(2) by striking clause 1 of section 213 (b) and inserting:

"(1) not to exceed $12,500,000 with respect to any one mortgage instrument and such that the aggregate amount of any commitment or commitments issued and outstanding under this section at any time with respect to a project or projects in the same housing market area and involving the same mortgagor (or mortgagors under substantially the same control, as determined by the Commissioner) shall not exceed $12,500,000, or, if the mortgage is executed by a mortgagor regulated or supervised under Federal or State laws or by political subdivisions of States or agencies thereof, as to rents, charges, and methods of operation, such dollar limit with respect to any one mortgage instrument and with respect to the aggregate amount of such commitments shall be $25,000,000; and";

(3) by striking clause (i) of section 220 (d) (3) (B) and inserting: "(i) not to exceed $50,000,000 with respect to any one mortgage instrument and such that the aggregate amount of any commitment or commitments issued and outstanding under this section at any time with respect to a project or projects in the same housing market area and involving the same mortgagor (or mortgagors under substantialy the same control, as determined by the Commissioner) shall not exceed $50,000,000; and"; and (4) by striking "$5,000,000" in sections 213 (c), 221 (d) (3), and 803 (b) (3) and inserting: "$12,500,000 with respect to any one mortgage instrument and such that the aggregate amount of any commitment or commitments issued and outstanding under this section at any time with respect to a project or projects in the same housing market area and involving the same mortgagor (or mortgagors under substantially the same control, as determined by the Commissioner) shall not exceed $12,500,000".

SEC. 6. Section 217 of said Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking "July 1, 1954" and inserting "July 1, 1955," and by striking "$3,500,000,000 and inserting $4,000,000,000".

SEC. 7. Clause (a) of the second sentence of section 227 of said Act, as amended is hereby amended by striking "under section 221" and inserting "under section 221 if the mortgage meets the requirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (d) thereof".

SEC. 8. Section 604 (f) of said Act, as amended, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph at the end thereof:

"Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the Commissioner is authorized, with the consent of the mortgagee or mortgagor, as the case may be, to effect the settlement of certificates of claim and refunds at any time after the sale or transfer of title to the property conveyed to the Commissioner under this section without awaiting the final liquidation of such property for the purpose of determining the net amount to be realized therefrom."

SEC. 9. Section 803 (a) of said Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking "pursuant to a commitment to insure issued on or before such date" and inserting "pursuant to a certification by the Secretary of Defense or his designee made on or before such date and a commitment to insure issued on or before June 30, 1956." SEC. 10. The second sentence of section 104 of the Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951, as amended, is hereby amended by striking in clause (a) thereof "designate hereunder" and inserting "designate hereunder or (iii) pursuant to a commitment to insure issued pursuant to the preceding clause (ii)”.

SLUM CLEARANCE AND URBAN RENEWAL

SEC. 11. (a) Section 103 (b) of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended, is hereby amended by striking "$100,000,000, which limit shall be increased by further amounts of $100,000,000 on July 1 in each of the years 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953, respectively: Provided, That (subject to the total authorization of not to exceed $500,000,000)" and inserting "$500,000,000, which limit shall be increased by further amounts of $200,000,000 on July 1 in each of the years 1955 and 1956, respectively: Provided, That".

(b) Section 106 (e) of said Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking "$35,000,000" and inserting "$70,000,000."

SEC. 12. The Territorial Enabling Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 344) is hereby amended

(1) by inserting "urban renewal," after "urban redevelopment," in the title;

(2) by inserting ", AND URBAN RENEWAL" after "REDEVELOPMENT" in the heading of title I ;

(3) by inserting "and urban renewal projects" after the term "urban redevelopment projects" in each place where that term appears in title I; (4) by inserting “URBAN RENEWAL," after "REDEVELOPMENT,” in the heading of title III;

(5) by inserting "urban renewal," after "urban redevelopment," in sections 301 and 303;

(6) by inserting “or urban renewal” after “urban redevelopment” in section 304;

(7) by inserting "as amended," after "(Public Law 171, Eighty-first Congress)," in sections 101, 301, and 304;

(8) by inserting "as amended," after "Housing Act of 1949," in the clause numbered "(1)" in section 304; and

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(9) by inserting as amended," after "this Act" in sections 101, 301, and 304.

