet their monthly 
mortgage payments in times of personal economic adversity. 
Required HUD to report within six months following enactment of 
the Act.
  National Advisory Commission on Low-Income Housing
    <bullet> The National Advisory Commission on Low-Income 
Housing was established to undertake a comprehensive study and 
investigate the resources and capabilities in the public and 
private sectors of the economy which may be used to fulfill 
more completely the objectives of the national goal of a 
``decent home and suitable living environment for every 
American family.'' An interim report was required by July 1, 
1969, and a final report by July 1, 1970.
Rental Housing for Lower-Income Families
  Part A--Private Housing: Section 236
    <bullet> Authorized the Section 236 program of Federal 
assistance to rental and cooperative housing for lower-income 
families. Under this program periodic payments were to be made 
to the mortgagee to reduce the rents required by interest costs 
on a market- rate FHA-insured project mortgage. Payments could 
be enough to reduce payments on the project mortgage from that 
required for principal, interest and mortgage insurance premium 
on a market-rate mortgage to that required for principal and 
interest on a mortgage bearing an interest rate of 1 percent.
    <bullet> These payments were designed to reduce rentals to 
a basic charge; a tenant or cooperative member would either pay 
the basic charge or such greater amount as represented 25 
percent of his income, but not more than the charges which 
would be necessary without any interest-reduction payments. 
Rental charges collected by the project owner in excess of the 
basic charges were to be returned to the Secretary for deposit 
in a revolving fund to offset payments made to the mortgagee 
and to make other interest-reduction payments.
    <bullet> Made eligible for residence, families with 
incomes, at the time of the initial rent-up of the projects, 
not in excess of 135 percent of the maximum limits that could 
be established in the area for initial occupancy in public 
housing. However, up to 20 percent of the contract funds 
authorized in appropriation acts could be made available for 
projects in which some or all of the units would be occupied, 
at the time of the initial rent-up, by tenants whose incomes 
exceeded the above limit but did not exceed 90 percent of the 
income limits for occupancy of Section 221(d)(3) below-market 
interest rate rental housing. Made eligible for mortgage 
insurance under the Section 236 program, a mortgagor which was 
a nonprofit organization, a cooperative, or a limited-dividend 
entity of the types permitted under the FHA Section 221(d)(3) 
rental housing program.
    <bullet> Interest-reduction payments could be made with 
respect to State-aided rental housing projects approved for 
receiving the benefits of the program prior to completion of 
construction or rehabilitation of the projects.
    <bullet> Authorized contracts for assistance payments, 
subject to approval in appropriation acts, in amount of $75 
million annually prior to July 1, 1969, increased by $100 
million on July 1, 1969, and by $125 million on July 1, 1970. A 
reasonable portion of the authority was to be transferred to 
the Secretary of Agriculture for use in rural areas and small 
towns.
    <bullet> Authorized rent supplement payments for tenants in 
Section 236 projects, for not more than 20 percent of the units 
in any one project. Made State-aided projects eligible for rent 
supplements if the projects were approved for this benefit 
prior to completion of construction or rehabilitation.
    <bullet> Increased the authority for rent supplement 
contracts (subject to approval in appropriation acts) by $40 
million on July 1, 1969, and by $100 million on July 1, 1970.
  Part B--Low-Rent Public Housing
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make grants to local housing 
authorities to assist in financing tenant services for tenants 
of public housing. Authorized appropriations for the grants up 
to $15 million for fiscal year 1969, and $30 million for fiscal 
1970.
    <bullet> Permitted public housing assistance for Indian 
families who live on or adjacent to their farmland. Prohibited 
high-rise public housing projects for families with children, 
except where HUD determined that there was no practical 
alternative.
    <bullet> Prohibited HUD from prescribing limitations on the 
types or categories of structures or dwelling units (other than 
those provided in the law) which can be leased for public 
housing under the Section 23 leasing program. Authorized an 
additional $120 annual subsidy for public housing units 
occupied by large families or families with very-low income. 
Permitted local housing authorities to purchase structures 
leased under the Section 23 program for the purpose of 
reselling the structure to the tenants, or to a group of 
tenants occupying units aggregating in value at least 80 
percent of the structure's value.

Changes in FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to:
    --insure loans to homeowners to finance the purchase of fee 
simple title to property on which their homes were located 
where the homeowner had only a leasehold interest in the land;
    --insure 90 percent supplemental loans to finance 
improvements and additions to FHA multifamily projects 
(including nursing homes and group practice facilities);
    --insure supplementary rehabilitation loans to housing 
cooperatives which purchased war housing covered by an 
uninsured mortgage;
    --permit the cost of nursing home equipment to be included 
in an insured nursing home mortgage;
    --insure mortgages on new seasonal homes.
    <bullet> Changed FHA Title I home improvement loan 
insurance program by:
    --raising the limit on the amount of a loan from $3,500 to 
$5,000;
    --extending the maximum maturity from five years and 32 
days to seven years and 32 days;
    --increasing the maximum financing charge to $5.50 discount 
per $100 of the first $2,500 plus $4.50 in excess of $2,500 
(previously $5 and $4, respectively).
    <bullet> Authorized insurance of mortgages financing the 
purchase of housing rehabilitated by local public agencies in 
urban renewal areas under the Sections 220 and 221(d)(3) 
programs as well as under the new Section 236 program.
    <bullet> Increased the maximum mortgage amount under the 
Section 203(i) program for homes in outlying semirural and 
rural areas from $12,500 to $13,500.

Title IV--New Communities Act of 1968
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to guarantee obligations issued by 
private developers to help finance the land acquisition and 
land development costs of new communities. (Authority to make 
such guarantees was ended by Title VII of the Urban Growth and 
New Community Development Act of 1970, P.L. 91-609, December 
31, 1970.)
    <bullet> Limited the obligations guaranteed for a new 
community to the lesser of (a) 80 percent of the Secretary's 
estimate of the value of the property upon completion of the 
land development, or (b) the sum of 75 percent of the 
Secretary's estimate of the value of the land before 
development plus 90 percent of his estimate of the actual cost 
of the land development, or (c) $50 million outstanding.
    <bullet> Limited the aggregate amount of outstanding 
principal obligations guaranteed to $250 million.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to establish a revolving fund for 
the guarantee program comprised of (1) receipts from fees and 
charges, (2) other receipts, and (3) such sums, authorized to 
be appropriated, as may be required.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make supplementary grants to 
State and local public bodies and agencies for water and sewer 
facilities and open space assisted by grants under the Housing 
and Urban Development Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-117), or the 
Consolidated Farmers' Home Administration Act, and the Housing 
Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-70).
    <bullet> Limited the supplementary grant to 20 percent of 
the cost of the facility and the total Federal grant to 80 
percent of facility cost.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations for supplementary grants 
of up to $5 million for fiscal year 1969, and up to $25 million 
for fiscal year 1970.
    (Title IV was required to be phased out by Title VII of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, P.L. 91-609, 
December 31, 1970.)

Title V--Urban Renewal
  Neighborhood Development Program (NDP)
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide financial assistance for 
neighborhood development programs, i.e., urban renewal project 
undertakings and activities in one or more urban renewal areas 
planned and carried out on the basis of annual increments.
    <bullet> Based financing on the amount of loan and grant 
funds needed to carry out the activities planned during a 12-
month period in each of the urban renewal areas contained in a 
community's program. If funds were available and a community's 
program was acceptable to the Secretary, a community could 
receive financial assistance based on its need for subsequent 
annual increments of the program.
  Rehabilitation Grants
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of a 
rehabilitation grant to a low-income homeowner from $1,500 to 
$3,000, and made the grant available for rehabilitation of real 
property in addition to the dwelling itself.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make rehabilitation grants to 
low-income homeowners whose property had been determined, after 
inspection, to be uninsurable because of physical hazards. 
Authorized the grant to be made only to rehabilitate the 
property to the extent necessary to make it meet reasonable 
underwriting standards imposed by a statewide property 
insurance plan.
    <bullet> Authorized rehabilitation grants to be made to 
low-income homeowners for repairs and improvements of dwellings 
in urban renewal and code enforcement areas under certain 
circumstances.
  Rehabilitation Loans
    <bullet> Broadened the rehabilitation loan program in the 
same manner as the rehabilitation grant program with respect to 
properties located outside urban renewal and code enforcement 
areas and those found to be uninsurable.
    <bullet> Limited the eligibility for residential 
rehabilitation loans to persons whose annual income was within 
the local limits for the Section 221(d)(3) below-market 
interest rate program.
  Open-Land Projects
    <bullet> Authorized grants for open-land urban renewal 
projects where the land was to be disposed of for low- and 
moderate-income housing. (Previously, open-land projects were 
not eligible for grants.) The grant may be for two-thirds of 
the difference between the proceeds from any land disposed of 
at its value for low- or moderate- income housing and the 
proceeds which would have been realized if the land had been 
disposed of at its fair value without regard to its special 
use.
  Demolition Grants
    <bullet> Expanded the demolition grant program to permit 
grants for the demolition of structures which were rat 
harborages or potential rat harborages.
  Air Rights
    <bullet> Authorized air rights urban renewal projects, and 
the construction of necessary foundations and platforms in any 
type project, for the development of educational facilities.
  Low- and Moderate-Income Housing
    <bullet> Provided that a majority of the housing units 
provided in all of the approved urban renewal projects in any 
community which were to be redeveloped for predominately 
residential uses and which received Federal recognition after 
August 1, 1968, must be for low- and moderate-income families 
or individuals, with at least 20 percent of such total for low-
income families or individuals.
  Interim Assistance
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to contract to make grants 
aggregating up to $15 million a year to cities or counties to 
assist them in taking interim steps to alleviate harmful 
conditions in slum or blighted areas of communities which were 
planned for substantial clearance, rehabilitation, or 
Federally-assisted code enforcement in the near future, but 
which needed some immediate public action until permanent 
action could be taken. The grant could not exceed two-thirds of 
the cost of planning and carrying out an interim assistance 
program, except that three-fourths grants could be made to a 
community with a population of 50,000 or less.
  Relocation Payments
    <bullet> Broadened relocation adjustment payments to permit 
payments of up to $500 per year, for a two-year period, 
previously limited to $500 based on a one-year period.
    <bullet> Authorized a new payment to enable a displaced 
owner-occupant of residential property to purchase a 
replacement dwelling equal to the difference between the 
average price for an adequate replacement home and the 
acquisition price of the former home.
  Other Urban Renewal Amendments
    <bullet> Removed the previous limits on the acquisition and 
rehabilitation of residential properties by local renewal 
agencies.
    <bullet> Authorized leasing land in an urban renewal area 
(in addition to being sold as previously provided) for low- or 
moderate-income housing at a price consistent with the use for 
that purpose. (This permitted land to be available to builders 
at the write- down price for housing assisted under the new 
interest-reduction payment programs.)

Title VI--Urban Planning and Facilities
  Planning Grants
    <bullet> Revised the Section 701 planning assistance grant 
program in the following ways.
    <bullet> Authorized grants to be made to State planning 
agencies for assistance to ``district'' planning agencies for 
rural and other nonmetropolitan areas; to Indian tribal 
planning councils; to regional and district councils of 
government; to regional commissions and economic development 
districts established under the Public Works and Economic 
Development Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-136); to cities, without 
regard to population, within metropolitan areas for planning 
which is part of metropolitan planning; and to official 
government planning agencies for areas where rapid urbanization 
is expected as a result of a new community assisted under the 
Act.
    <bullet> Broadened the definition of comprehensive planning 
to include planning for the provision of governmental services 
and for the development and utilization of human and natural 
resources. Required the inclusion of a housing element as part 
of the preparation of comprehensive land-use plans. Increased 
the authorization of appropriations for grants by $35 million 
for fiscal 1969 and by $125 million beginning FY 1970. Provided 
that an additional $10 million of Section 701 appropriations 
was to be available for study, research, and demonstration 
projects.
    <bullet> Authorized supplementary grants for Federally-
assisted projects in all multi- jurisdictional areas 
(previously limited to metropolitan areas), such as the rural 
planning districts proposed to be assisted with comprehensive 
planning grants.
  Revisions in Advance Acquisition of Land Program
    <bullet> Broadened the definition of eligible land from 
land planned to be utilized ``in connection with the future 
construction of public works and facilities'' to land planned 
to be utilized in the future for ``public purposes.''
    <bullet> Authorized grants to be made for the imputed 
interest cost when a public body did not use borrowed funds to 
acquire the land. Authorized HUD to extend the requirement that 
the land must be used for its proposed purpose within five 
years, if it deemed a longer period necessary due to unusual 
circumstances.
    <bullet> Provided that assistance under the program would 
not render a project ineligible for other Federal assistance 
programs and that the cost of land acquired with assistance 
under the advance acquisition program would not be an 
ineligible project cost in such other programs.

Urban Mass Transportation
    <bullet> Amended the definition of ``mass transportation'' 
in the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-365) to 
allow greater flexibility and opportunity for application of 
new concepts and systems.
    <bullet> Provided that not more than half of the non-
Federal share of the net project cost of a mass transportation 
project receiving Federal grants could be paid from private 
sources, except in certain cases of demonstrated fiscal 
inability. Required that any public or private transit system 
funds provided for the non-Federal share be solely from 
undistributed cash surpluses, replacement or depreciation funds 
or reserves available in cash, or new capital.

Title VIII--Secondary Mortgage Market
    <bullet> Partitioned the existing Federal National Mortgage 
Association into two separate corporations, a government-
sponsored private corporation, to be known as the Federal 
National Mortgage Association (FNMA) to conduct the secondary 
mortgage market operations assigned to the previous FNMA, and a 
wholly-owned government corporation, the Government National 
Mortgage Association (GNMA). Made provision for a period and 
process of transition of FNMA from public to private ownership, 
and for the repayment of capital stock held by the Treasury.

FNMA
    <bullet> Provided that the new FNMA be headed by a Board of 
Directors, whose composition and method of appointment or 
election were provided for. Made the new FNMA subject to 
general regulatory control of the Secretary of HUD, who had to 
approve the issuance of all stocks and other obligations by 
FNMA and who could require it to allocate a reasonable portion 
of its mortgage purchases to mortgages on low- and moderate-
income housing.
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA to sell securities backed by a 
portion of its mortgage portfolio, with FNMA guaranteeing 
payment on such securities.

GNMA
    <bullet> Provided that GNMA operate the special assistance 
functions for Federally-aided housing programs, and the 
management and liquidating functions of the old FNMA.
    <bullet> Authorized GNMA to guarantee mortgage-backed 
securities issued by private issuers other than FNMA, where 
they were backed by FHA, VA, and some Farmers Home 
Administration mortgages or loans.

Title IX--National Housing Partnerships
    <bullet> Directed that a national housing partnership be 
created for the purpose of securing the participation of 
private investors in programs and projects to provide housing 
for low- and moderate-income families.
    <bullet> Authorized the national partnership to form 
partnership ventures with local investors for the purpose of 
building low- and moderate-income housing projects throughout 
the Nation. Authorized the President to create additional 
partnerships when he determines it to be in the national 
interest.
    <bullet> Authorized national banks to invest in entities 
formed under these provisions of the Act.

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to provide 
housing, under the new interest- reduction programs authorized 
for HUD by the Act, in rural areas.
    <bullet> Authorized Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) to 
provide advances and technical assistance to the provision of 
housing and related facilities in rural areas for rural 
trainees (and their families) enrolled in Federally-assisted 
training courses to improve their employment capability.
    <bullet> Authorized a new program of grants and loans to 
provide assistance in rural areas and small towns to low-income 
individuals and families for mutual or self-help housing.
    <bullet> Authorized a self-help housing land development 
fund to provide a source of short- term loans to public or 
private nonprofit organizations to buy and develop building 
sites to be sold to families, nonprofit organizations, and 
cooperatives eligible for assistance under the new interest-
reduction programs for housing for lower-income families.
Title XI--Urban Property Protection and Reinsurance Act of 1968
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide private insurers with 
reinsurance against losses resulting from riots or civil 
disorders.
    <bullet> Limited the sale of reinsurance to those insurers 
that cooperate with State insurance authorities in Statewide 
plans, to assure fair access to insurance requirements, called 
FAIR plans, and reinsurance could be provided only in States 
which have such plans.
    <bullet> Required that premium rates and the terms and 
conditions of reinsurance contracts be uniform throughout the 
country. The premiums for the first year were to provide 
sufficient income to cover a level of riot losses in excess of 
the amount of insured riot losses in 1967.
    <bullet> Required that a State assume a portion of the 
losses reinsured by the Secretary within one year or by the 
close of its next regular legislative session. Made the ceiling 
on the share 5 percent of the property insurance premiums 
earned in the State on reinsured lines of property insurance, 
if reinsured losses exceeded premiums paid for reinsurance by 
insurance companies in a State.
    <bullet> Created a national insurance development fund to 
carry out the authorized programs. Authorized Treasury 
borrowings to make payments of claims for reinsured losses if 
required, limited to $250 million or such further sums as the 
Congress might authorize by joint resolution.
    <bullet> Required HUD to make a study concerning the 
availability of property insurance in urban areas and report to 
the President and the Congress in one year Authorized other 
studies pertinent to its reinsurance and Statewide plan 
responsibilities.

