42 U.S.C. § 1441 — Congressional declaration of national

Page 4733 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 1441 Sec. SUBCHAPTER II—SLUM CLEARANCE AND URBAN RENEWAL PART A—URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS, DEMOLITION PROGRAMS, AND CODE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMS 1450 to 1452b. Omitted or Repealed. 1452c. Nullification of right of redemption of single family mortgagors under rehabilitation loan program. 1453. Omitted. 1453a. Administrative priority for applications re- lating to activities in areas affected by base closings. 1454 to 1468a. Omitted or Repealed. PART B—NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 1469 to 1469c. Omitted. SUBCHAPTER III—FARM HOUSING 1471. Financial assistance by Secretary of Agri- culture. 1472. Loans for housing and buildings on adequate farms. 1473. Loans for housing and buildings on poten- tially adequate farms; conditions and terms. 1474. Loans and grants for repairs or improvements of rural dwellings. 1474a. Security for direct or insured rural housing loans to farmer applicants. 1475. Loan payment moratorium and foreclosure procedures. 1476. Buildings and repairs. 1477. Preferences for veterans and families of de- ceased servicemen. 1478. Local committees to assist Secretary. 1479. General powers of Secretary. 1480. Administrative powers of Secretary. 1481. Issuance of notes and obligations for loan funds; amount; limitation; security; form and denomination; interest; purchase and sale by Treasury; public debt transaction. 1482. Repealed. 1483. Program levels and authorizations. 1484. Insurance of loans for housing and related fa- cilities for domestic farm labor. 1485. Housing and related facilities for elderly per- sons and families or other persons and fami- lies of low income. 1486. Financial assistance to provide low-rent housing for domestic farm labor. 1487. Rural Housing Insurance Fund. 1488. Repealed. 1489. Transfer of excess funds out of Rural Housing Insurance Fund. 1490. ‘‘Rural’’ and ‘‘rural area’’ defined. 1490a. Loans to provide occupant owned, rental, and cooperative housing for low and moderate income, elderly or handicapped persons or families. 1490b. Housing for rural trainees. 1490c. Mutual and self-help housing. 1490d. Loans to nonprofit organizations to provide building sites for eligible families, non- profit organizations, public agencies, and cooperatives; interest rates; factors deter- minative in making loan. 1490e. Programs of technical and supervisory assist- ance for low-income individuals and fami- lies in rural areas. 1490f. Loans and insurance of loans for condo- minium housing in rural areas. 1490g. Repealed. 1490h. Taxation of property held by Secretary. 1490i. Repealed. 1490j. Conditions on rent increases in projects re- ceiving assistance under other provisions of law. Sec. 1490k. FHA insurance. 1490l. Processing of applications. 1490m. Housing preservation grants. 1490n. Review of rules and regulations. 1490o. Reciprocity in approval of housing subdivi- sions among Federal agencies. 1490p. Accountability. 1490p–1. Office of Rural Housing Preservation. 1490p–2. Loan guarantees for multifamily rental hous- ing in rural areas. 1490q. Disaster assistance. 1490r. Rural housing voucher program. 1490s. Enforcement provisions. 1490t. Indian tribes. SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL PROVISIONS § 1441. Congressional declaration of national housing policy The Congress declares that the general welfare and security of the Nation and the health and living standards of its people require housing production and related community development sufficient to remedy the serious housing short- age, the elimination of substandard and other inadequate housing through the clearance of slums and blighted areas, and the realization as soon as feasible of the goal of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every Amer- ican family, thus contributing to the develop- ment and redevelopment of communities and to the advancement of the growth, wealth, and se- curity of the Nation. The Congress further de- clares that such production is necessary to en- able the housing industry to make its full con- tribution toward an economy of maximum em- ployment, production, and purchasing power. The policy to be followed in attaining the na- tional housing objective established shall be: (1) private enterprise shall be encouraged to serve as large a part of the total need as it can; (2) governmental assistance shall be utilized where feasible to enable private enterprise to serve more of the total need; (3) appropriate local pub- lic bodies shall be encouraged and assisted to undertake positive programs of encouraging and assisting the development of well-planned, inte- grated residential neighborhoods, the develop- ment and redevelopment of communities, and the production, at lower costs, of housing of sound standards of design, construction, liv- ability, and size for adequate family life; (4) gov- ernmental assistance to eliminate substandard and other inadequate housing through the clear- ance of slums and blighted areas, to facilitate community development and redevelopment, and to provide adequate housing for urban and rural nonfarm families with incomes so low that they are not being decently housed in new or ex- isting housing shall be extended to those local- ities which estimate their own needs and dem- onstrate that these needs are not being met through reliance solely upon private enterprise, and without such aid; and (5) governmental as- sistance for decent, safe, and sanitary farm dwellings and related facilities shall be extended where the farm owner demonstrates that he lacks sufficient resources to provide such hous- ing on his own account and is unable to secure necessary credit for such housing from other sources on terms and conditions which he could reasonably be expected to fulfill. The Depart- Page 4734 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 1441a ment of Housing and Urban Development, and any other departments or agencies of the Fed- eral Government having powers, functions, or duties with respect to housing, shall exercise their powers, functions, and duties under this or any other law, consistently with the national housing policy declared by