LOW-RENT PUBLIC HOUSING

SEC. 13. The United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, is hereby amended by deleting section 10 (i) and inserting the following:

"(i) Nothwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the Authority may, with respect to low-rent housing initiated after March 1, 1949, enter into new contracts for loans and annual contributions after July 1, 1954, for not to exceed thirty-five thousand additional dwelling units, which amount shall be increased by thirty-five thousand additional dwelling units on July 1 of the years 1955 and 1956, and may enter into such new contracts for preliminary loans in respect thereto as are consistent with the number of dwelling units for which contracts for annual contributions may be entered into hereunder: Provided, That the authority to enter into new contracts for loans and annual contributions with respect to each such thirty-five thousand additional dwelling units shall terminate two years after the first date on which such authority may be exercised under the foregoing provisions of this subsection: Provided further, That no such new contract for annual contributions for additional units shall be entered into except with respect to low-rent housing for a locality respecting which (1) the Housing and Home Financing Administrator has made the determination and certification relating to a workable program as prescribed in section 101 (c) of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended, or (2) there is being carried out a project covered by a Federal aid contract executed, or prior approval granted, by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator under title I of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended, before the effective date of the Housing Act of 1954: Provided further, That no such new contract for annual contributions for additional units shall be entered into unless the governing body of the locality has, by resolution, approved such additional units: And provided further, That no such new contract for annual contributions for additional units shall be entered into unless the number of such additional units does not exceed the number of families of low income, eligible for admission to such units, which the Housing and Home Finance Administrator estimates will be displaced within the metropolitan or housing market area of such locality as a result of Federal, State, or local governmental action."

HOME LOAN BANK BOARD

SEC. 14. The Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended, is hereby amended(1) by striking section 6 (c) and inserting:

"(c) The original stock subscription for each institution eligible to become a member under section 4 shall be an amount equal to 1 per centum of the aggregate of the unpaid principal of the subscriber's home mortgage loans, or such higher per centum not exceeding 2 per centum as the Board shall by regulation prescribe, but not less than $500: Provided, That nothing herein shall permit a member to reduce the amount of stock held by it to below 2 per centum of the aggregate of the unpaid principal of its home mortgage loans as of the effective date of the Housing Amendments of 1955, but no such member shall be required to subscribe for additional stock until such time as the amount of stock held by it does not equal that required by such regulation. The Board shall from time to time adjust the amount of stock held by each member so that, as nearly as possible, such member shall at all times have invested in the stock of the Federal home loan bank at least an amount calculated in the manner provided in the preceding sentence (but not less than $500). If the Board finds that the invest

ment of any member in stock is greater than that required under this section or under regulation of the Board, upon application of such member, the bank shall pay such member for each share of stock in excess of the amount so required an amount equal to the par value of such stock, or, at the election of the bank, the whole or any part of the payments which would be so made shall be credited upon any indebtedness of the member to the bank. In either such event, stock equal in par value to the amount of the payment or credit, or both, as the case may be, shall be surrendered and canceled. No share of stock shall be surrendered and canceled if the effect of such surrender and cancellation would be to violate the provisions of section 10 (c) requiring the amount of stock held by such member to equal at least one-twelfth of the outstanding advances to such member.";

(2) by striking the first sentence of section 6 (i) and inserting: “Any member other than a Federal savings and loan association may withdraw from membership in a Federal home loan bank six months after filing with the Board written notice of intention so to do, and the Board may, after hearing, remove any member from membership, or deprive any nonmember borrower of the privilege of obtaining further advances, if, in the opinion of the Board, such member or nonmember borrower (i) has failed to comply with any provision of this Act or regulation of the Board made pursuant thereto; (ii) is insolvent: Provided, That any member of a bank which is a building and loan association, savings and loan association, cooperative bank, or homestead association shall be deemed insolvent if the assets of such member are less than its obligations to its creditors and others, including the holders of its withdrawable accounts; or (iii) has a management or home-financing policy of a character inconsistent with sound and economical home-financing or with the purposes of this Act.";

(3) by repealing section 6 (1); and

(4) by striking the period at the end of section 7 (a) and inserting a colon and the following: "Provided, That the Board may by regulation increase the number of elective directors of any Federal home loan bank having a district which includes five or more States to a number not exceeding twice the number of States comprising such district, but such additional elective directors shall be apportioned as nearly as may be practicable in the same manner and order as is provided for the apportionment of elective directors under subsections (c) and (d) hereof. The term 'States' as used in the preceding proviso shall mean the States of the Union and the District of Columbia.".