Title XIII--National Flood Insurance Act of 1968
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to establish and carry out a 
national flood insurance program to enable persons to purchase 
insurance against losses resulting from physical damage to or 
loss of real property or personal property arising from any 
flood occurring in the U.S. Directed HUD to encourage and 
arrange for maximum participation in the program by insurance 
companies and other insurers, and by related agents, brokers, 
and organizations.
    <bullet> The private insurance industry was expected to 
participate in the operation of the flood insurance program on 
a risk-sharing basis. However, as an alternative, authorized 
HUD if necessary, to operate the program without such 
participation on other than a fiscal agency basis.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to borrow up to $250 million from 
the Treasury to carry out the insurance program.
    <bullet> Established a national flood insurance fund for 
making payments authorized by the bill, including premium 
equalization payments and reinsurance for losses in excess of 
losses assumed by insurance company pools formed to provide 
flood insurance.
    <bullet> Directed HUD to develop criteria designed to 
encourage the adoption of State and local measures to restrict 
the development of land which is exposed to flood damage, guide 
development of proposed construction away from locations 
threatened by flood hazards, assist in reducing damage caused 
by floods, and otherwise improve land management and use of 
flood prone areas. Provided that after June 30, 1970, no new 
flood insurance coverage could be provided in any areas unless 
an appropriate public body had adopted land use and control 
measures.
    <bullet> Established limits on amount of coverage and 
limited the face amount of flood insurance coverage outstanding 
and in force at any one time to $2.5 billion.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary to study the extent to 
which insurance protection is not available against earthquakes 
or other natural disaster perils, and the feasibility of such 
insurance protection being made available.

Title XIV--The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act
    <bullet> Made it unlawful for any developer to sell or 
lease, by the use of the mail or by any means in interstate 
commerce, any lot in any subdivision (defined as one with 50 or 
more lots for sale as part of a common promotional plan) 
unless:
          a. There has been filed with HUD a statement of 
        record listing certain required information about the 
        ownership of the land, the state of its title, its 
        physical nature, the availability of roads and 
        utilities, and other matters; and
          b. A printed property report, containing pertinent 
        extracts from the statement of record, is furnished to 
        the purchaser in advance of the signing of an agreement 
        for purchase or lease.
    <bullet> Provided that these requirements not apply to any 
subdivision where the property was clear of all liens and if 
every purchaser had personally inspected the lot which he 
purchased, as evidenced by a written affirmation by the 
developer.

Title XV--FHA Mortgage Insurance for Nonprofit Hospitals
    <bullet> Authorized FHA insurance for mortgages covering 
new or rehabilitated hospitals (including initial equipment).
    <bullet> Limited the amount of a mortgage to $25 million or 
90 percent of replacement cost, and the hospital must be owned 
and operated by one or more nonprofit organizations. Made 
eligible recently completed hospitals not yet permanently 
financed, subject to a limit of $20 million on the aggregate of 
such mortgages.

Title XVI--Housing Goals and Housing Reports
    <bullet> Found that the supply of the Nation's housing was 
not increasing rapidly enough to meet the national housing goal 
and reaffirmed the goal.
    <bullet> Required the President, not later than January 15, 
1969, to report to the Congress a plan to be carried out over 
the next 10 years for the elimination of all substandard 
housing and the realization of the national housing goal.
    <bullet> Required the President on January 15, 1970, and on 
each succeeding year through 1979, to submit to the Congress a 
report of results achieved in the provision of housing and 
recommendations for actions that may be needed.
    <bullet> Made available funds previously appropriated and 
available for studies of housing markets and credit for 
expenses of the Commission on Mortgage Interest Rates to study 
mortgage interest rates (established by P.L. 90-301, May 7, 
1968).

Title XVII--Miscellaneous
  Urban Renewal Demonstration Grant Programs
    <bullet> Authorized urban renewal demonstration grants to 
be made to nonprofit organizations (previously available only 
to public bodies).
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the amount of urban renewal 
demonstration grants from two- thirds of the cost of the 
undertakings to 90 percent of the cost. Increased the amount of 
funds available for these grants from $10 million to $20 
million.
  Advances in Technology in Housing and Urban Development
    <bullet> Authorized such sums as may be necessary to be 
appropriated commencing with FY 1969, for studies of new and 
improved techniques and methods of applying advances in 
technology to housing construction and rehabilitation, and to 
urban development. Authorized four-year contracts for such 
studies (previously limited to two-year contracts).
  College Housing
    <bullet> Authorized annual debt service grants for college 
housing, to be used to reduce the borrower's annual debt 
service payments on private market loans to the average annual 
debt service that would have been required if the loan were 
based on the rate charged on loans under the college housing 
direct loan program. Provided that the grants could be made 
over a fixed period up to 40 years. Authorized contracts for 
the grants, subject to approval in appropriation acts, in the 
amount of $10 million in FY 1969 and another $10 million on 
July 1, 1969.
    <bullet> Made both the loan and new grant program for 
college housing available for the purchase of existing 
properties which are in need of little or no rehabilitation.
  Federal-State Training Programs
    <bullet> Broadened the Federal-State training program to 
permit grants to States for the training of subprofessional 
(previously limited to professional) persons who will be 
employed in the field of housing as well as community 
development.
  Additional Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
    <bullet> Authorized an additional Assistant Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development.
  Self-Help Studies
    <bullet> Authorized grants for studies of self-help in the 
construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of housing for 
low-income persons and families and the methods of selecting, 
involving, and directing them in self-help activities. Required 
HUD to report to Congress within one year on the results of the 
studies.
  Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Authorized Federal savings and loan associations 
to refer to their share accounts as ``savings deposits'' and to 
borrow through the issuance of bonds and other obligations.
    <bullet> Authorized savings and loan associations to invest 
in time deposits, certificates or accounts in banks insured by 
the FDIC; loans to finance mobile homes; unsecured loans up to 
$5,000 to finance the construction of new structures relating 
to residential use; loans up to $5,000 for equipping homes; 
loans guaranteed by AID on housing projects located in 
developing countries outside of Latin America; and loans to 
Federally supervised financial institutions or brokers or 
dealers registered with the SEC, if the loans were secured by 
loans, obligations or investments in which the Federal 
association has statutory authority to invest directly.
  Federal Home Loan Banks
    <bullet> Authorized Federal Home Loan Banks to invest in 
housing loans guaranteed under the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961.

   Amendments to Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act of 1961

                  (Public Law 90-488, August 15, 1968)

    <bullet> Raised the annual limit on development grants by 
the Farmers Home Administration for rural water and sewer 
project development costs from $50 million to $100 million, and 
extended the period within which such grants could be made 
prior to the completion of a comprehensive area plan from 
October 1, 1968 to October 1, 1971.
    <bullet> Increased the annual limit on planning grants to 
be made to public bodies or other agencies having authority to 
prepare official comprehensive plans for the development of 
rural water or sewer systems from $5 to $15 million.
    <bullet> Removed the $450 million limit on the amount of 
loans which could be insured in any one year for rural water 
and waste disposal projects and farm ownership.
    <bullet> Increased the amount of direct loans made from the 
insurance fund for resale as insured loans which could be 
outstanding at any one time to $100 million from $50 million.

                     Foreign Assistance Act of 1968

                  (Public Law 90-554, October 8, 1968)

    <bullet> Raised the ceilings for investment guarantees to 
$8.5 billion on specific risks; $550 million on extended risk, 
and to $390 million for extended risk for purposes other than 
housing.
    <bullet> Raised the ceiling on investment guarantees for 
Latin American housing to $550 million.

             First Annual Report on National Housing Goals

                   (H. Doc. 91-35, January 17, 1969)

    <bullet> Transmitted by the President to the Congress.

                Executive Order 11452, January 23, 1969

    <bullet> Established the Council for Urban Affairs to 
advise and assist the President with respect to urban affairs. 
Directed the Council to:
          1. Assist the President in the development of a 
        national urban policy.
          2. Promote the coordination of Federal programs in 
        urban areas.
          3. Encourage the fullest cooperation between Federal, 
        State and city governments, with special concern for 
        the maintenance of local initiative and local decision 
        making.
          4. Ensure that policies concerning urban affairs 
        shall extend to the relations of urban, suburban, and 
        rural areas, to programs affecting them, and to the 
        movement of population between them.
          5. Seek constant improvement in the actual delivery 
        of public services to citizens.
          6. Foster the decentralization of government with the 
        object that program responsibilities will be vested to 
        the greatest possible extent in State and local 
        government.
          7. Encourage the most effective role possible for 
        voluntary organizations in dealing with urban concerns.
          8. Meet with and advise the President on the occasion 
        of emergency situations, or conditions threatening the 
        maintenance of civil order of civil rights.

                     Domestic Presidential Message

                    (H. Doc. 91-96, April 14, 1969)

    <bullet> Promised a series of recommendations to the 
Congress proposing new approaches to a wide range of domestic 
programs and problems, including the problems of the cities and 
those of rural areas.
    <bullet> Declared that the objective was not to turn away 
from old goals, but to new means for achieving them.
    <bullet> Identified a beginning on revenue sharing to 
strengthen the financial capabilities of State and local 
governments as such an approach, along with other general 
concepts: e.g., greater use of tax incentives to enlist private 
resources in meeting public needs.

              Federal Assistance to States and Localities

        (Presidential Message, H. Doc. 91-148, August 13, 1969)

    <bullet> Discussed the problems and deficiencies of the 
Federal grant-in-aid programs, which had evolved in recent 
times; set forth the President's approach to redirecting the 
flow of power and decision-making authority so as to strengthen 
State and local governments and reduce their dependence on the 
national government; and proposed an immediate beginning on a 
program of general revenue sharing, to follow certain 
enumerated principles.

          Report of the Commission on Mortgage Interest Rates

                           (August 13, 1969)

    <bullet> Among other things, the Report of the Commission 
(which was established by P.L. 90-301): Recommended permanent 
abolition of the statutory interest ceiling on FHA mortgages 
and establishment of a new two-part system for a three-year 
trial period. Under the two-part system, FHA mortgages could be 
originated either (1) at an unregulated interest rate, provided 
no discount points were charged or collected by the lender or 
mortgage originator; or (2) at a ceiling rate set by the 
Secretary of HUD, with no restrictions on discount points.
    <bullet> Proposed a special study to recommend ways of 
reducing closing costs associated with mortgage originations.
    <bullet> Urged that housing be given a ``higher priority in 
national economic policy than had heretofore been the case.''
    <bullet> Recommended several proposals for strengthening 
the role of the Federal Home Loan Bank System as a backstop for 
savings and loan associations.
    <bullet> Recommended providing the subsidies needed by low- 
and moderate-income families to afford decent housing and that 
the government should stand ready as lender of last resort to 
provide the necessary mortgage credit to finance production of 
all housings units for which subsidies had been appropriated, 
whenever the supply of such credit from private lenders was 
inadequate to finance these units.
    <bullet> Construction Industry Collective Bargaining 
Commission (Executive Order 11482, September 22, 1969) 
Established the Commission. Authorized it to conduct studies 
and to make general recommendations respecting any problems 
relating to collective bargaining in the construction industry, 
including training and development of manpower, instability, 
the improvement of productivity and technology, the improvement 
of the mobility of the labor force, the portability of 
pensions, and job security.

                      Disaster Relief Act of 1969

                  (Public Law 91-79, October 1, 1969)

    <bullet> Authorized the President to provide, on a 
temporary basis, dwelling accommodations for disaster victims. 
He could (1) use any unoccupied Federally-owned housing, (2) 
arrange with a local public housing agency for using unoccupied 
public housing units, (3) lease existing dwellings, or (4) 
acquire mobile homes or other readily fabricated dwellings 
through leasing to be placed on sites purchased by the State or 
local government or by the owner-occupant displaced by the 
disaster, with no site charge being made.
    <bullet> Required that rentals for the housing take into 
consideration the financial ability of the occupant. Rentals 
could be compromised, adjusted, or waived in cases of hardship 
for a period up to 12 months.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to make grants to States 
and their political subdivisions for the removal of debris as a 
result of a major disaster.

                          Emergency Functions

               (Executive Order 11490, October 28, 1969)

    <bullet> Consolidated the assignment of emergency 
preparedness functions previously contained in a number of 
Executive Orders.
    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development to prepare national emergency plans and develop 
preparedness programs covering all aspects of housing, 
community facilities related to housing, and urban development. 
However, military housing and housing leased for not more than 
one year remained the responsibility of the Department of 
Defense, and transportation facilities were excepted from the 
term ``urban development.''

                       Council for Rural Affairs

               (Executive Order 11493, November 13, 1969)

    <bullet> Established the Council for Rural Affairs and 
designated the Secretary of HUD as one of the members of the 
Council.
    <bullet> Directed the Council to advise and assist the 
President with respect to the further development of the 
nonmetropolitan areas, and assist in the development of 
policies for rural areas, including consideration of the 
affairs of the smaller cities and towns outside the 
metropolitan areas.
    <bullet> Amendments to the Appalachian Regional Development 
Act (Public Law 91-123, November 25, 1969) Authorized HUD to 
provide directly or by contract, information, advice and 
technical assistance relating to the construction, 
rehabilitation and operation by nonprofit organizations of 
housing for low- or moderate-income families in the Appalachian 
Region.

                Amendment of Federal Home Loan Bank Act

                 (Public Law 91-151, December 23, 1969)

    <bullet> Increased the authority of the Secretary of the 
Treasury to purchase obligations of the Federal Home Loan Banks 
by $3 billion to $4 billion.
    <bullet> Provided that the Secretary of the Treasury should 
use the authority when alternative means could not effectively 
be employed, to permit members of the Home Loan Bank System to 
continue to supply reasonable amounts of funds to the mortgage 
market whenever the ability to supply such funds was 
substantially impaired during periods of monetary stringency 
and rapidly rising interest rates, and any funds so borrowed 
should be repaid by the Home Loan Bank Board at the earliest 
practicable rate.
    (The Conference Report on the Act stated that while the 
Senate conferees had prevailed in their position that a 
secondary market for the Federal Home Loan Banks might be 
worthwhile, the conferees had agreed that there were so many 
unknowns as to how the program would operate that the provision 
should be reserved for further study.)

               Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969

                 (Public Law 91-152, December 24, 1969)

GNMA Special Assistance
    <bullet> Increased GNMA special assistance authority for 
purchasing mortgages covering low-cost housing by $1.5 billion.
    <bullet> Required that the purchases be made at par.
    <bullet> Raised the per-dwelling-unit limitation generally 
applicable to mortgages purchased by GNMA under its special 
assistance functions from $17,500 to $22,000.
    <bullet> Authorized GNMA to purchase mortgages at a price 
equal to the unpaid principal amount at the time of purchase, 
with adjustments for interest and any comparable items, and 
subsequently to sell such mortgages at any time at a price 
which GNMA determined is within the range of market prices at 
the time of sale for the particular class of mortgage involved.
    <bullet> Made rural housing mortgages insured under the 
Housing Act of 1949 (P.L. 81-171), except mortgages for above 
moderate-income families, eligible for purchase by GNMA under 
its special assistance authority.
Amendments to FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Lowered required downpayments for FHA sales 
housing by reducing from 20 percent (15 percent in the case of 
veterans and servicemen) to 10 percent the amount of such 
downpayment which is attributable to the value or cost of the 
property in the range between $20,000 and $25,000.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a mortgage which 
could be insured by FHA for a mobile-home court from $1,800 to 
$2,500 per space and from $500,000 to $1 million per project.
    <bullet> Amended the FHA Title I home improvement loan 
insurance program to permit insurance under the program of 
loans financing the purchase of mobile homes to be used by the 
owners as their residences. The loan could be up to $1,000 in 
amount and be repaid within 12 years.
    <bullet> Increased the maximum mortgage amount under the 
FHA Section 220 urban renewal multifamily housing program from 
$30 million to $50 million where the project was privately 
sponsored.
    <bullet> Gave servicemen the benefits of payment of 
mortgage insurance premiums on their behalf by the Federal 
Government when they purchased a one-family unit in a 
condominium with a new mortgage. (Previously, this benefit was 
available only when they assumed an existing FHA-insured 
mortgage covering the unit.)
    <bullet> Expanded the FHA nursing home mortgage insurance 
program to cover mortgages financing new or rehabilitated 
intermediate care facilities or combined nursing homes and 
intermediate care facilities.
    <bullet> Raised the per-dwelling-unit limit on housing for 
Alaska Natives and others residing in remote areas of Alaska 
from $7,500 to $10,875.
    <bullet> Increased the per-room and per-unit limits on FHA-
insured mortgages by 10 percent for sales and multifamily 
housing under certain programs, and by 20 percent for sales 
housing insured under certain sales housing programs.
    <bullet> Increased the amount which HUD is authorized to 
advance from the FHA General Insurance Fund to the Special Risk 
Insurance Fund from $5 million to $20 million.
    <bullet> Provided for FHA mortgage insurance for group 
practice facilities in older, declining urban areas under the 
Special Risk Insurance Fund. Placed the maximum amount of a 
mortgage for a group practice facilities project on the basis 
of 90 percent of its estimated replacement cost rather than 90 
percent of its estimated value of the property when completed.
Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Authorized the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to 
establish the maximum rate of interest chargeable by members of 
the Federal Home Loan Bank System on home mortgage loans on 
single-family dwellings in any State which does not have a 
statutory contract rate of interest applicable to mortgage loan 
transactions.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal savings and loan associations 
to invest in the stock of a corporation authorized to be 
created under the National Housing Partnership provisions 
(Title IX) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 
(P.L. 90- 448, August 1, 1968), and in any partnerships formed 
by the corporation.