this Act and in such manner as will facilitate sustained progress in attaining the national housing objective hereby established, and in such manner as will encour- age and assist (1) the production of housing of sound standards of design, construction, liv- ability, and size for adequate family life; (2) the reduction of the costs of housing without sac- rifice of such sound standards; (3) the use of new designs, materials, techniques, and methods in residential construction, the use of standardized dimensions and methods of assembly of home- building materials and equipment, and the in- crease of efficiency in residential construction and maintenance; (4) the development of well- planned, integrated, residential neighborhoods and the development and redevelopment of com- munities; and (5) the stabilization of the housing industry at a high annual volume of residential construction. (July 15, 1949, ch. 338, § 2, 63 Stat. 413; Pub. L. 90–19, § 6(a), May 25, 1967, 81 Stat. 21.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in text, is act July 15, 1949, ch. 338, 63 Stat. 413, known as the Housing Act of 1949, which is classified principally to this chapter (§ 1441 et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out below and Tables. AMENDMENTS 1967—Pub. L. 90–19 substituted ‘‘The Department of Housing and Urban Development’’ for ‘‘The Housing and Home Finance Agency and its constituent agen- cies’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE OF 2004 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 108–285, § 1, Aug. 2, 2004, 118 Stat. 917, provided that: ‘‘This Act [amending section 1472 of this title, en- acting provisions set out as a note under section 1472 of this title, and amending provisions set out as a note under section 12805 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Helping Hands for Homeownership Act of 2004’.’’ SHORT TITLE OF 1983 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 98–181, title I [title V, § 501], Nov. 30, 1983, 97 Stat. 1240, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting sections 1490k to 1490o of this title, amending sections 1471, 1472, 1474, 1476, 1479 to 1481, 1483 to 1487, 1490, 1490a, 1490c, 1490e, 1490f, and 1490j of this title, repealing sections 1482, 1490g, and 1490i of this title, and enacting provi- sions set out as notes under sections 1472 and 1490a of this title] may be cited as the ‘Rural Housing Amend- ments of 1983’.’’ SHORT TITLE Act July 15, 1949, ch. 338, § 1, 63 Stat. 413, provided: ‘‘That this Act [enacting this chapter, sections 1421a and 1433 of this title, and sections 1701d–1, 1701f–1, 1701h, and 1701i of Title 12, Banks and Banking, amending sec- tions 1401, 1402, 1406, 1409 to 1411, 1413 to 1416, and 1422 to 1430 of this title and sections 1701e, 1701f, 1703, 1709, and 1738 of Title 12, and amending provisions set out as a note under section 1701e of Title 12] may be cited as the ‘Housing Act of 1949’.’’ NATIONAL COMMISSION ON NEIGHBORHOODS Pub. L. 95–24, title II, §§ 201–208, Apr. 30, 1977, 91 Stat. 56–59, as amended by Pub. L. 95–557, title III, § 315, Oct. 31, 1978, 92 Stat. 2099, known as the ‘‘National Neighbor- hood Policy Act’’, established the National Commission on Neighborhoods, which was to undertake a com- prehensive study and investigation of the factors con- tributing to the decline of city neighborhoods and of the factors necessary to neighborhood survival and re- vitalization, and to make recommendations for modi- fications in Federal, State, and local laws, policies and programs necessary to facilitate neighborhood preser- vation and revitalization. The Commission was to sub- mit to the Congress and the President a comprehensive report on its study and investigation not later than fif- teen months after the date on which funds first became available to carry out the Act, and was to cease to exist thirty days after the submission of that report. LIMITATION ON WITHHOLDING OR CONDITIONING OF ASSISTANCE Assistance provided for in Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 [42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.], Na- tional Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.], United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.], Hous- ing Act of 1949 [see Short Title note set out above], Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 [see Short Title note set out under section 3331 of this title], and Housing and Urban Development Acts of 1965, 1968, 1969, and 1970 not to be withheld or made subject to conditions by reason of tax-exempt status of obligations issued or to be issued for financing of assistance, except as otherwise provided by law, see section 817 of Pub. L. 93–383, set out as a note under sec- tion 5301 of this title. Executive Documents EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HOUSING Executive order relating to equal opportunity in housing, see Ex. Ord. No. 11063, Nov. 20, 1962, 27 F.R. 11527, as amended, set out as a note under section 1982 of this title. § 1441a. National housing goals (a) Congressional findings and reaffirmation of goals The Congress finds that the supply of the Na- tion’s housing is not increasing rapidly enough to meet the national housing goal, established in the Housing Act of 1949 [42 U.S.C. 1441 et seq.], of the ‘‘realization as soon as feasible of the goal of a decent home and a suitable living environ- ment for every American family’’. The Congress reaffirms this national housing goal and deter- mines that it can be substantially achieved within the next decade by the construction or rehabilitation of twenty-six million housing units, six million of these for low and moderate income families. (b) Additional Congressional findings The Congress further finds that policies de- signed to contribute to the achievement of the national housing goal have not directed suffi- cient attention and resources to the preserva- tion of existing housing and neighborhoods, that the deterioration and abandonment of housing for the Nation’s lower income families has accel- erated over the last decade, and that this accel- eration has contributed to neighborhood disinte- gration and has partially negated the progress toward achieving the national housing goal which has been made primarily through new housing construction.