SEC. 15. The Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933, as amended, is hereby amended by striking the proviso at the end of the second paragraph of section 5 (c) and inserting: "Provided, That no such loan, unless so insured or guaranteed, shall be made in excess of $2,500.".

SEC. 16. The National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking section 403 (d) and inserting:

"(d) Any institution which applies after the effective date of the Housing Amendments of 1955 for insurance under this title shall pay, in the event its application is approved, an admission fee in such amount as the Corporation shall determine, taking into consideration the total cost of processing all insurance applications."

COMMUNITY FACILITIES ADMINISTRATION

SEC. 17. Section 702 of the Housing Act of 1954 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 702. (a) In order (1) to encourage municipalities and other public agencies to maintain at all times a current and adequate reserve of planned public works the construction of which can rapidly be commenced, particularly when the national or local economic situation makes such action desirable, and (2) to help attain maximum economy and efficiency in the planning and construction of public works, the Administrator is hereby authorized to make advances to public agencies (notwithstanding the provisions of section 3648 of the Revised Statutes, as amended) to aid in financing the cost of engineering and architectural surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, or other action preliminary to and in preparation for the construction of public works: Provided, That the making of advances hereunder shall not in any way commit the Congress to appropriate funds to assist in financing the construction of any public works so planned: And provided further, That advances outstanding to public agencies in any one State shall at no time exceed 10 per centum of the

aggregate then authorized to be appropriated to the revolving fund established pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.

"(b) No advance shall be made hereunder with respect to any individual project unless it is planned to be constructed within a reasonable period of time, unless it conforms to an overall State, local, or regional plan approved by a competent State, local, or regional authority, and unless the public agency formally contracts with the Federal Government to complete the plan preparation promptly and to repay such advance or part thereof when due. Subsequent to approval and prior to disbursement of any Federal funds for the purpose of advance planning, the applicant shall establish a separate planning account into which all Federal and applicant funds estimated to be required for plan preparation shall be placed.

"(c) Advances under this section to any public agency shall be repaid without interest by such agency when the construction of the public works is undertaken or started: Provided, That if the public agency undertakes to construct only a portion of a planned public work it shall repay such proportionate amount of the advances relating to the public work as the Administrator determines to be equitable: And provided further, That in the event repayment is not made promptly such unpaid sum shall bear interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum from the date of the Government's demand for repayment to the date of payment thereof by the public agency.

"(d) The Administrator is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the purpose of this section.

"(e) In order to provide moneys for advances in accordance with this section, the Administrator is hereby authorized to establish a revolving fund which shall comprise all moneys heretofore or hereafter appropriated pursuant to this section, together with all repayments and other receipts in connection with advances made under this section. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to such revolving fund, in addition to the amount authorized by this section as originally enacted, the further amounts of $12,000,000 which may be made available to the revolving fund on or after July 1, 1956; $12,000,000 which may be made available to such fund on or after July 1, 1957; $14,000,000 which may be made available to such fund on or after July 1, 1958; and such additional sums which may be made available from year to year thereafter as may be estimated to be necessary to maintain not to exceed a total of $48,000,000 in undisbursed balances in the revolving fund and in advances outstanding for plans in preparation or for completed plans with respect to projects which, in the determination of the Administrator, can be expected to be undertaken within a reasonable period of time."

SEC. 18. Effective upon the date of enactment of this Act the basic rate of compensation of the Community Facilities Commissioner of the Housing and Home Finance Agency shall be the same as the basic rate of compensation established for the heads of the constituent agencies of the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF "HOUSING AMENDMENTS OF 1955" (S. 1800), FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION

Section 1: This section provides that the act may be cited as the "Housing Amendments of 1955."