Low- and Moderate-Income Programs
  Sections 235 and 236 Mortgage Interest-Reduction Programs
    <bullet> Authorized up to 30 percent of the total amount of 
contracts for homeownership assistance payments which were 
authorized to be made by appropriation acts for FYs 1970 and 
1971 to be made with respect to existing dwellings or dwelling 
units in existing projects. (Previously, only 15 percent of the 
contracts for FY 1970 and 10 percent of the amount of contracts 
for FY 1971 could be made with respect to existing housing).
    <bullet> Included families applying for Section 235 
homeownership assistance among those who could be given 
preference for mortgage insurance and counseling service. 
(Previously, the preference was limited to applicants who did 
not meet normal FHA credit standards and who were living in 
public housing units or who were displaced from urban renewal 
areas and were eligible for public housing.)
    <bullet> Made homeownership assistance payments for home 
purchasers under the Section 235 program for low-income 
families available to eligible families who assumed mortgages 
under the program.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to increase from 20 percent to 40 
percent, the maximum percentage of units in a Section 236 
rental housing project which could be occupied by tenants 
receiving rent supplements.
    <bullet> Authorized interest-reduction payments with 
respect to part of a mortgage on a rental or cooperative 
housing project (as well as with respect to the entire 
mortgage) financed under a State or local program approved for 
receiving the benefits of the Section 236 program.
  Public Housing
    <bullet> Increased the maximum amount of Federal loans or 
loan commitments for financing the acquisition or development 
of low-rent public housing from 90 to 100 percent. Limited rent 
in public housing projects to one-fourth of a tenant's income, 
as defined by HUD. Provided further that this limit on rent 
should not apply in any case in which HUD determines that 
limiting the rent of a tenant would result in a reduction in 
the amount of welfare assistance which would otherwise be 
provided to the tenant by a public agency (so-called Brooke 
Amendment).
    <bullet> Provided that for the purpose of insuring the low-
rent character of public housing projects, any contract for 
annual contributions may be amended or superseded in order that 
the annual contributions may be fixed on the basis of the 
current going Federal rate of interest.
    <bullet> Required each public housing agency to notify 
promptly any applicant determined to be ineligible for 
admission to public housing of such determination and, upon 
request, provide the applicant an opportunity for an informal 
hearing on the determination. Required eligible applicants to 
be notified promptly of the approximate date of occupancy.
    <bullet> Increased per-room cost limits of public housing 
from $2,400 to $2,800; for the elderly from $3,500 to $4,000; 
and for Alaska from $3,500 to $3,900 and from $4,000 to $4,500 
for elderly in Alaska projects. Increased the increment for 
high-cost areas from $750 to $1,500 per room for elderly 
families and to $1,400 per room in other cases.
    <bullet> Removed the workable program requirement for low-
rent public housing.
  Section 221(d)(3) Housing
    <bullet> Removed the workable program requirement for 
Section 221(d)(3) below-market interest rate housing.

Sale of Land for Housing
    <bullet> Authorized real property which is surplus within 
the meaning of the Federal Property and Administrative Services 
Act to be transferred to HUD, at its request, for sale or lease 
at its fair value for use in the provision of rental or 
cooperative housing to be occupied by families or individuals 
of low or moderate income. (Repealed by Section 126(a)(3), 
Housing and Urban Renewal Act of 1983, P.L. 98-181, November 
30, 1983.)

Urban Renewal and Rehabilitation
    <bullet> Made the Pacific Islands and Indian tribes 
eligible for urban renewal loans and grants and for 
rehabilitation grants, and for demolition and code enforcement 
grants.
    <bullet> Extended the period of eligibility of local grants 
in aid for certain urban renewal and neighborhood development 
projects.
    <bullet> Made enclosed pedestrian malls eligible for 
inclusion in urban renewal project costs.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a rehabilitation 
grant from $3,000 to $3,500.
    <bullet> Removed a requirement which limited eligibility 
for residential rehabilitation loans to persons whose annual 
incomes were within local applicable income limits for the 
221(d)(3) below-market interest rate program. Increased the 
limit on the amount of a supplemental grant with respect to an 
urban renewal loan from private sources to an amount which HUD 
determined necessary to enable a local public agency to obtain 
funds from private sources. Required HUD within one year after 
date of enactment of the law, and every two years thereafter, 
to review each locality's relocation plan. Required Federally-
assisted urban renewal projects which include the demolition or 
removal of residential structures to include the provision in 
the area within which the urban renewal agency has 
jurisdiction, by construction or rehabilitation, of standard 
housing units for occupancy by low- and moderate-income 
families at least equal in number to the number of units 
demolished or removed.

Model Cities and Metropolitan Development Programs
    <bullet> Required that 10 percent of any appropriations for 
model cities supplemental grants be used in cities or counties 
of less than 100,000 population.
    <bullet> Extended the time within which a community could 
qualify for a basic water and sewer facilities grant without 
having its program completed for an area-wide system until 
October 1, 1970.
    <bullet> Extended the interim program of 50 percent grants 
for mass transportation facilities and equipment in urban areas 
not yet able to meet full area-wide comprehensive planning and 
programming requirements until July 1, 1971.

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
    <bullet> Made the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 
eligible to receive assistance for public housing, public 
facility loans, and the FHA loan insurance programs.
Employment Opportunities for Lower-Income Persons
    <bullet> Directed HUD in the administration of programs 
providing direct financial assistance in aid of housing, urban 
planning, development, redevelopment, public or community 
facilities, and new community development to require that 
opportunities for training and employment arising in connection 
with the planning and carrying out of projects assisted under 
the programs be given to lower-income residents in the project 
area, and that contracts for work to be performed in connection 
with the projects be awarded to business concerns which are 
located in or owned in substantial part by persons residing in 
the project area.

Riot and Flood Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Permitted riot reinsurance contracts to be entered 
into during the course of the entire reinsurance contract year.
    <bullet> Extended the time within which State legislation 
must be enacted providing for reimbursement to HUD of the State 
share of reinsured property losses to the close of the second 
full regular session of the State Legislature following August 
1, 1968.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, until December 31, 1971, to carry 
out the national flood insurance program without the actuarial 
determination of estimated risk premium rates.
    <bullet> Extended the program to cover mudslide damage and 
related problems.
    <bullet> Made flood insurance available in those States or 
areas which gave statutory assurance to the Secretary of HUD 
that by December 31, 1971, ``adequate'' land-use and control 
measures would be adopted. (Previously, assurance had to be 
given that ``permanent'' land-use and control measures would be 
adopted by June 30, 1970.)
Interstate Land Sales
    <bullet> Defined the exemption from registration 
requirements in certain cases where real estate is sold or 
leased to persons who have personally inspected the property to 
apply:
          (1) only where there is a personal on-the-lot 
        inspection;
          (2) in cases where land is subject to assessments by 
        property owners' associations (as well as State and 
        local taxes and assessment); and
          (3) in cases where the liens, encumbrances, or 
        adverse claims involved constitute beneficial property 
        restrictions enforceable by other lot owners or lessees 
        (as well as in cases where they constitute reservations 
        for public service purposes), if before entering into 
        the contract of sale or lease the developer furnishes 
        the purchaser or lessee with a descriptive and concise 
        statement of all such reservations, taxes, assessments, 
        and restrictions and the purchaser or lessee 
        acknowledges in writing his receipt thereof.

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Removed the $100 million limitation on the amount 
of new loan paper which could be held in the Rural Housing 
Insurance Fund at any one time.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to sell 
insured rural housing loans out of the Rural Housing Insurance 
Fund in blocks and to treat such transactions as a sale of 
assets for budgetary purposes regardless of whether he keeps 
custody of the notes as trustee for the purchaser.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
commitments to make or insure rural housing loans on one or 
more properties upon application by the lender, builder, or 
seller and upon compliance with such requirements as he may 
specify.
    <bullet> Abolished the Rural Housing Direct Loan Account 
and transferred assets, liabilities, and authorizations of the 
Account to the Rural Housing Insurance Fund.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to make or 
insure loans to nonprofit organizations to provide sites for 
rural housing for low- and moderate-income families.

Employment of New or Imported Technologies
    <bullet> Amended Section 1010 of the Demonstration Cities 
and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-754) to 
direct HUD to assure, to the extent feasible, in connection 
with the construction, major rehabilitation, or maintenance of 
any housing assisted under this Section of applying advances in 
technology, that there is no restraint by contract, building 
code, zoning ordinance, or practice against the employment of 
new or improved technologies, techniques, materials and methods 
or of preassembled products which may reduce the cost or 
improve the quality of such construction, rehabilitation, and 
maintenance, and therefore stimulate expanded production of 
housing under such programs, except where such restraint is 
necessary to insure safe and healthful working and living 
conditions. (Section 1010 was repealed by the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 1970, P.L. 91-609, December 31, 1970.)

                         Tax Reform Act of 1969

                 (Public Law 91-172, December 30, 1969)

    <bullet> Revised the provisions for bad debt reserves 
deduction for mutual banking institutions to make them 
consistent with those applicable to savings and loan 
associations.
    <bullet> Changed provisions of the tax law relating to real 
estate depreciation, to permit 125 percent declining balance 
depreciation of new rental property with a useful life of 20 
years or more acquired after July 24, 1969; to permit 
accelerated depreciation of new rental housing; and to provide 
a special five-year amortization deduction in the case of 
expenditures made before December 31, 1974, for the 
rehabilitation of buildings for low-cost rental housing.
    <bullet> Provided that if a Section 221(d)(3) or 236 
housing project was sold or disposed of by the taxpayer in an 
approved disposition, and within a certain period the taxpayer 
reconstructed or acquired another qualified housing project, 
then at the election of the taxpayer, gain from such 
disposition would be recognized only to the extent that the net 
amount realized exceeded the cost of the acquired housing 
project. Required that the sale or disposition be approved by 
HUD.
    <bullet> Repealed the investment tax credit.

                Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1969

                 (Public Law 91-177, December 30, 1969)

    <bullet> Amended the rural loan provisions of the Act to 
make it clear that the Farmers Home Administration should 
consider applications for loans to the elderly for repairs and 
improvements of their homes.

                National Environment Policy Act of 1969

                  (Public Law 91-190, January 1, 1970)

    <bullet> Declared that it is the continuing policy of the 
Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local 
governments, and other organizations, to use all practical 
means, including financial and technical assistance, in a 
manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to 
create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can 
exist in productive harmony.
    <bullet> Directed that Federal agencies should include in 
every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and 
other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality 
of the human environment, a detailed statement on the 
environmental impact of the proposed action.
    <bullet> Required the President to submit annually, 
beginning July 1, 1970, an Environmental Quality Report.
    <bullet> Created the Council on Environmental Quality in 
the Executive Office of the President.
                VI. THE 1970s--REAPPRAISAL AND REDESIGN

                          Housing Legislation

     (Presidential Letter to Chairman, Senate Banking and Currency 
             Committee, Cong. Rec. p. 7457, March 16, 1970)

    <bullet> Urged the Congress to enact promptly proposed 
legislation to provide subsidies for housing for low- and 
moderate-income individuals by reducing interest rates on 
mortgages. The proposed bill would permit application to the 
Federal Home Loan Bank System of $250 million to subsidize 
advances to savings and loan associations.
    <bullet> Urged prompt action on a request for supplemental 
appropriation authority adding $50 million to the 1970 
authority available for entering into interest-subsidy 
contracts under the homeownership and rental housing assistance 
programs (Sections 235 and 236).

                Loans to Indians and Tribal Corporations

                  (Public Law 91-229, April 11, 1970)

    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
direct loans from the Farmers Home Administration direct loan 
account and to make and insure loans as provided in the Farmers 
Home Administration Act to any Indian Tribe recognized by the 
Secretary of Interior, or tribal corporation, to acquire lands 
or interests in lands.

                       Council for Urban Affairs

                 (Executive Order 11541, July 1, 1970)

    <bullet> Terminated the Council for Urban Affairs and 
provided that the functions heretofore assigned to that Council 
should be performed by the Domestic Council in the Executive 
Office of the President.

                   Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970

                   (Public Law 91-351, July 24, 1970)

Federal Home Loan Bank System
    <bullet> Authorized to be appropriated up to $250 million 
for use by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board for disbursement to 
the Federal Home Loan Banks for the purpose of adjusting the 
effective interest charged by the banks on short-term and long-
term borrowing to promote an orderly flow of funds into 
residential construction.
    <bullet> Directed the Board to disburse the funds under 
such terms and conditions as would assure that they would be 
used to assist in the provision of housing for low- and middle-
income families.
FNMA Secondary Market for Conventional Mortgages
    <bullet> Expanded the purchase authority of FNMA to permit 
it to purchase conventional mortgages, in addition to the 
Federally-underwritten mortgages it had previously purchased 
and sold.
    <bullet> Limited the purchases generally to mortgages with 
a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 75 percent. This restriction 
did not apply (1) if the excess above the 75 percent was 
privately insured or guaranteed; (2) if the seller agreed, for 
such period and under such circumstances as FNMA required, to 
repurchase or replace the mortgage upon demand of FNMA in the 
event of a default; or (3) if the seller retained a 
participation of at least 10 percent.
    <bullet> Limited the amounts of the mortgages purchased 
under the new authority to comparable limits applicable under 
the FHA Section 203(b) sales housing and Section 207 rental 
housing programs.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation
    <bullet> Created the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 
(FHLMC), with authorization to purchase, and make commitments 
to purchase, mortgages on residential property from any Federal 
Home Loan Bank, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance 
Corporation, any other member of a Federal Home Loan Bank, or 
any financial institution the deposits or accounts of which are 
insured by a Federal agency.
    <bullet> Authorized the Corporation to hold and deal with, 
and sell or otherwise dispose of, mortgages or interests in 
mortgages.
    <bullet> Made the Corporation's authorities and limitations 
substantially similar to those of FNMA in the conventional 
secondary market, as summarized above.
    <bullet> Authorized the Corporation to borrow, to give 
security, to pay interest, and to issue securities, including 
mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Government 
National Mortgage Association.
    <bullet> Made the members of the Federal Home Loan Bank 
Board the Board of Directors of the Corporation. Stock of the 
Corporation was to consist only of nonvoting common stock, 
issued only to Federal Home Loan Banks, which were directed to 
subscribe for such amounts of stock as were prescribed by the 
Corporation. Limited stock subscriptions to a cumulative total 
of $100 million.

GNMA Special Assistance Funds
    <bullet> Provided an additional $1.5 billion in 
Presidential special assistance authority for GNMA. Of this 
amount $750 million was new special assistance authority and 
$750 million was transferred from the emergency special 
assistance program for low- and moderate-income housing.
    <bullet> Authorized GNMA to purchase FHA Section 236 
mortgages on rental housing for low-income families where the 
mortgages cover property receiving local tax abatement benefits 
even though per-unit costs on the property exceed $22,000.

Subsidy for Middle-Income Housing
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make interest-subsidy payments 
to FNMA and the new Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation with 
respect to certain home mortgages purchased by them during 
periods of high mortgage interest rates. The payments were to 
be equal to the difference between the total amount of interest 
per calendar quarter received on the mortgages and the total 
amount of interest which would have been received if the yield 
on the mortgages was equal to (1) the average cost of all 
borrowed funds FNMA or FHLMC had outstanding in the immediately 
preceding quarter plus (2) an amount which HUD determined is 
necessary and appropriate for administrative and other 
expenses.
    <bullet> Required the mortgagor to make monthly payments on 
the mortgage equal to an amount which would be required if the 
mortgage bore an effective interest rate of 7 percent, or such 
higher rate as the mortgagor could pay by applying at least 20 
percent of his income toward homeownership expenses. Required 
that incomes be recertified at least every two years for 
purposes of adjusting the amount of the mortgagor's payment.
    <bullet> Permitted HUD to require that the mortgagor, in 
order to qualify for assistance payments, have an income of not 
more than the median income for the area.
    <bullet> Authorized assistance payments for (1) 
conventional mortgages meeting the requirements of the title, 
(2) VA mortgages, or (3) FHA- insured mortgages, involving a 
single-family dwelling or condominium unit having an appraised 
value of not more than $20,000 ($30,000 in high cost areas). At 
the discretion of HUD, 25 percent of the mortgages insured 
under Title II could cover existing housing. Made mortgages 
insured under the FHA cooperative housing program and covering 
middle- income cooperatives eligible for the assistance 
payments.
    <bullet> Required the aggregate amount of contracts to make 
assistance payments under this program not exceed amounts 
approved in appropriations acts, and limited payments pursuant 
to the contracts to $105 million during the first year of the 
contracts, which amount was increased by an additional $105 
million on July 1 of each of the years 1971 and 1972. After 
June 30, 1973, no interest subsidy payments could be made 
except pursuant to contracts entered into on or before that 
date.

Settlement Costs
    <bullet> Directed HUD and the Administrator of Veterans' 
Affairs, after consultation, to prescribe standards governing 
the amounts of settlement costs allowable in any area in 
connection with the financing of FHA and VA-assisted housing.
    <bullet> Directed them to make a joint study and report 
recommendations to the Congress no later than one year after 
enactment of the Act, as to legislative and administrative 
actions to reduce and standardize settlement costs.

Urban Renewal and Public Housing Loans
    <bullet> Provided that, from July 24, 1970 until July 1, 
1972, urban renewal and public housing loans could bear 
interest at a rate less than the applicable going Federal rate 
but at not less than 6 percent in cases where HUD determined 
this was necessary because of interest rate limitations of 
State laws.

New Community Obligations
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to issue obligations to the 
Treasury in an amount sufficient to enable it to make timely 
payments of liabilities incurred as a result of the guarantees 
covering the obligations of new community developers, when 
amounts in the guarantee fund from fees, charges and other 
receipts were inadequate to make the payments.

Federal Savings and Loan Associations
    <bullet> Authorized Federally-chartered savings and loan 
associations to engage in statewide lending in States where 
State-chartered associations were allowed to engage in such 
lending.
    <bullet> Raised the per-dwelling-unit limit on loans made 
by the associations from $40,000 to $45,000.

College Housing
    <bullet> Increased the limit on the aggregate amount of 
contracts which could be entered into to make annual debt 
service grants to help college housing facilities by $2.1 
million.

               Emergency Community Facilities Act of 1970

                  (Public Law 91-431, October 6, 1970)

    <bullet> Authorized the appropriation of $1 billion for 
grants for urgently needed basic water and sewer facilities 
under Section 702 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 
1965 (P.L. 89-117); made the balance of the authorization under 
that Act available for appropriation; and extended for one year 
the time within which a community could qualify for a basic 
water and sewer facility even though its program for an area-
wide system, though under preparation, was not completed.

            Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1970

                 (Public Law 91-453, October 15, 1970)

    <bullet> Authorized a new program of 10-year loans to 
States and public bodies or their agencies to acquire real 
property for use as rights of way, station sites, and related 
purposes of urban mass transportation systems, including the 
net cost of property management and relocation payments.
    <bullet> Provided that a grant agreement for construction 
of facilities under the Act could provide for forgiveness of 
repayment of the principal and accrued interest on a loan then 
outstanding, in lieu of a cash grant in the amount forgiven.
    <bullet> Provided that the interest rate was to be 
determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into 
consideration current average market yield on outstanding 
marketable obligations of the U.S. with comparable maturities, 
plus an allowance adequate to cover administrative costs and 
probable losses under the program.
    <bullet> Limited the loan maturity to 40 years.
    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Transportation, to 
finance grants and loans, to incur contractual obligations 
after enactments of the law up to $3.1 billion, less amounts 
appropriated pursuant to this Act and the amount appropriated 
to the Urban Mass Transportation Fund by Public Law 91-168. 
Authorized to be appropriated up to $80 million prior to July 
1, 1971, and this amount could be increased to not to exceed an 
aggregate of $310 million prior to July 1, 1972, and annual 
increases thereafter through 1975 up to the aggregate of $3.1 
billion. Required that requests for authorizations to meet the 
commitments of the law be submitted at two-year intervals.
    <bullet> Extended the interim program of 50 percent grants 
in urban areas not yet able to meet full area-wide 
comprehensive planning and programming requirements until July 
1, 1972.
    <bullet> Replaced the air pollution requirement of the 1964 
Act with a broad declaration of national policy that special 
effort should be made to preserve the natural beauty of the 
countryside, public parks, and recreation lands, wildlife and 
water fowl refuges, and important historical and cultural 
assets in the planning, designing, and construction of urban 
mass transportation projects. Required the Secretary of 
Transportation to consult with HUD in implementing this policy.
    <bullet> Amended provisions for State limitations on 
grants.
    <bullet> Provided that nothing in the law should affect the 
authority of HUD to make grants under the Urban Mass 
Transportation Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-365) and Reorganization 
Plan 2 of 1968 for projects or activities primarily concerned 
with the relationship of urban transportation systems to the 
comprehensively planned development of urban areas, or the role 
of transportation planning in overall urban planning.
    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of Transportation to 
conduct a study and report within one year on the feasibility 
of providing Federal assistance to help defray the operating 
costs of mass transportation companies in urban areas and of 
any changes in the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 which 
would be necessary in order to provide such assistance.

                        Agricultural Act of 1970

                 (Public Law 91-524, November 30, 1970)

    <bullet> Dealt mainly with functions of the Secretary of 
Agriculture related to open space, recreational facilities, 
areas of natural beauty, and similar matters. In addition 
required the Secretary of HUD and the Secretary of Agriculture 
to submit to the Congress annually a joint report as to their 
efforts during the year to provide assistance to States 
planning for the development of rural multicounty areas not 
included in economically depressed areas under authority of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-448).

  Counseling Services in Independent Offices and HUD Appropriation Act

      (Conference Report to Public Law 91-566, December 17, 1970)

    <bullet> In deleting a request for funds for this program 
the Conferees suggested that any counseling be provided by 
voluntary groups and existing community services. Where such 
services were not available, they could be provided as part of 
the normal mortgage insurance and initiation and servicing 
activities.

                    Federal Aid Highway Act of 1970

                 (Public Law 91-605, December 31, 1970)

    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Commerce to approve as 
a part of the cost of construction of any project on any 
Federal aid system, the cost of (1) constructing new housing, 
(2) acquiring existing housing, (3) rehabilitating existing 
housing, and (4) relocating existing housing as replacement 
housing for individuals and families where a proposed project 
on the Federal aid system cannot proceed to actual construction 
because replacement housing is not available and cannot be made 
available.

                      Disaster Relief Act of 1970

                 (Public Law 91-606, December 31, 1970)

    <bullet> Authorized Director of OEP to provide temporary 
housing or other emergency shelter, including but not limited 
to mobile homes or other readily fabricated dwellings, for 
those who as a result of a major disaster required temporary 
housing or emergency shelter. For the first 12 months of 
occupancy no rentals were to be established for such 
accommodations.
    <bullet> Authorized sale of any such emergency housing 
acquired by purchase directly to occupants at fair and 
equitable prices.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to provide temporary 
assistance for up to a year in the form of mortgage or rental 
payments to or on behalf of individuals and families, who as a 
result of financial hardship caused by a major disaster have 
received written notice of dispossession or eviction or 
termination of lease.
    <bullet> Liberalized the disaster loan authorities of the 
Small Business Administration and the Farmers Home 
Administration.
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs 
to agree to modification of the terms of housing loans made, 
guaranteed or held by him to provide forbearance in individual 
cases, and to provide counseling to home owners concerning the 
disaster assistance available.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to refinance any note or obligation 
held by it in connection with any loan made by the Department, 
where it finds such refinancing necessary because of the loss, 
destruction, or damage as a result of a major disaster to 
property or facilities securing the obligations, and to 
authorize suspension in the payment of principal and interest 
and extension of the maturities up to five years.
    <bullet> Authorized the Small Business Administration and 
the Farmers Home Administration to make loans to business 
enterprises in such amounts as might be necessary to enable 
them to resume operations.
    <bullet> Authorized priorities under the public housing law 
and other laws providing assistance for public facilities be 
given to applications from public bodies situated in major 
disaster areas. (Repealed, with some exceptions, by Disaster 
Relief Act of 1974, P.L. 93-288, May 22, 1974.)

               Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970

                 (Public Law 91-609, December 31, 1970)

Amendment to FHA Insurance Programs
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of an FHA-insured 
mortgage financing a hospital from $25 million to $50 million.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA to insure mortgages financing new 
or rehabilitated proprietary hospitals.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA insurance for supplemental loans to 
finance improvements to multifamily projects and certain health 
facilities which were originally covered by FHA-insured 
mortgages but were presently covered by uninsured mortgages 
held by the Secretary of HUD.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of an FHA-insured 
mobile-home loan to $15,000 when the unit was composed of two 
or more modules. Permitted the term of the loan in such a case 
to be 15 years 32 days (previously 12 years 32 days).

Federal National Mortgage Association
    <bullet> Authorized FNMA, with the approval of HUD, to 
establish the minimum stock purchase requirements applied to 
those who sell mortgages to FNMA. (Previously, the law required 
not less than 1 percent nor more than 2 percent of the unpaid 
principal amount of the mortgages sold.)

Low- and Moderate-Income Programs
    <bullet> Authorized technical assistance and advice with 
respect to individual tenants and homeowners assisted under HUD 
programs in addition to nonprofit sponsors of multifamily 
housing.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make grants to support (1) the 
training of persons, particularly persons of low-income, in the 
management of low- and moderate-income housing, and (2) the 
conduct of research and information programs related to the 
management of such housing.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide information and advice 
to nonprofit organizations desiring to sponsor housing projects 
assisted under HUD programs.
    <bullet> Authorized the Administrator of General Services 
to dispose of Federal surplus land to HUD for the construction 
of low- and moderate-income sales housing and related public 
commercial and industrial facilities. (Previously, the law 
authorized such disposal only for low- and moderate-income 
rental or cooperative housing.)
  Sections 235 and 236 Interest-Reduction Programs
    <bullet> Authorized up to 30 percent of the total amount of 
contracts for Section 235 homeownership assistance payments to 
be made with respect to nonrehabilitated existing dwellings or 
dwelling units in existing projects. At least 10 percent of the 
total amount of such contracts was to be available for use only 
with respect to rehabilitated dwellings.
    <bullet> Eliminated the requirement that a two-family 
dwelling must be purchased with the assistance of a nonprofit 
organization in order to be eligible for assistance under the 
Section 235 program.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make expenditures to correct, or 
to compensate the owner of a Section 235 home for structural or 
other defects which seriously affect the use and liveability of 
the home if the home was more than one year old on the date of 
insurance commitment for the mortgage. Time limits for 
application for the assistance were set, and the defect must be 
one that a proper inspection could reasonably be expected to 
disclose.
    <bullet> Permitted Section 235 homeownership payments to be 
made on behalf of lower- income members of cooperative housing 
projects financed with aid under a State or local program where 
the projects were approved by HUD prior to the completion of 
construction or substantial rehabilitation.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, in computing the amount of rental 
assistance payments for Section 236 rental housing, to treat 
fees and charges imposed on mortgagors participating in State 
or locally financed mortgage lending programs in the same 
manner as FHA charged mortgage insurance premiums.
    <bullet> Permitted rental assistance payments under the 
Section 236 program, and rent supplement payments to be made 
with respect to rental or cooperative housing projects financed 
with aid under a State or local program without regard to the 
time at which construction or rehabilitation of the project was 
completed. (This assistance was previously limited to projects 
approved prior to completion of construction or 
rehabilitation.)
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to enter into contracts with States 
or State agencies under which interest-reduction payments would 
be paid with respect to all or part of a Section 236 rental 
housing project.
  Public Housing
    <bullet> Repealed the grant program for tenants services in 
public housing projects and authorized such services to be 
financed out of project income and annual contributions 
payment.
    <bullet> Required at least 30 percent of the units under 
contracts entered into under this new authority or under any 
subsequent law to be provided under the Section 23 leasing 
provisions of the United States Housing Act of 1937.
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the term of a Section 23 lease 
contract from five to 10 years, but no renewal of any such 
contract could result in a total term exceeding 20 years (15 
years in the case of an existing structure).
    <bullet> Directed HUD to encourage local public housing 
agencies to develop congregate housing for the displaced, 
elderly and handicapped, and provided that not more than 10 
percent of the total contracts for annual contributions entered 
into in any fiscal year pursuant to the new authority granted 
in the Act or subsequent acts be entered into with respect to 
this type of housing.
    <bullet> Provided a statutory definition of income for the 
purpose of establishing maximum rentals at one-fourth of tenant 
income.
    <bullet> Provided a new formula for establishing 
construction cost limits for public housing projects. 
Authorized HUD to determine periodically, and publish in the 
Federal Register, prototype construction costs for each area 
based on prevailing cost factors. The development cost of any 
project could not exceed by more than 10 percent the 
appropriate prototype cost for the area.
    <bullet> Provided that annual contributions contracts could 
be amended or superseded to assure the low-rent character of 
the projects involved and to achieve and maintain adequate 
operating and maintenance services and reserve funds, including 
payments of outstanding debts.
    <bullet> Added a provision to the public housing law 
setting forth the sense of the Congress that no tenant should 
be barred from serving on the Board of Directors or similar 
governing body of a local public housing agency because of his 
tenancy in a low-rent housing project.
  Congregate Housing
    <bullet> Made FHA mortgage insurance available to 
congregate housing to be occupied by displaced, elderly, or 
handicapped persons under the Sections 221 and 236 programs, 
and authorized rent supplements to be paid to the owners of 
rental projects to be occupied by such persons.

Experimental Housing Allowance Program
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to conduct research programs to 
demonstrate the feasibility of providing low-income families 
(those families eligible for occupancy in public housing 
projects in an area) with housing allowances to assist them in 
obtaining existing standard rental housing of their choice. The 
housing allowance could not exceed the difference between 25 
percent of the family's income and the fair market rental of 
similar-sized units or projects receiving rent supplement 
benefits.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to contract with public or private 
organizations to help select eligible families.
    <bullet> Authorized contracts to make annual housing 
allowance payments up to $10 million for each of fiscal years 
1972 and 1973. The program was to terminate June 30, 1973.
Urban Renewal
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to permit payment to displaced 
business concerns of fixed amounts (in lieu of their total 
certified actual moving expenses) where it determined that it 
is impractical for a displaced business concern to calculate 
the amounts of such expenses.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, where a local urban renewal 
agency, due to circumstances beyond its control did not expect 
to be able in the reasonably near future to dispose of 
remaining urban renewal project land, to compute the net 
project cost and close out the project at no additional cost to 
the locality.

Prevention of Housing Abandonment
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to undertake programs to 
demonstrate the most feasible means of providing assistance to 
localities in arresting the process of housing abandonment or 
was restoring viability to blighted areas in which abandonment 
was pervasive. Provided grants to assist local public bodies in 
planning and implementing demonstration projects in designated 
demonstration areas. Projects could include, but were not 
limited to:
          1. acquisition of real property within the 
        demonstration area;
          2. repair of streets, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, 
        publicly owned utilities, and public buildings to meet 
        needs consistent with the revitalization and continued 
        use of the area;
          3. demolition of structures determined to be 
        structurally unsound;
          4. establishment of recreational or community 
        facilities;
          5. improvement of garbage and trash collection, 
        street cleaning and other essential services;
          6. rehabilitation of privately and publicly owned 
        real property by the locality; and
          7. establishment and operation of locally controlled, 
        nonprofit housing management corporations and municipal 
        repair programs.
    <bullet> Permitted real property held as a part of a 
project to be made available for use in the provision of new or 
rehabilitated housing for families of low or moderate income. 
For this purpose it could be sold or leased at fair market 
value for its proposed use to limited dividend corporations, 
nonprofit corporations, cooperatives or public bodies or 
agencies, or to other approved purchasers or lessees, or to a 
purchaser who would be eligible for a mortgage insured under 
FHA's Section 221, 235, or 236 programs of housing for low-
income families.
    <bullet> Authorized to be appropriated for demonstration 
grants under the program up to $20 million for fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1971. Any amounts appropriated remain available 
until expended and any amount authorized but not appropriated 
may be appropriated for any succeeding fiscal year commencing 
prior to July 1, 1972.
    <bullet> Provided that grants could not exceed 90 percent 
of the net project cost and that not more than one-third of the 
aggregate amount of grants made in any fiscal year could be 
made with respect to projects undertaken by one locality.
    <bullet> Required HUD to report annually to the Congress 
with respect to the status of demonstration projects.

Title VI--Crime Insurance
    <bullet> Provided direct Federal insurance for properties 
located in areas where statewide programs and the Federal 
reinsurance program do not provide crime insurance coverage, or 
do so only at prohibitive rates.
    <bullet> Required HUD to review the market availability of 
crime insurance in each State. If a critical unavailability 
problem was found to exist in any State at any time on or after 
August 1, 1971, HUD could make available direct Federal crime 
insurance at affordable rates. However, no such insurance may 
be made available to a property which HUD determined to be 
uninsurable or to a property with respect to which reasonable 
protective measures, consistent with Federal criteria, had not 
been adopted.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to consider various factors which 
affect the nature of the hazard and the degree of risk involved 
when estimating affordable rates. Authorized it to adopt either 
uniform national rates or rates varying by States and 
territories, and to make modification of rates as appropriate.
    <bullet> Required HUD to include in reports to Congress 
complete information concerning the operation of the crime 
insurance program.
    <bullet> Authorized the use of Treasury borrowings under 
Section 520(b) of the National Housing Act for the purposes of 
the direct Federal crime insurance program.
    <bullet> Required HUD, through an Office of Review and 
Compliance under the Federal Insurance Administrator, to review 
periodically each plan established under this title of the 1970 
law in order to make sure that essential property insurance was 
readily available in areas where the FAIR plan was intended to 
operate and identify any aspect of such plan which might 
require revision.

Open-Space Land Programs
    <bullet> Amended Title VII of the Housing Act of 1961 (P.L. 
87-70, June 30, 1961), which authorized grants for open-space 
land, urban beautification, and historic preservation, to 
authorize a single program of grants for:
          (i) acquisition of title to, or other interests in, 
        open- space land in urban areas, and
          (ii) the development of open-space or other land in 
        urban areas for open-space uses, including historic 
        preservation.
    <bullet> Provided that grants could not exceed 50 percent 
of the eligible project cost of the acquisition or development. 
It was made clear that grants could be made to (1) help acquire 
less than fee interests in open-space land, and (2) help 
develop, for open- space uses, lands which were not originally 
acquired with assistance under the program. Fifty percent of 
the non-Federal share of eligible project costs could be made 
up by donations of land or materials.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide advice and technical 
assistance to States and local public bodies.
    <bullet> Provided that grants could be made under the 
program only if HUD found that the assistance was needed for 
carrying out a unified or officially coordinated program, 
meeting its criteria, for the provision and development of 
open-space land. Required the program to be either a part of, 
or consistent with, the comprehensively planned development of 
the urban area.
    <bullet> Prohibited the conversion to other uses of open-
space land acquired with assistance under the program, without 
prior approval by HUD.
    <bullet> Authorized special 75 percent grants for the 
acquisition of undeveloped or predominantly underdeveloped land 
which, if withheld from development, would have special 
significance in helping to shape economic and desirable 
patterns of urban growth, including growth related to the 
development of new communities.
    <bullet> Authorized not to exceed $560 million to be 
appropriated for the program prior to July 1, 1972.