Home repair and modernization

Section 2. Extension of Title I Home Repair and Modernization Program: This section would extend the FHA title I home repair and modernization program for five years to July 1, 1960.

Maintenance of a high level of construction activity, improvement of individual properties in need of modernization or repair, and proper maintenance of the existing housing inventory of the Nation are all affected significantly by the availability of adequate consumer credit for modernization and repair loans. The FHA title I program has contributed significantly toward assuring an adequate supply of such credit.

Availability of insurance protection for this type of credit encourages lenders to make these loans available to borrowers in smaller communities and eligible borrowers in larger communities who might otherwise have difficulty in arranging loans. In this connection, it should be noted that credit for home repair purposes is not as readily available (without some measure of

governmental encouragement) as is consumer credit for automobiles, radios, refrigerators, and other consumer durable goods. In these fields, the dealer normally receives credit support from the manufacturer. In the case of home repair loans, however, manufacturers of paint, lumber, gypsum, nails, and other products are each likely to have a relatively small stake in the repair or improvement job done by the local firm. The manufacturer or wholesale supplier is thus rarely interested in backing up credit for a repair or improvement job, especially when the largest cost item is locally applied labor. In addition, the local automobile dealer, appliance or department store itself normally has a better line of credit than the carpenter, painter, small contractor, or hardware merchant who may supply the services or materials for home repairs or improvements. Finally, it should be noted that an automobile, radio, or refrigerator can be made subject to a chattel mortgage and can be repossessed, while items financed under title I become part of the house and cannot be repossessed. Neither is it practical in the case of a repair loan to go through the expense of obtaining secondary real-property mortgage security. It is for these reasons that home repair or improvement loans, in the absence of title I aids, will be unavailable to many borrowers, or else be available at exhorbitant interest rates or fees.

Insurance activity in excess of $60 million monthly under this program since the effective date of the 1954 act amendments reflects the continuing usefulness of the program. Also, the title I program of insurance for modernization and repair loans constitutes an integral part of the urban renewal program for neighborhood conservation and improvement which was adopted in the Housing Act of 1954.

In order that the lending institutions and dealer organizations may make appropriate plans for participating in both the urban renewal program and other modernization and repair, the title I program would be extended for 5 years as provided in this section. This is equivalent to the most recent previous extension from March 1, 1950, to July 1, 1955.

Farm housing

Section 3. Repeal of Separate Limitation on Insurance Authorization for Farm Housing Mortgages Insured Under Section 203 (i): The Housing Act of 1954 perfected a consolidation of all outstanding mortgage insurance authorizations (previously provided under secs. 8, 203, 217, 603, 610, 701, 803, and 903) into a single authorization provided for under section 217, and eliminated the separate insurance limitation for each of these sections. This consolidation simplified FHA administration of the insurance authorizations and presidential actions related thereto.

The Housing Act of 1954 created several new mortgage insurance programs which are operated under the single mortgage insurance authorization, including farm home mortgage insurance under section 203 (i). However, unlike the other sections, section 203 (i) contained a separate subsidiary authorization limitation of $100 million.

In the interest of reducing the record keeping with respect to the farm housing program and the necessity for recurring estimates of the amounts of outstanding balances on these farm housing mortgages, the separate authorization control on this program should be eliminated and the insurance volume under this program be consolidated for control purposes with other insurance activity under section 203. To accomplish this purpose, the special limitation for section 203 (i) would be repealed.

Certificates of claim

Section 4. FHA Settlement of Certificates of Claim: This section would enable the FHA to make final settlement of certificates of claim held by mortgagees, and refunds to mortgagors, at any time after the sale or transfer of title by the FHA to sales housing acquired by FHA in cases of defaulted mortgages. The provision would apply to mortgages insured pursuant to commitments for insurance issued on or after July 1, 1955. Also, if the mortgagee or mortgagor consents, the provision would apply to mortgages insured pursuant to commitments issued prior to that date. The section would carry out a recommendation made by the General Accounting Office for the purpose of saving personnel expenditures and other administrative expenses. (Comptroller General's Report on Audit of FHA for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1953. H. Doc. 53, 84th Cong., p. 6.)

Under the provisions of section 204 of the National Housing Act (which relates to sales housing mortgages, but not to rental housing mortgages) the mortgagee