Title VII--Urban Growth and New Community Development Act of 1970
    <bullet> Made statements of policy, purpose and certain 
general findings, and declared that the Federal Government must 
assume responsibility for development of a national urban 
growth policy related to seven enumerated objectives dealing 
with such matters as economic growth, strengthened institutions 
of general government, balanced use of physical and human 
resources, etc.
    <bullet> Phased out Title IV of the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 1968 (P.L. 90- 448, August 1, 1968), except 
with respect to previously made new community guarantees, 
commitments to guarantee, or project approval.
  New Communities
    <bullet> Established a Community Development Corporation 
within HUD, with a five- member Board of Directors one of whom 
was the Secretary. The President was to appoint a General 
Manager and the Secretary the remaining three members.
    <bullet> Authorized the Corporation to guarantee the bonds, 
or other obligations issued by private developers and State 
land development agencies to help finance approved new 
community development programs. No obligation of a State land 
development agency could be guaranteed if the income from the 
obligation was exempt from Federal taxation, but grants could 
in such cases be made not exceeding the difference between the 
interest paid on the obligations and the interest on similar 
tax exempt obligations.
    <bullet> Provided that the outstanding principal 
obligations guaranteed for a single project could not exceed 
(1) in the case of a State land development agency, 100 percent 
of HUD's estimate of the value of the real property before 
development and its estimate of the actual cost of the land 
development, or (2) in the case of a private new community 
development, the sum of 80 percent of HUD's estimate of the 
value of the land before development and 90 percent of its 
estimate of the actual cost of the land development.
    <bullet> Limited the outstanding principal obligations 
guaranteed under the program to not more than $50,000,000 for a 
single project or $500,000,000 for all projects.
    <bullet> Authorized the Corporation to make loans to 
qualified private new community developers and State land 
development agencies to assist them in making interest payments 
on indebtedness for approved new community development 
programs.
    <bullet> Provided that the loans could not exceed the 
interest payable on indebtedness attributable to land 
acquisition or land development and outstanding during an 
initial development period (not over 15 years) which was prior 
to the time when land marketing had reached such a volume that 
continued development was possible without the benefit of 
further loans.
    <bullet> Required repayment of loans on terms satisfactory 
to the Secretary, commencing when the development's progress 
and marketing permit, but not later than 15 years after the 
loan was made. Interest on the loans was to be at an annual 
rate equal to the average yield to maturity on all marketable 
U.S. obligations with a maturity of three or more years which 
were outstanding prior to the beginning of the six-month period 
during which the contract for the loan was entered into, plus 
one-eighth of 1 percent per annum.
    <bullet> Limited the loans outstanding at any time for a 
single new community development program to not more than $20 
million. Limited total advances outstanding at any time for all 
projects to not more than $240 million.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make grants to a public new 
community developer or a State or local public body to cover 
the cost of essential municipal services during the early years 
(not over three) of a new community development, and authorized 
appropriations.
    <bullet> Required that guarantees and loans be made only 
for those new community development programs which HUD 
determined to represent an acceptable financial risk to the 
United States.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to establish a revolving fund to 
provide for (1) timely payment of liabilities resulting from 
guarantees, (2) the making of loans, and (3) repayment of 
obligations issued to the Secretary of the Treasury. Authorized 
HUD to issue obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury in 
amounts necessary.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make supplementary grants to 
States and local public bodies carrying out various public 
facilities projects in support of new communities and assisted 
by grants under various Federal laws. Limited these 
supplementary grants to 20 percent of project costs and 
provided they could not bring total Federal grants above 80 
percent of cost.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations for supplementary grants 
up to $36 million for fiscal year 1971 and $66 million for each 
of the fiscal years 1972 and 1973, and additional sums as 
necessary thereafter. Made available the $30 million authorized 
for supplementary grants under Title IV of the Housing and 
Urban Development Act of 1968.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to provide technical assistance to 
developers in connection with planning and carrying out new 
community development programs.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, until June 30, 1975, to agree to 
provide aid to private new community developers and State land 
development agencies in support of certain planning work 
involved in developing new community development programs, up 
to two-thirds of the cost of the work.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to establish fees for guarantees 
and to make other reasonable charges for services, such as 
analysis of applications, appraisals and inspections, and other 
costs incurred.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD upon specific authorization by the 
President, and with funds made available by the Congress, to 
carry out large scale new community development projects on 
Federal lands to serve as models for new community development 
by other developers. Waived the population limit (50,000) 
applicable to jurisdictions eligible to receive public facility 
loans under the Housing Amendments of 1955, in the case of 
public facilities serving new communities.
    <bullet> Authorized national banks and Federal savings and 
loan associations to invest in obligations guaranteed under the 
new community program.
    <bullet> Directed HUD to encourage the formulation of 
specific plans and programs for guiding and controlling urban 
growth within the States, regions or areas, and authorized 
grants for up to 75 percent of the cost of activities otherwise 
eligible under the planning grant program which were necessary 
to the development or implementation of plans or programs for 
guiding and controlling urban growth.

Development of Inner City Areas
    <bullet> Amended the definition of ``urban renewal 
project'' in the urban renewal law to include the acquisition 
by a local public agency of land or space which was vacant, 
unused, underused, or inappropriately used, if HUD determined 
that the land or space could be developed at a reasonable cost 
without major residential clearance activities, and with full 
consideration to the preservation of beneficial features of the 
urban and natural environment for uses consistent with emphasis 
on housing for low- and moderate-income facilities. The 
acquisition of land under this provision was exempted from the 
provision in the urban renewal law which prohibits grants for 
urban renewal projects consisting of open land.

Rural Housing
    <bullet> Raised the limits on the loans for rural housing 
for elderly persons from $300,000 to $750,000.
    <bullet> Amended the definition of ``rural area'' for the 
purposes of the rural housing program authorized by Title V of 
the Housing Act of 1949 (P.L. 81-171, April 15, 1949) to mean 
any open country, or any place, town, village, or city which is 
not part of or associated with an urban area and which (1) has 
a population of not more than 2,500 persons, or (2) which has a 
population of more than 2,500 persons but not exceeding 10,000 
(previously 5,500) if it is rural in character.

    The Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition 
                          Policies Act of 1970

                  (Public Law 91-646, January 2, 1971)

    <bullet> Established policies governing land acquisition 
and relocation benefits for all Federal or Federally-assisted 
projects carried out by Federal agencies, and required that 
equivalent policies and benefits be adopted by States as a 
condition of eligibility for Federal assistance to State 
projects.

Relocation Benefits
    <bullet> Provided that persons and businesses displaced as 
a result of land acquisition in connection with a covered 
project (or a project of concentrated code enforcement) be paid 
actual reasonable moving expenses, plus amounts equal to loss 
of tangible personal property and actual expenses of searching 
for a replacement business or farm.
    <bullet> Provided, alternatively, that displaced persons 
could elect to receive payments in fixed amounts for moving 
expenses (not to exceed $300) and dislocation ($200). Owners of 
displaced businesses could elect to receive a fixed sum equal 
to the average annual earnings before taxes during the 
preceding two tax years, but not less than $2,500 nor more than 
$10,000. Such payments could not be made to businesses which 
could be relocated without substantial loss, or which were 
parts of commercial enterprises doing business in more than one 
location.
    <bullet> Provided that, in addition, displaced homeowners 
were entitled to payments up to $15,000 toward the cost of 
acquiring decent, safe and sanitary homes, including incidental 
acquisition costs and increased costs of financing.
    <bullet> Provided that persons displaced from rental 
property could receive payments toward the rental of decent, 
safe and sanitary housing for up to four years, but not to 
exceed $4,000, or alternatively payments toward the purchase of 
such a home up to $2,000, plus an additional $2,000 if equally 
matched by the home purchaser in making a downpayment.
    <bullet> Required that agencies administering Federal or 
Federally-assisted programs or projects resulting in 
displacement provide a variety of specified relocation 
assistance services to displaced persons, including detailed 
information on the availability of decent, safe and sanitary 
housing for sale or rental in the area, information concerning 
Federal and State housing programs, and other services designed 
to minimize relocation hardships.
    <bullet> Authorized agencies as a last resort, where 
adequate relocation housing could not be provided or located by 
other means, to provide such housing as a project expense.
    <bullet> Made relocation costs and payments eligible 
project costs to be met or assisted by the Federal agency to 
the same extent as other project costs, except that up to July 
1, 1972, the Federal Government was to bear the full cost up to 
$25,000 in an individual case of displacement under a program 
assisted by grants or contributions.

Land Acquisition
    <bullet> Required, where real property was to be acquired, 
that every effort be made to accomplish this expeditiously 
through negotiation. Required an appraisal of the property to 
be made in the presence of the owner, and that the agency make 
an offer to purchase at a stated price not less than the 
appraised value. Any decrease or increase in value attributable 
to the project or program could not be considered in the 
appraisal. Required that the basis of the price offered be 
explained to the owner in writing.
    <bullet> Provided that owners could not be required to 
surrender possession prior to payment of the agreed purchase 
price, or deposit with a court pending condemnation of an 
amount not less than the fair market value of the property.
    <bullet> Required insofar as possible that owners receive 
at least 90 days written notice to move.
    <bullet> Prohibited agencies from bringing pressure to bear 
on owners to settle, by such means as accelerating or delaying 
negotiations or condemnation. Where acquisition of part of a 
property would leave an uneconomic remainder, required agencies 
to acquire the whole property.
    <bullet> Required agencies acquiring real property to 
obtain a like interest in any buildings, structures and 
improvements on the land and to pay their fair market value.
    <bullet> Required in cases of unsuccessful condemnation 
proceedings, that owners be compensated for their reasonable 
costs of litigation.

Laws Repealed
    <bullet> Repealed specific provisions of law dealing with 
the same subject matter in a variety of individual programs, 
including relevant provisions of the statutes authorizing the 
urban renewal, public housing, model cities, and urban mass 
transportation programs.

               Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act

                 (Public Law 91-695, January 13, 1971)

    <bullet> Required HUD, in consultation with HEW, to develop 
and carry out a demonstration and research program to determine 
the nature and extent of lead-based paint poisoning in the U.S. 
and the methods by which these paints could effectively be 
removed from surfaces of housing to which children might be 
exposed.
    <bullet> Required a report on findings and recommendations 
be submitted to Congress within one year after enactment.
    <bullet> Authorized appropriations of $3.5 million during 
fiscal years 1971-73, to remain available until expended.

                Presidential State of the Union Message

                    (H. Doc. 92-1, January 22, 1971)

    <bullet> Proposed enactment of six broad but special 
revenue sharing programs, in addition to general revenue 
sharing (already enacted). Three of the proposed programs were 
special revenue sharing for, respectively, community 
development, rural development, and transportation.
    <bullet> Proposed a major reorganization of the Executive 
Branch, under which the 12 Cabinet Departments would be 
consolidated into 8, one of which would be a new Department of 
Community Development.

          Presidential Message on Urban Community Development

                     (H. Doc. 92-61, March 8, 1971)

Special Revenue Sharing
    <bullet> Outlined the deficiencies found to be inherent in 
the system of categorical grant programs for community 
development purposes, and proposed in their place a new special 
revenue sharing program. Initially, this program was to cover 
activities previously carried out under urban renewal, model 
cities, water and sewer grants, and rehabilitation loans. 
Later, elements of the OEO community action programs were to be 
added. Proposed that the new program be activated on January 1, 
1972.
    <bullet> Contemplated distribution formulas in the 
authorizing statute which would govern allocation of 80 percent 
of the funds, with specified amounts going to SMSA's, to cities 
of more than 50,000 population, and to small communities. 
Proposed also a ``hold harmless'' formula to assure that no 
recipient would be cut below the level of support previously in 
effect under the categorical grant approach. Proposed that 20 
percent of the funds would be available to HUD for 
distribution.

New Planning and Management Program
    <bullet> Recommended a new $100 million planning and 
management assistance program, primarily to assist chief 
executives of States and other units of general government not 
only in planning and management of community development 
activities but also in connection with such areas as 
transportation, education, law enforcement, etc.

  Presidential Message on Special Revenue Sharing for Rural Community 
                              Development

                    (H. Doc. 92-66, March 10, 1971)

    <bullet> Proposed a new program of special revenue sharing 
for rural development which would include, among other things, 
aid to rural water and waste disposal projects, but would not 
include the rural housing programs. Proposed that the new 
program would be originally administered in the Department of 
Agriculture, but ultimately was intended to be lodged (along 
with the community development program) in the proposed new 
Department of Community Development.

      Presidential Message on Special Revenue Sharing Program for 
                             Transportation

                    (H. Doc. 92-71, March 18, 1971)

    <bullet> Proposed a new special revenue sharing program for 
transportation, to consolidate a number of categorical grant 
programs dealing not only with urban mass transportation but 
also Federal aids to airports and to highways (other than the 
interstate system).
    <bullet> Proposed that the fund would be divided into two 
main elements general transportation and urban mass 
transportation. With respect to the latter, funds would be 
distributed to the States according to a formula based on the 
share of each in the national population living in SMSA's. 
Other formulas would govern further distribution of the funds, 
with the bulk going to cities with populations of more than a 
million.

           Presidential Message on Government Reorganization

                    (H. Doc. 92-75, March 25, 1971)

    <bullet> Transmitted four bills to the Congress, intended 
to consolidate seven existing Cabinet Departments and a number 
of other agencies into four new Departments, namely, those of 
Natural Resources; Community Development; Human Resources; and 
Economic Affairs. Proposed a new Department of Community 
Development to operate through three major administrations: a 
housing administration, a community transportation 
administration, and an urban rural development administration. 
A fourth unit, the Federal Insurance Administration, would be 
set up administratively by the Secretary.
    <bullet> Proposed that the new Department of Community 
Development absorb the present Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. Other components would include certain elements of 
the Economic Development Administration, and the Regional 
Commission programs from the Department of Commerce, the 
independent Appalachian Regional Commission, various Department 
of Agriculture programs, including water and waste disposal 
grants and loans, the Rural Electrification Administration and 
rural housing programs, the community action and special impact 
programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity, the public 
library construction grant program from the Department of 
Health, Education and Welfare, and certain disaster assistance 
functions handled by the Office of Emergency Preparedness and 
the Small Business Administration. Proposed transfer of most 
Federal highway programs and the Urban Mass Transportation 
Administration from the present Department of Transportation.
    <bullet> Stressed the importance of decentralizing 
government activities as much as possible, including a reform 
of the field structure of the Federal Government.

           The Construction Industry Stabilization Committee

                (Executive Order 11588, March 29, 1971)

    <bullet> Established the Construction Industry 
Stabilization Committee to assure general conformance of any 
increase in any wage or salary in the construction industry to 
the provisions of this order.
    <bullet> Stated that its purpose, among others, was to 
establish an arrangement for the application of general 
criteria by an operating structure with a minimum of government 
involvement and sanctions within which labor and management 
could act to effectuate the stabilization of wages and prices 
consistent with and in furtherance of effective collective 
bargaining in the industry.
    <bullet> Named the Secretary of HUD to chair the 
Interagency Committee on Construction.

        Appalachian Regional Development Act Amendments of 1971

                   (Public Law 92-65, August 5, 1971)

    <bullet> Amended the Appalachian Regional Development Act 
of 1965 provisions for assistance to low- and moderate-income 
housing in the region to provide for the making of grants to 
nonprofit limited dividend or cooperative organizations or 
public bodies for planning and obtaining FHA mortgage financing 
under the Sections 221, 235 and 236 programs. Authorized HUD to 
make grants, grant commitments, and advances to nonprofit 
organizations and public bodies for site development costs, and 
offsite improvements when it found that these projects were 
essential to the feasibility of housing projects for low- and 
moderate- income families. Limited a grant to not more than 10 
percent of the cost of the housing project.
    <bullet> Authorized the Appalachian Commission, in addition 
to the action of HUD, to provide or contract for information, 
advice and technical assistance with respect to construction, 
rehabilitation, and operation of low- and moderate-income 
housing in the region.
    <bullet> Broadened the supplemental grant-in-aid authority 
to permit supplemental grants when funds available under basic 
Federal grant-in-aid programs were insufficient.

              Substantive Provisions in Appropriation Act

                  (Public Law 92-78, October 10, 1971)

    <bullet> Continued the limitation stated in the fiscal 1968 
appropriation act (P.L. 90-121, November 3, 1967) that grants 
could not exceed 50 percent of eligible costs, but provided an 
exception for grants pursuant to Section 706 of the Housing Act 
of 1961, as amended (acquisition of interests), which could be 
up to 75 percent. (Language in the same form was included in 
the 1973 appropriation act.)

     Amendments to the Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act

                (Public Law 92- 173, November 24, 1971)

    <bullet> Authorized the insurance of loans made to be sold 
and insured in accordance with and subject to the provisions of 
that Act for disaster loans.

                 Job Development Investment Tax Credit

                 (Public Law 92-178, December 10, 1971)

    <bullet> Authorized a 7 percent job development investment 
tax credit, generally effective August 15, 1971, with respect 
to domestic property. If a taxpayer should elect the special 
five-year amortization provided for pollution control 
facilities, rehabilitation of low-income housing, job training 
facilities or day care facilities, the property subject to the 
amortization election would not be eligible for the investment 
credit.

                        Farm Credit Act of 1971

                 (Public Law 92-181, December 10, 1971)

    <bullet> Rewrote the statutory authority of the farm credit 
system to modernize and improve the authorizations and means 
for furnishing such credit and credit for housing in rural 
areas made available through the institutions constituting the 
farm credit system.
    <bullet> Authorized Federal land banks and Production 
Credit Associations to make loans to rural residents for single 
family moderate price dwellings and their appurtenances not 
inconsistent with the general quality and standards of housing 
existing in, planned or recommended for the rural area where it 
was located. Housing loans could not exceed 15 percent of the 
total of all loans of a bank or association outstanding.
    <bullet> Defined the term ``rural area'' for the purpose of 
housing loans to include any city or village having a 
population of 2,500 or less.

                       Amendments to Housing Laws

                 (Public Law 92-213, December 22, 1971)

    <bullet> Authorized the Government National Mortgage 
Association for a period of six months, when HUD determined it 
necessary in order to avoid excessive discounts on Federally-
insured or guaranteed mortgages, to issue commitments to 
purchase, and to purchase, mortgages with principal amounts not 
more than 50 percent in excess of $22,000 ($24,500 for four-
bedroom or larger units).
    <bullet> Made any entity for a basic categorical grant 
eligible for a supplemental grant to assist construction of 
public facilities in new communities.
    <bullet> Prohibited the reduction of welfare payments to 
public housing residents who benefit from reduction in rents 
under the public housing law.

                         Foreign Assistance Act

                 (Public Law 92-226, February 7, 1972)

    <bullet> Increased the ceiling on the total authority for 
guarantee of housing projects outside of the Latin American 
countries by $75 million.

                 National Center for Housing Management

                (Executive Order 11668, April 21, 1972)

    <bullet> Directed HUD to call upon private citizens to form 
a private, not for profit National Center for Housing 
Management, to develop study and training programs for housing 
managers for private as well as Federally-aided housing, and 
systems whereby the results could be used by agencies and 
institutions throughout the country.

                      Amendments to Loan Programs

                  (Public Law 92-385, August 16, 1972)

    <bullet> Directed the President to submit recommendations 
to the Congress by January 1, 1973, with respect to disaster 
emergency loans and Farmers Home Administration disaster 
housing loans, to provide equitable coverage, facilitate 
administration, and prevent misuse.
    <bullet> Amended the Small Business Act and the 
Consolidated Farmers Home Administration Act of 1961 to provide 
additional financial assistance to victims of natural 
disasters, including loans for repair, rehabilitation and 
replacement to the extent of losses due to disaster, 
refinancing of outstanding indebtedness against properties 
totally or substantially destroyed; and cancellation of 
principal amounts subject to certain conditions and 
limitations. Provided that these benefits extend only to losses 
not compensated for by insurance or otherwise.
    <bullet> Provided that loans made by the Farmers Home 
Administration under this authority could provide for deferral 
of principal or interest payments, or both, during the first 
three years of the loan term.
    <bullet> Authorized the Small Business Administration to 
suspend for the lifetime of the obligee repayment of principal 
on such home loans for borrowers dependent upon disability or 
pension payments, if the Administrator determined that payment 
would constitute a substantial hardship.

                     Rural Development Act of 1972

                  (Public Law 92-419, August 30, 1972)

    <bullet> Changed name of the Consolidated Farmers Home 
Administration Act of 1961 to Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act.
    <bullet> Authorized loans for essential community 
facilities, such as community centers, firehouses, industrial 
parks, ambulances, and fire and rescue equipment.
    <bullet> Raised the $100 million ceiling on the total 
amount of grants that could be made for water and waste 
disposal project construction to $300 million and prohibited 
such grants if the project was inconsistent with 
multijurisdictional rural development plans, if any.
    <bullet> Amended the definition of the terms ``rural'' and 
``rural area'' to provide that they not include any area in any 
city or town which had a population in excess of 10,000, except 
for the purposes of certain loans and grants for private 
business enterprises.
    <bullet> Authorized grants up to $10 million annually for 
the preparation of comprehensive plans for rural development.
    <bullet> Included a number of new or amendatory provisions 
concerning loans, grants and other forms of assistance to rural 
development undertakings, and providing special arrangements 
for the funding of these programs.

              Economic Opportunity Act Amendments of 1972

                (Public Law 92-424, September 19, 1972)

    <bullet> Authorized a new rural housing development and 
rehabilitation program to assist in the alleviation of housing 
problems of low-income families in rural areas, through loans 
for the purchase of new housing, the repair, rehabilitation and 
purchase of existing housing, and to supplement existing 
Federal loan programs.
    <bullet> Limited the repayment period of a loan to 33 
years.
    <bullet> Required loans to bear interest at not less than 
one percent, but interest payments could be waived in whole or 
in part if it was determined that the applicant would otherwise 
be unable to participate in the program where the adjusted 
family income was not in excess of $3,700 per annum. Where the 
waiver was provided the borrower had to commit at least 20 
percent of his adjusted family income toward the mortgage debt 
service and other housing costs.
    <bullet> Authorized the Director of OEO to make grants for 
the operating expenses of programs conducted by nonprofit 
community-based design and planning organizations to provide 
technical assistance and professional architectural and related 
services to housing, neighborhood facilities, transportation 
and other aspects of community planning and development to 
persons and community organizations or groups not otherwise 
able to afford such assistance.
    <bullet> Required that priority be given to urban or rural 
poverty areas with substandard housing, substandard public 
service facilities, and generally blighted conditions.
    <bullet> Added a new Title VII, entitled Community Economic 
Development. Established programs to assist community 
development and housing; creation of new training, employment 
and ownership opportunities which contribute to an improved 
living environment; and manpower training organizations which 
support housing and community development programs.
    <bullet> Required programs given financial assistance to be 
coordinated with the model cities program, among other things.
    <bullet> Directed HUD after consultation with the Director, 
to take all necessary steps:
          1. to assure that community development corporations 
        assisted under Title VII qualify as sponsors under the 
        low-income housing programs of HUD;
          2. to assure that land for housing and business 
        location and expansion was made available under urban 
        renewal where necessary; and
          3. to assure that funds were available under Section 
        701(b) of the Housing Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-560, August 
        2, 1954) to community development corporations assisted 
        under Title VII.
    <bullet> Limited Federal grants under Title VII to not more 
than 90 percent of the cost of a program unless the Director 
determined that additional assistance was required.
    <bullet> Authorized financial assistance, including 15 year 
loans up to $3,500, for low-income rural families where such 
financial assistance had a reasonable possibility of effecting 
a permanent increase in the income of such families or would 
contribute to the improvement of their living or housing 
conditions by assisting or permitting them to acquire or 
improve real estate, improve the operation of farms, or 
participate in cooperative associations which would enable them 
to supplement their incomes.
    <bullet> Authorized the Director to provide financial 
assistance under Title VII by making or guaranteeing loans up 
to 30 years to community development corporations and to 
cooperatives, where the loan was not otherwise available on 
reasonable terms from private resources, and the amount of the 
loan, together with other funds available, was adequate to 
assure completion of the project.

                       Extension of HUD Programs

                 (Public Law 92-503, October 18, 1972)

    <bullet> Removed the statutory limitation restricting 
annual contributions for public housing to amounts not greater 
than the annual yield on the cost of the project at the going 
Federal rate plus one percent. (As a result of this amendment, 
localities with old projects financed with low-interest 
obligations were made eligible to receive operating subsidies 
on an equal basis with those projects financed in recent years 
at higher rates of interest.)

                 State and Local Assistance Act of 1978

                 (Public Law 92-512, October 20, 1972)

    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of the Treasury to pay out 
of the Trust Fund created by the law the entitlements provided 
by the law to the State and local governments.
    <bullet> Provided that funds received by local governments 
could be used only for priority expenditures as defined, and 
that no State or local government could use directly or 
indirectly any part of the funds received under this provision 
as a contribution for the purpose of obtaining Federal funds.

                 Preparation of History of Public Works

                 (Public Law 92-564, October 25, 1972)

    <bullet> Adopted a Joint Resolution approving the 
preparation and publication of the ``History of Public Works in 
the United States from 1776 to 1976'' by the American Public 
Works Association, and resolving that all public-works-oriented 
Federal agencies, and the Library of Congress, and the 
appropriate Congressional Committees were requested to 
cooperate in carrying this important project forward.

     Impoundment of Housing Subsidy and Community Development Funds

 (Speech by the Secretary of HUD, to the National Association of Home 
                       Builders, January 8, 1973)

    <bullet> Announced that effective January 5, the 
Administration had stopped all new commitments under the 
housing subsidy programs, including low-rent public housing, 
water and sewer facility grants, open space land grants, and 
public facility loans.
    <bullet> Stated that the freeze on new commitments for 
housing assistance would last until the existing programs had 
been reevaluated and that the ban on the listed community 
development activities would continue until they were included 
in a community development special revenue sharing program.
    <bullet> Indicated that similar action would be taken with 
respect to urban renewal and model cities programs at the end 
of the fiscal year (June 30).

                   Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1973

       (Compilation of Presidential Documents, January 26, 1973)

    <bullet> Transferred to the President all functions 
previously vested in the Office of Emergency Preparedness and 
abolished the Office of Emergency Preparedness. (The President 
said as soon as the Plan became effective he would delegate the 
Office's former functions for preparedness for and relief of 
civil emergencies and disasters to the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development. See Executive Order 11725, June 27, 
1973)

                      Presidential Budget Message

       (Compilation of Presidential Documents, January 29, 1973)

    <bullet> Repeated Presidential proposal for the creation of 
special revenue sharing programs, including one program of 
``Urban Community Development.''
    <bullet> Announced that no new projects were to be approved 
``under several outmoded and narrowly focused community 
development programs which have not produced benefits that 
justify their costs.'' Discontinued programs included:

                  HUD Programs Suspended or Terminated
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Program                    Action          Effective Date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rent supplements, sec. 235 and     Suspended........   1/5/73
 236, public housing.
College housing.................  Terminated........   Do.
Nonprofit sponsor assistance....   Suspended........   Do.
Public housing modernization....   Do...............   7/30/73
Model cities....................  Terminated........  Do.
Neighborhood facilities.........   Do...............   Do.
Open space land.................   Do...............  1/5/73
Water and sewer facilities......   Do...............   Do.
Urban renewal...................  Do................  7/30/73
Rehabilitation loans............  Do................  Do.
Public facility loans...........  Do................  1/5/73
Community development training     Do...............   7/30/73
 and fellowship grants.
Supplementary grants for new       Do...............  Do.
 communities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Amendments to the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968

                  (Public Law 93-4, February 2, 1973)

    <bullet> Increased from $2.5 billion to $4 billion the 
limit on the face amount of flood insurance coverage authorized 
to be outstanding.

         Substantive Matters in Continuing Appropriations, 1973

                    (Public Law 93-9, March 8, 1973)

    <bullet> Directed the President to report quarterly to the 
Congress on funds impounded, giving reasons for the 
impoundment, and estimated fiscal, economic and budgetary 
effect of the impoundments.

 House Subcommittee on Housing, Hearing on Impoundment of Housing Funds

                            (March 20, 1973)

    <bullet> The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
said a thorough review and evaluation of programs were under 
way and that the President would submit policy recommendations 
within six months.

     Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs, Hearings on 
                              Impoundments

                            (April 3, 1973)

    <bullet> Held oversight hearings on the housing and 
community development programs and Administration impoundment 
of funds for the programs.

           Presidential Veto of Rural Water and Sewer Grants

         (Compilation of Presidential Documents, April 5, 1973)

    <bullet> Vetoed an Act to Restore the Rural Water and Sewer 
Grant program, saying that the rural water and sewer program 
launched eight years ago had been terminated January 1, 1973, 
because it forced the Federal taxpayer to pay for services that 
should be locally financed.
    <bullet> Stated that a grave Constitutional question was 
raised by the bill's provisions mandating the spending of the 
full amount appropriated by Congress. (The House of 
Representatives sustained the President's veto, April 10, 1973)

             Presidential Submission on Disaster Assistance

          (Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 8, 1973)

    <bullet> Submitted to the Congress the Disaster 
Preparedness and Assistance Act of 1973 which resulted from the 
review of disaster preparedness and assistance as called for by 
Public Law 92-385. Stated the major objective of the bill was 
to consolidate responsibility for disaster assistance and 
reduce the number of Federal agencies involved.
    <bullet> Recommended a special Federal grant of $250,000 
for each State (as a transitional measure) to help the States 
increase their disaster preparedness and assistance 
capabilities.

       Amendment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968

                    (Public Law 93-38, June 5, 1973)

    <bullet> Increased the limitation on the face amount of 
flood insurance coverage authorized to be outstanding from $4 
billion to $6 billion.

                            Disaster Relief

                 (Executive Order 11725, June 27, 1973)

    <bullet> Designated HUD to exercise disaster relief 
authorities formerly exercised by the Office of Emergency 
Preparedness under the Disaster Relief Act of 1970 and 
Executive Orders 11575, 11662, and 11678.
    <bullet> Designated the Secretary of HUD to serve as 
Chairman of the National Council on Federal Disaster Assistance 
under Executive Order 11526.

                    GNMA Mortgage Purchase Authority

                 (Executive Order 11732, July 30, 1973)

    <bullet> Delegated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development the power to exercise the functions of the 
President under Sections 301 and 305 of the National Housing 
Act relating to the purchase of mortgages by the Government 
National Mortgage Association in connection with its special 
assistance functions, and the determination that such action is 
in the public interest.

         Amendment of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964

                  (Public Law 93-87, August 13, 1973)

    <bullet> Increased the Federal share of capital grants and 
the contract authority under the Act, and permitted grants for 
technical studies relating to planning, engineering, design and 
evaluation of urban mass transportation projects.
    <bullet> Authorized funds to be appropriated out of the 
Highway Trust Fund for the construction of highways connected 
to the Interstate system in portions of urbanized areas with 
high traffic density.
    <bullet> Directed the Secretary of Transportation to make 
an evaluation, in cooperation with State Governors and local 
officials, of the portion of the 1972 National Transportation 
Report pertaining to public mass transportation, including all 
urban areas, and report to the Congress not later than July 1, 
1974.

          Presidential Message on Housing and Land Use Policy

      (Compilation of Presidential Documents, September 10, 1973)

    <bullet> Urged action on legislation submitted, including 
the National Land Use Policy Act and the Better Communities 
Act.
    <bullet> Reported that the six month study of government 
housing policies, which he had ordered in March, had been 
completed and that he planned to submit shortly a new set of 
housing program recommendations.

           Presidential Message to Congress on Housing Policy

      (Compilation of Presidential Documents, September 19, 1973)

Home Ownership
    <bullet> Proposed legislation to make home ownership easier 
by: (1) increasing the maximum mortgage and loan amounts under 
FHA insurance programs; (2) removing the ceiling on interest 
rates on FHA and VA mortgages; (3) permitting, on an 
experimental basis, the Secretary of HUD to allow greater 
flexibility in repayment arrangements for Federally-insured 
loans; (4) allowing investors a tax credit on the interest they 
earn from residential mortgages; and (5) authorizing Federal 
reinsurance for purchase by private mortgage insurance 
companies.
    <bullet> Proposed that incentives for savings and loan 
associations to finance housing construction be increased by 
the Federal Home Loan Bank Board initiating a new program of 
``forward commitments'' to savings and loan associations 
promising them loan money at future dates should they need it 
to cover commitments being made by them.
    <bullet> Stated that HUD would reinstate the ``Tandem 
Plan'' under which GNMA provided money for FHA-insured 
mortgages at below-market interest rates where the mortgages 
covered new construction.
Low-Income Housing
    <bullet> Attacked existing housing programs for low-income 
families, saying that (1) the Federal Government had, since 
1969, subsidized nearly 1.6 million units of new housing and 
over 400,000 units of existing and rehabilitated housing which 
would cost taxpayers an estimated $2.5 billion in each of the 
next few years and could cost close to a total of $50 billion; 
(2) Federal programs have produced some good housing, but they 
have also produced some of the worst housing in America; and 
(3) the existing approach of these programs was highly 
inequitable because they assisted only a few low income 
families and ignored others who pay taxes to support the 
programs but live in inferior older housing.
    <bullet> Suggested direct cash assistance and the expansion 
of the existing experimental program to test additional 
techniques for administration.
    <bullet> Recommended that there be a new approach under 
which the developer would make newly constructed units 
available at special rents for low-income families, and the 
government would pay the developer the difference between such 
rents and fair market rents. Recommended that the then-existing 
Section 23 program under which new and existing housing is 
leased for low-income families be administered in a way to 
carry out some of the principles of direct cash assistance, and 
stated that he would modify the January 5 suspension of housing 
programs to permit the Section 23 program to continue.

                Interim Report, Housing in the Seventies

                           (October 6, 1973)

    <bullet> Delivered to Congress in draft form and given 
limited distribution, it was the result of a national housing 
policy review made by the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, and was the basis for the President's message on 
housing policy of September 19, 1973.
    <bullet> Reviewed the history of the development of the 
housing programs and the Federal activities less directly 
related to housing such as tax policy, regulation of mortgage 
financing, welfare assistance, credit policy, labor policy, 
equal housing opportunity, and environmental policy.
    <bullet> Included the following statements and conclusions:
          (1) The nation's housing laws are a ``hodgepodge of 
        accumulated authorizations for some 46 unsubsidized 
        programs and some 20 which are subsidized * * * replete 
        with inconsistencies, conflicts and obsolete 
        provisions.'' There are also functional duplications 
        among HUD, VA and the Department of Agriculture.
          (2) Apparently the subsidy housing programs gave 
        little consideration to economic and social costs, 
        their equity aspects, and the overall impact on local 
        housing markets of subsidizing large numbers of newly 
        built units for lower-income families.
          (3) Although some 2.8 million subsidized dwelling 
        units were provided since 1937 for low- and moderate-
        income families, that was achieved at the cost of 
        serious program inefficiency and inequity, and the 
        costs were greater than the benefits to society.
          (4) The subsidy programs were inequitable as they 
        benefitted only a limited number of eligibles and 
        excluded all single persons less than 62 years of age.
          (5) Most subsidized housing program beneficiaries 
        could be served by a less expensive unit in the 
        existing housing stock or a cash transfer of lesser 
        value than the subsidy provided.
          (6) The subsidies involved in the programs, except in 
        low-rent public housing and the low-rent supplement 
        program, are not deep enough to serve most low-income 
        families.
          (7) The problems that arise from the operation of the 
        Section 235 subsidized sales housing program (and the 
        related Section 221(d)(2) program) are so serious that 
        the validity of the concept of home ownership for the 
        low-income occupants is questionable.
          (8) So long as foreclosures and acquisition losses 
        under the Section 235 program do not increase beyond 
        present estimates, the program can be regarded as 
        actuarially sound, but recent data indicates that the 
        program might become actuarially unsound.
          (9) The cost of the Section 236 subsidized rental 
        housing units is higher than for similar conventionally 
        built units, and the architectural fees involved are 
        often excessive.
          (10) Despite the rapid rise in home ownership costs, 
        Americans continue to purchase approximately the same 
        quality of housing as they did before the recent 
        increase in those costs.
          (11) Rentals increased much less rapidly than income 
        and less rapidly than the overall Consumer Price Index, 
        so that renters generally have not been adversely 
        affected.
          (12) Despite the rapid growth and initial 
        achievements of State housing finance agencies, their 
        future expansion is not completely assured and they 
        will encounter some serious problems in the future.
          (13) The presence of a large number of small builders 
        moving in and out of the construction industry tends to 
        make the supply of housing very responsive to cyclical 
        changes in demand, and the long-run supply appears to 
        be very responsive to long-run increases in demand. 
        (See also ``Critique of Housing in the Seventies,'' 
        February 22, 1974.)

 Agriculture-Environment and Consumer Protection Appropriation Act of 
                                  1974

                 (Public Law 93-135, October 24, 1973)

    <bullet> Authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to sell, 
on an insured basis or otherwise, notes in the rural housing 
insurance fund and the rural development insurance fund, or 
certificates of beneficial ownership therein, to the Secretary 
of the Treasury, to the private market, or to such other 
sources as he may determine.
    <bullet> Prohibited the making of rural housing grants 
under Section 504 of the Housing Act of 1949 (P.L. 81-171, July 
15, 1949).

            Amendment of Lead-Based Poisoning Prevention Act

                 (Public Law 93-151, November 9, 1973)

    <bullet> Directed HUD, in consultation with the Department 
of Health, Education, and Welfare, to carry out a demonstration 
and research program to determine the nature and extent of the 
problem of lead-based paint poisoning, particularly in urban 
areas, including the methods by which the lead based paint 
hazard can be removed from residential housing.
    <bullet> Directed HUD to establish procedures to eliminate 
as far as practicable the hazards of lead-based paint poisoning 
with respect to existing housing covered by an application for 
mortgage insurance, or housing assistance payments, and in all 
Federally-owned properties prior to the sale of such properties 
when their use is intended for residential use.
    <bullet> Authorized HEW, in consultation with HUD, to 
establish a national lead-based poisoning advisory board and 
promulgate regulations for the establishment of advisory boards 
for each local program assisted under the Act.

             District of Columbia Rent Control Act of 1973

                 (Public Law 93-157, November 21, 1973)

    <bullet> Authorized the District of Columbia Council to 
regulate and stabilize rents in the District.

                    Disaster Relief Functions to HUD

               (Executive Order 11749, December 10, 1973)

    <bullet> Designated HUD to administer disaster relief, 
except (1) the authority to declare a major disaster, (2) the 
authority concerning the utilization of civil defense 
communications, and (3) the authority concerning food coupons 
for surplus commodities.
    <bullet> Established the National Council on Federal 
Disaster Assistance, composed of policy level representatives 
of other Federal agencies and chaired by the Secretary of HUD, 
to advise and assist the Secretary in carrying out disaster 
relief functions.

                   America's Housing Needs: 1970-1980

   (Study by the Joint Center for Urban Studies of MIT and Harvard, 
                             December 1973)

    <bullet> Estimated that 13.1 million American families were 
``housing deprived'' by reason of living in dwellings which 
were physically unsound, overcrowded, or too expensive 
(requiring more than 25-35 percent of income).
    <bullet> Stated that a variety of programs, including use 
of existing housing, were needed to improve the situation, and 
that neighborhood rehabilitation should be given higher 
priority. (Study was partly financed by HUD.)

              Amendments to Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

                 (Public Law 93-189, December 17, 1973)

    <bullet> Authorized the President to furnish assistance to 
help solve economic and social development problems in fields 
such as transportation, power, industry, urban development, and 
population planning and health.
    <bullet> Made a minimum amount of the funds available for 
purposes of development assistance available for assistance in 
the development of cooperatives in the less developed 
countries. Increased the world-wide housing guarantee 
authority.

                Nursing Homes and Fire Safety Equipment

                 (Public Law 93-204, December 28, 1973)

    <bullet> Authorized HUD to insure loans to nursing homes 
and intermediate care facilities to provide for the purchase 
and installation of fire safety equipment.

              Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973

                 (Public Law 93-222, December 29, 1973)

    <bullet> Amended Title XIII of the Public Health Service 
Act to provide assistance, including loan guarantees, to health 
maintenance organizations.
    <bullet> Made mortgages guaranteed under that title 
eligible for inclusion by GNMA in a trust or pool used by GNMA 
to back securities it issues.

                   Federal Financing Bank Act of 1973

                 (Public Law 93-224, December 29, 1973)

    <bullet> Created the Federal Financing Bank to coordinate 
financing of Federal and Federally-assisted borrowings from the 
public. Authorized the Bank to make commitments to purchase and 
sell, and to purchase and sell, any obligation which was 
issued, sold or guaranteed by a Federal agency. Required that 
such purchase be upon such terms as would yield a return at a 
rate which took into consideration the current average yield on 
outstanding marketable obligations of the United States or the 
Bank.
    <bullet> Required the Secretary of the Treasury to approve 
the method, source, and timing of financing of obligations 
issued or sold by any Federal agency, except that his approval 
was not required with respect to (a) obligations sold under an 
Act of Congress which prohibited any guarantee of such 
obligations by the United States, and (b) obligations issued or 
sold by the Farmers Home Administration.
    <bullet> Limited outstanding obligations issued by the Bank 
to $15 billion.
    <bullet> Authorized the Bank to issue its obligations to 
the Secretary of the Treasury.
    <bullet> Made obligations issued by the Bank subject to 
Federal taxation to the same extent as obligations of private 
corporations.
    <bullet> Provided that the purchase by the Bank of the 
obligations of any local public body or agency had to be made 
upon such terms and conditions as necessary to avoid an 
increase in borrowing cost to the local body or agency (which 
increase results from the loss of the advantage of tax 
exemption of the obligations when sold in the private market.)
    <bullet> Provided that the Federal agency guaranteeing 
obligations purchased by the Bank could contract to make 
periodic payments to the Bank to offset the costs to the Bank 
of purchasing obligations of local public bodies or agencies.

      Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and Mobile Home Loans

                 (Public Law 93-234, December 31, 1973)

    <bullet> Increased the limits of coverage authorized under 
the National Flood Insurance Program and required States or 
local communities, as a condition of future Federal financial 
assistance, to participate in the flood insurance program and 
to adopt adequate flood plain ordinances with effective 
enforcement provisions to reduce or avoid future flood losses.
    <bullet> Required the purchase of flood insurance by 
property owners who were being assisted by Federal programs, or 
by Federally supervised, regulated or insured institutions in 
the acquisitions or improvement of land or facilities located 
on, or to be located in flood hazard areas.
    <bullet> Made the flexible interest rate authority of the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development available for FHA 
insured loans which finance the purchase of mobile homes.

            Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs

               (Executive Order 11764, January 21, 1974)

    <bullet> Directed the Attorney General to coordinate 
enforcement by Federal departments and agencies of Title VI of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination 
on the ground of race, color or national origin in programs and 
activities receiving Federal financial assistance. (Superseded 
E.O. 11247.)

                Critique of ``Housing in the Seventies''

   (Committee Print by the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban 
    Affairs, February 22, 1974; Congressional Record, March 8, 1974)

    <bullet> Included the following highlights, as reported in 
a speech on the Senate Floor by the Chairman of the 
Subcommittee:
    <bullet> The report ``Housing in the Seventies'' is not an 
adequate evaluation of Federal housing programs, nor an 
adequate base for formulating national housing policy. It does 
not contain justification for the past year's suspension of 
housing and community development activities. This is not a 
criticism of the work of many able persons who contributed 
material for the report.
    <bullet> The report alleged that the subsidy programs take 
the wrong approach because the basic problem is not a housing 
but an income problem so that a better approach would be to 
provide direct cash assistance to poor people instead of 
building housing. This is simplistic and defective. As long as 
the supply of housing is insufficient, the cost of decent 
housing will remain out of the reach of low-income groups. To 
say that direct cash assistance will solve the housing problems 
of the poor while, at the same time, shutting off all Federal 
assistance for the production of housing, is to ignore that 
there is just not enough decent housing in this country now to 
go around. Direct cash assistance should be examined as one of 
the means of assistance but it cannot replace production 
programs.
    <bullet> The charges that the programs are failures or 
defective turn out to be theoretical rather than factual. The 
facts indicate that the interest subsidy programs are not 
actuarially unsound, despite projected foreclosure rates that 
sound high and that reflect fraudulent practices which led to 
widespread scandals. A recent analysis indicates that the 
insurance fund is actuarially sound, and is projected to remain 
so. Additional support would be anticipated from expansion of 
counseling activities such as would be required under the 1974 
housing bill. The charge of widespread scandals has on close 
examination been less attributable to subsidized housing 
programs than to unsubsidized programs. The number of 
indictments for criminal activities related to the high 
incidence of foreclosures involved not only subsidized units 
but nonsubsidized operations under Sections 203 and 221(d)(2), 
which reflect laxity in program management rather than defects 
in the subsidy programs themselves.
    <bullet> The frequent charge that the subsidy programs are 
inequitable because they serve only part of those who are 
eligible constitutes a faulty and unsound basis for terminating 
the program. First, it looks only at a portion of assistance 
given to needy families, excluding welfare, education and other 
aids. Also many families receive indirect aid from the housing 
programs. This charge of inequity is meaningless when no 
realistic alternative is presented. While it may be desirable 
to quadruple the Federal budget for housing in order to assist 
everyone on an equitable basis, as the direct cash assistance 
program implies, no budget proposal was made to carry out any 
such a program.
    <bullet> The charge that Sections 235 and 236 are 
inequitable because they do not assist the lowest income 
families is without merit. The Congress did not intend those 
programs to reach the very poor. Low-rent public housing and 
rent supplements serve the lower-income group. The Sections 235 
and 236 programs provide an equity by assisting needy families 
at a somewhat higher income level who are not assisted by 
public housing and would not otherwise receive housing 
assistance from the government.
    <bullet> Another major charge against existing housing 
programs concerns their total cost. It has been alleged that 
these programs will cost between $65 and $85 billion over the 
next 30 to 40 years. These estimates include public housing, 
which now shelters over 1 million of our lowest income 
families. It is estimated that public housing alone accounts 
for almost two-thirds of the total for all housing programs. At 
current budget levels, this would be about one-third of 1 
percent of the current annual Federal budget. Furthermore, the 
estimated public housing costs fail to take account of the 
offsetting value of a publicly owned stock of low-income 
housing after the capital debt on them has been paid off which 
will come to pass in about five years for the oldest projects.
    <bullet> The factual data used in ``Housing in the 
Seventies'' to support its conclusion that the unit cost of 
subsidized housing is more than the unit cost of other housing 
is fragmentary and unconvincing. (Prepared by the Congressional 
Research Service at the request of the Subcommittee, 
Congressional Record, March 8, 1974.)

            Presidential Announcement on Mortgage Assistance

         (Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 10, 1974)

    <bullet> Announced a four-point plan to provide more than 
$10 billion of additional mortgage money during 1974:
          (1) Additional GNMA tandem plan purchases (up to $3.3 
        billion) of mortgages with interest rates of 8 percent.
          (2) A new mortgage commitment program by the Federal 
        Home Loan Bank System for purchases (up to $3 billion) 
        of conventional mortgages from savings institutions 
        during the remainder of 1974. The mortgages would bear 
        interest rates of 8-3/4 percent.
          (3) Up to $4 billion in advances by the Federal Home 
        Loan Bank System to thrift institutions at a rate below 
        the System's current borrowing costs.
          (4) Funds for mobile home purchasers through the use 
        of GNMA mortgage backed securities program.

                      Disaster Relief Act of 1974

                   (Public Law 93-288, May 22, 1974)

    <bullet> Repealed the Disaster Relief Act of 1970, except 
for certain provisions.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to establish a program of 
disaster preparedness utilizing the services, supplies and 
facilities of all appropriate agencies and to provide technical 
assistance and grants to the States in developing and carrying 
out comprehensive disaster preparedness programs.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to make contributions to 
the State or local governments to help repair, restore, 
reconstruct, or replace public facilities damaged or destroyed 
by a major disaster, and to make grants to help restore private 
nonprofit educational utilities, emergency medical and 
custodial care facilities damaged or destroyed by a major 
disaster.
    <bullet> Authorized certain financial assistance to meet 
other disaster needs of individuals and local governments.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to provide, either by 
purchase or lease, temporary housing, including but not limited 
to, unoccupied apartment dwellings, suitable rental housing, 
mobile homes, or other fabricated housing. Provided that during 
the first 12 months of occupancy no rentals were to be 
established for any such accommodations, and thereafter rentals 
were to be established based upon fair market value adjusted to 
take into consideration the financial ability of the occupants.
    <bullet> Authorized the President to provide assistance in 
the form of mortgage or rental payments to or on behalf of 
individuals and families who, as a result of financial hardship 
caused by a major disaster, have received written notice of 
dispossession or eviction from a residence. Authorized private 
residential structures made uninhabitable by a major disaster 
to be repaired or restored with funds provided by the 
President, but no such assistance could be used for major 
reconstruction or rehabilitation of damaged property.
    <bullet> Provided that any temporary housing acquired by 
purchase could be sold directly to occupants at fair or 
equitable prices; the President could also sell or otherwise 
make available temporary housing units directly to States, 
other governmental entities, and voluntary organizations.

    Presidential Agreement with Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

         (Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 28, 1974)

    <bullet> Provided for cooperation in the field of housing 
and other construction. The agreement was to be implemented by 
(1) exchange of experts and advanced students, (2) exchange of 
scientific and technical information, (3) joint conferences and 
seminars, (4) joint research, and (5) other forms of 
cooperation. Provided for establishment of the Joint Committee 
on Cooperation in Housing and Other Construction to carry out 
the agreement.

                       Disaster Relief Functions

                 (Executive Order 11795, July 11, 1974)

    <bullet> Delegated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development Presidential authority under the Disaster Relief 
Act of 1974, except the authority to declare emergencies and 
major disasters and certain other limited functions.

        Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974

                   (Public Law 93-344, July 12, 1974)

    <bullet> Established a new Congressional budget and 
appropriations process and a procedure providing Congressional 
control over impoundment of funds by the Executive Branch.
    <bullet> Created the Congressional Budget Office and 
established budget committees for both the House and the 
Senate.
    <bullet> Provided that, beginning on October 1, 1976, the 
Federal fiscal year was to commence on October 1 of each year.
    <bullet> Provided for Congressional consideration of 
proposed rescissions, reservations, and deferrals of budget 
authority, and for revised procedures by the Congress for 
consideration of the Federal budget and for transmittals by the 
President of requested amendments or revisions in the budget 
authority requested.

             Housing and Community Development Act of 1974

                  (Public Law 93-383, August 22, 1974)

Title I--Community Development Block Grants
    <bullet> Constituted a fundamental change in the Federal 
Government's financial assistance to communities for their 
physical development and improvements, including the removal 
and prevention of slums and blight.
    <bullet> Provided in place of specific categorical 
development programs, a single program of 100 percent grants 
(with certain related guarantees of loans) to communities for 
development activities on basically a formula basis.
    <bullet> Gave to communities, within the relatively few 
restrictions of the Title, authority to formulate their own 
development plans and programs to be assisted, in place of 
conforming to Federal programs and decisions.
    <bullet> Made funds available January 1, 1975.
  Programs Terminated
    <bullet> Terminated these categorical programs as to 
commitment on January 1, 1975: open space urban beautification 
historic preservation grants; public facility loans; water and 
sewer and neighborhood facilities grants; urban renewal and NDP 
grants and model cities supplemental grants.
    <bullet> Terminated authority to make rehabilitation loans 
as of one year after the date of enactment of Title I. 
(However, the Section 312 program was repeatedly extended until 
termination as of September 30, 1991, by the National 
Affordable Housing Act, P.L. 101-625, November 28, 1990.)
  Eligible Recipients of Community Development Grants
    <bullet> Made States, cities, counties and other units of 
general local government (including certain designated types of 
public agencies) eligible recipients of community development 
block grants (and guarantee of loans).
    <bullet> Made also certain private ``new community'' 
developers and citizen associations eligible.
  Activities Eligible for Community Development Grants
    <bullet> Included, in general, the broad range of 
development activities in a community, including those 
permitted under the earlier categorical programs. Including: 
the acquisition, disposition or retention of real property 
which was blighted, deteriorated or inappropriately developed; 
appropriate for rehabilitation or conservation activities; or 
appropriate for conservation of open space or historical sites 
and public uses. Acquisition, construction, or installation of 
most types of public works, utilities, facilities, and site and 
other improvements. Code enforcement in deteriorating areas. 
Clearance, demolition, removal and rehabilitation of buildings 
and improvements, including interim assistance and financing of 
rehabilitation of privately owned property incident to other 
activities. Other related activities such as public services 
not otherwise available, relocation payments for those 
displaced, and administration of program. Payment of non-
Federal share of other Federal programs related to the 
development. Development of a comprehensive plan and the 
policy-planning- management capacity of the community.
  Application for Community Development Grants
    <bullet> Required submission of an application for grants 
for HUD approval showing compliance with certain basis 
requirements. Required the application to contain: (1) a 
summary of a three-year plan which identified community 
development needs and objectives developed in accordance with 
areawide development planning and national urban growth 
policies and which demonstrated a comprehensive strategy for 
meeting those needs. (2) Formulation of a program which 
included activities to meet community development needs and 
objectives, indicated resources other than assistance under the 
title expected to be available to meet such needs and 
objectives, and took account of environment factors. (3) A 
description of a program to eliminate or prevent slums, blight, 
and deterioration where such conditions or needs existed, and 
provide improved community facilities and public improvements, 
including supporting health and social services where necessary 
and appropriate. (4) A housing assistance plan which accurately 
surveyed the condition of the community's housing stock and 
assessed the housing assistance needs of lower-income persons 
residing or expected to reside in the community. Specified a 
realistic annual goal for the number of units or persons to be 
assisted, including the mix of new, existing and rehabilitated 
units and the size and types of projects and assistance best 
suited to the needs of area lower-income persons. Indicated the 
general locations of proposed lower-income housing with a view 
to furthering revitalization, promoting greater housing choice 
and avoiding undue concentration of low-income persons, and 
assuring availability of adequate public facilities and 
services for such housing.
    <bullet> Provided that in limited circumstances, 
requirements 1, 2, and 3 above could be waived in the case of 
smaller communities.
  Limited HUD Authority to Reject Applications
    <bullet> Required that applications from ``metropolitan 
cities'' and ``urban counties'' be approved under that title 
unless: the description of community development and housing 
needs and objectives was plainly inconsistent with generally 
available information, the activities proposed were plainly 
inappropriate to meeting stated needs and objectives, or the 
application did not comply with the requirements of the title 
or other applicable law or proposes ineligible activities.
  Funds for Community Development Grants
    <bullet> Authorized contract authority for three years of 
$8.4 billion for grants, with annual disbursement limitations 
of $2.5 billion in fiscal year 1974, $2.95 billion in fiscal 
year 1976, and $2.95 billion in fiscal year 1977. Provided 
additional amounts to meet the special needs arising out of the 
transition from the categorical programs to the new program.
  Distribution of Grant Funds
    <bullet> Required that grant funds for community 
development be distributed throughout the country so that 80 
percent went to metropolitan areas (SMSAs) and 20 percent to 
other areas. Required within that division use of an objective 
formula basically for allocating funds to cities, counties, 
metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, based on population, 
amount of housing over-crowding, and extent of poverty (counted 
twice).
    <bullet> Provided that if they met application 
requirements, cities with populations of 50,000 or over and 
central cities of SMSAs had a statutory right or entitlement to 
formula funds. Provided that urban counties also were entitled 
to formula funds if they had power to undertake essential 
community development and housing assistance activities in 
areas that had a population of 200,000 or more, excluding 
metropolitan cities and units of general local government which 
elected to be excluded.
    <bullet> Provided that in addition to formula entitlement 
which had to be paid to all metropolitan cities and urban 
counties, those cities and counties which had received a higher 
level of funding under the prior categorical programs would 
generally continue to receive this higher level (referred to as 
being ``held harmless'') during the first three years.
    <bullet> Provided that communities which had no formula 
entitlement, and which had not been participating in urban 
renewal, model cities, or code enforcement, could apply for 
discretionary assistance out of funds not used for entitlement 
payments. Required that these funds be divided among SMSAs and 
non-SMSA areas of the various States based on relative matters 
as determined by formula.
  Guarantee of Loans
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to guarantee and make commitments 
to guarantee notes or other obligations issued by units of 
general local government, or by public agencies designated by 
local governments, for the purpose of financing the acquisition 
or assembly of real property to serve or to be used in 
community development activities which were to receive grants 
under Title I. Provided that those obligations were to be 
taxable or tax free at the option of the issuer; if taxable, 
HUD would make grants to the issuer for up to 30 percent of net 
project cost.
  Requirements Community Must Meet
    <bullet> Required that the community receiving funds comply 
with Civil Rights Acts and the special nondiscrimination 
provisions of this title; assure adequate citizen 
participation; meet A-95 planning review requirements for the 
application; and meet annual performance reporting 
requirements, including an assessment of the relationship of 
its past activities to the title's and the community's stated 
objectives. The grant amount for the community was to be 
subject to appropriate HUD adjustment on the basis of these 
reports.
    <bullet> Provided that ``impact statements'' under the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 were not required at 
the time applications were reviewed. Instead, recipients had to 
prepare these statements on specific projects having major 
impacts on the environment before they committed funds to those 
projects, and had to certify compliance to HUD before funds 
were released.

Title II--Assisted Housing
    <bullet> Rewrote the United States Housing Act of 1937 to 
make changes in the public housing program, to provide 
additional annual contributions contract authority, and to 
authorize a new lower-income housing assistance program.

Major Changes in Public Housing
    <bullet> Deleted requirements for (1) a gap of at least 20 
percent between the highest income limits for admission and the 
lowest unassisted rents, and (2) income limits for continued 
occupancy in projects.
    <bullet> Amended the definition of family income and added 
a definition of ``very low income.''
    <bullet> Amended the definition of family to permit 
occupancy by two or more single elderly, disabled, or 
handicapped individuals living together, or one or more such 
individuals living with another person determined essential to 
their well-being.
    <bullet> Changed requirements with respect to minimum rents 
so that every family in regular public housing would be 
required, regardless of the size of its income, to contribute 
at least 5 percent of its gross income to rent; if the family 
received a welfare payment a part of which is specifically 
designated for housing, the family's minimum rent would be the 
higher of 5 percent of gross income or the amount so 
designated.
    <bullet> Provided that increased rents required as a result 
of these amendments, other than the welfare payment provision, 
were to be phased in at a rate of not more than $5 every six 
months.
    <bullet> Required the aggregate minimum rental required to 
be paid in any year by families in any project administered by 
a public housing agency receiving operating subsidies to be an 
amount at least equal to 20 percent of the sum of the income of 
all such families.
    <bullet> Required public housing agencies to establish (1) 
tenant selection criteria to assure an income mix in projects 
(but waiting for higher- income tenants where lower- income 
tenants were available was not to be permitted), (2) procedures 
for prompt rent payments and evictions for nonpayment, (3) 
effective tenant-management relationship to assure tenant 
safety and adequate project maintenance, and (4) viable 
homeownership opportunities. Required that at least 20 percent 
of families in any project placed under annual contributions 
beginning after the effective date of the requirement have 
incomes not in excess of 50 percent of area median incomes.
    <bullet> Permitted a public housing agency to sell a low-
income housing project to its low- income tenants without 
affecting the Secretary's commitment to pay annual 
contributions with respect to the projects.
    <bullet> Reauthorized payments of operating subsidies to 
public housing agencies, but required HUD to establish 
standards for payments on the basis of a formula representing 
operation of a prototype well-managed project, taking into 
account various characteristics of projects and residents.
  Section 8 Housing Assistance Program
    <bullet> Authorized a new low-income housing assistance 
program by Section 8 of the amended United States Housing Act 
of 1937, replacing the former Section 23 which authorized the 
``Section 23 leasing program.''
    <bullet> Authorized assistance by HUD through ``assistance 
payments contracts'' on behalf of eligible families occupying 
new, substantially rehabilitated or existing rental units. 
Authorized HUD to contract directly with private owners or 
public housing agencies which agreed to construct or 
substantially rehabilitate housing.
    <bullet> Provided that in the cases of existing units, 
public housing agencies contract with owners, except that HUD 
was authorized to do so directly where no public housing agency 
had been organized or where it determined a public housing 
agency was unable to implement the program.
    <bullet> Provided eligible families were those who, at the 
time of initial renting of unit, had total annual incomes not 
in excess of 80 percent of area median income with adjustments 
for smaller and larger families, but HUD could establish higher 
or lower income ceilings if it found such variations necessary 
because of prevailing levels of construction costs, unusually 
high or low family incomes, or other factors.
    <bullet> Required that at least 30 percent of the families 
assisted under all of the annual contract authority allocations 
be families with gross incomes not in excess of 50 percent of 
area median income, subject to adjustment.
    <bullet> Required that assistance payments contracts must 
specify the maximum monthly rent which was to be charged for 
each assisted unit. Provided that the maximum monthly rent 
could not exceed by more than 10 percent the fair market rental 
established by HUD periodically for existing or newly 
constructed rental dwelling units in the market area suitable 
for occupancy by the assisted person, except that the maximum 
rent could be up to 20 percent higher than the fair market 
rental where HUD determined that special circumstances 
warranted the higher rent.
    <bullet> Required aided families to contribute between 15 
percent and 25 percent of their total income to rent as 
prescribed by HUD. Established a 15 percent maximum for certain 
large families.
    <bullet> Established the amount of assistance provided with 
respect to a unit as an amount equal to the difference between 
the established maximum rent for the unit and the occupant 
family's required contribution to rent.
    <bullet> Provided that an assistance payments contract 
could be as long as 15 years in the case of an existing unit 
and as long as 20 years in the case of a new or rehabilitated 
unit (or up to 40 years where the project was owned by, or 
financed by a loan or guarantee from, a State or local agency).
    <bullet> Provided that owners of new or substantially 
rehabilitated units assume all ownership, management, and 
maintenance responsibilities, including tenant selection and 
termination of tenancy. Owners of existing units also were to 
select tenants but selections were subject to annual 
contributions contract requirements, and public housing 
agencies had the sole right to give notice to vacate.
    <bullet> Provided that the assistance payments could be 
made only with respect to a dwelling unit under lease for 
occupancy by a family determined to be a lower-income family at 
the time of the initial occupancy, except that payments could 
be made with respect to unoccupied units for a period not 
exceeding 60 days under certain circumstances.
    <bullet> Made the construction or substantial 
rehabilitation of units to be assisted eligible for financing 
with mortgages insured under the National Housing Act. Provided 
that assistance payments contracts could be pledged by owners 
of the dwelling units as security for any loan or obligation in 
connection with a project to be assisted by the payments, if 
approved by HUD.
  Housing for the Elderly and Handicapped
    <bullet> Directed HUD to consult with the Department of 
Health, Education, and Welfare to assure that special projects 
for the elderly or the handicapped under the public housing 
program met acceptable standards of design, and provided 
services and management, consistent with the needs of the 
occupants, and were in support of and supported by applicable 
State and area plans.
    <bullet> Amended the Section 202 direct loan program 
(Housing Act of 1959) for housing for the elderly and 
handicapped as follows: loans were to be made at an interest 
rate equal to the Treasury borrowing rate (plus adequate 
allowances for administrative costs and probable losses) in 
place of a fixed 3 percent rate.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to obtain additional funds for the 
program by issuing notes for purchase by the Treasury.
    <bullet> Limited loans to the authority provided for the 
year in appropriation Acts.
    <bullet> Required HUD to consider the availability of 
assistance under the new Section 8 program when considering 
Section 202 project feasibility.
    <bullet> Required HUD to assure that both 202 and Section 8 
projects serve both low- and moderate-income families in a mix 
appropriate for the area and viable project operation.
  Section 235 Interest Reduction Payments
    <bullet> Set family income limits at 80 percent of median 
income for the area with adjustments by HUD, in place of limits 
related to public housing admission limits.
    <bullet> Increased the limits on the amounts of individual 
mortgages.
  Section 236 Interest Reduction Payments
    <bullet> Provided that rents for up to 20 percent of the 
units in a Section 236 project could be reduced to as little as 
the cost of utilities of the units where tenants could not pay 
the subsidized rental charge with 25 percent of their income.
    <bullet> Provided authority for contracting by HUD to pay 
additional subsidy amounts to a sponsor to cover his subsequent 
increased operating costs as a result of increased utility 
charges and property taxes.
    <bullet> Set income limits at 80 percent of median income 
for the area, with adjustments by HUD. Required that at least 
20 percent of funds were to be allocated to projects for the 
elderly or handicapped, and 10 percent of the funds for 
rehabilitation projects.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to contract with State or local 
agencies to monitor the management of assisted projects.
  Local Housing Assistance Plans
    <bullet> Required HUD, if a local governing body had an 
approved ``housing assistance plan,'' upon receiving an 
application for housing assistance under the public housing 
program, the Sections 235 and 236 interest reduction payments, 
the rent supplement program, or the housing for elderly or 
handicapped direct loan program, to notify the local governing 
body that the application was under consideration, and give 
that body the opportunity, during the next 30 days, to object 
to approval of the application on the grounds that the 
application was inconsistent with its housing assistance plan.
    <bullet> Provided that if objection was raised, HUD could 
not approve the application unless HUD determined it was 
consistent with the plan. If so determined it should notify the 
local governing body of the determination and the reasons in 
writing. If no objection was received, HUD could approve the 
application unless it found it was inconsistent with the 
housing assistance plan.
    <bullet> Provided that a housing assistance plan could be a 
plan submitted with an application for community development 
assistance under Title I of the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1974, or in case there was no such plan, a 
housing assistance plan approved by HUD.
    <bullet> Excepted certain applications for assistance from 
the foregoing requirements.
  Allocation of Housing Assistance
    <bullet> Required that the amount of housing assistance 
allocated to non-metropolitan areas in any fiscal year be not 
less than 20 nor more than 25 percent of the total amount of 
such assistance. In allocating the assistance, directed HUD to 
consider the relative needs of different areas as reflected in 
data as to population, poverty, housing overcrowding, housing 
vacancies, amount of substandard housing, or other measurable 
conditions.
    <bullet> Directed HUD to reserve such housing assistance 
funds as deemed necessary for use in connection with new 
community developments, and authorized HUD to reserve such 
assistance funds as it deemed appropriate for use by a State or 
agency of a State.
    <bullet> Mortgage Credit Assistance
    <bullet> Increased the dollar limits on the amounts of 
mortgages on one- to four-family homes as well as the dollar 
limit per unit where the mortgages financed multifamily 
projects. Eliminated dollar limits on multifamily project 
mortgages.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD, on a demonstration basis, to 
insure mortgages, advances, or loans, upon the request of 
mortgagees, on a coinsurance basis. Directed HUD to report to 
Congress on the program not later than March 1, 1975, and 
annually thereafter.
    <bullet> Directed HUD to promote the use of energy saving 
techniques through FHA minimum property standards for newly 
constructed housing financed with FHA insured mortgages.
    <bullet> Extended compensation for structural defects in 
existing homes to cover two-family homes, and made compensation 
available to owners of properties located in older, declining 
urban areas which were covered by mortgages insured under 
Sections 203 or 221 during the period August 1, 1968 through 
December 31, 1972. To quality for compensation, a defect must 
so seriously affect use and livability as to create a serious 
danger to the life or safety of the inhabitants.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to insure on an experimental basis 
under any of the mortgage insurance provisions of Title II of 
the National Housing Act mortgages and loans with provisions 
for varying rates of amortization corresponding to anticipated 
variations in family income. Limited this authority to one 
percent of the total dollar amount of all mortgages insured 
under Title II.
  Property Improvement and Mobile Home Loan Insurance
    <bullet> Increased the dollar limit on property improvement 
loans and the limits on the maturity of such loans.
    <bullet> Permitted the insured loans to cover fire safety 
equipment, energy conserving improvements, or the installation 
of solar energy systems.
    <bullet> Authorized insurance for loans financing the 
purchase of mobile home lots and preparation of the lots.
    <bullet> Authorized lower downpayments for unsubsidized 
homes purchased with mortgages insured by FHA under its Title 
II mortgage insurance programs.
  Multifamily Housing Mortgage Insurance
    <bullet> Raised the limit on the amount of a management 
cooperative housing mortgage based on loan to value. Authorized 
insurance of mortgages financing the purchase of existing 
multifamily projects or refinancing of mortgages on existing 
projects.
    <bullet> Authorized insurance of mortgages on ``dormitory-
type'' projects.
    <bullet> Made public housing agencies eligible for insured 
mortgages of projects under Section 221(d)(3) of the National 
Housing Act, if the project received assistance under the new 
Section 8 (U.S. Housing Act of 1937) lower-income housing 
assistance program. Made interest paid on such mortgages 
subject to income tax.
    <bullet> Authorized FHA insurance for supplemental loans 
for repairs, improvements or additions to multifamily projects 
or health facilities not covered by FHA-insured mortgages. 
Increased the limit on the amount of an FHA-insured mortgage 
financing land development by raising the loan-to-value ratio 
on such mortgages to the sum of 80 percent of the estimated 
value of the land before development and 90 percent of 
estimated cost of development.
    <bullet> Added provisions to the National Housing Act which 
made it clear that HUD could finance the sales of acquired 
projects to cooperatives with 100 percent purchase money 
mortgages computed on the basis of the use of the property as a 
cooperative, and that HUD could repair the projects prior to 
such sale.

Comprehensive Planning
  Planning Grants
    <bullet> Amended Section 701 of the Housing Act of 1954 
(P.L. 83-560, August 2, 1954), which authorized grants for 
comprehensive planning, to extend aid for developing management 
capability.
    <bullet> Authorized HUD to make planning grants to States 
for planning assistance to local governments; to States for 
State, interstate, metropolitan, district, or regional 
activities; to cities of 50,000 population or more; to urban 
counties as defined in Title I of the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1974; to metropolitan areawide 
organizations; to Indian tribal groups or bodies; and to other 
governmental units or agencies having special planning needs.
    <bullet> Provided that activities eligible for grants 
include those necessary (1) to develop