The CHAIRMAN. We will now recess until 10 o'clock next Wednesday, at which time we will have as witnesses Mr. Greene, Mr. Murphy, and others. (Whereupon, at 2: 50 p. m., the committee recessed to reconvene at 10 a. m., Wednesday, April 28, 1954.) HOUSING ACT OF 1954 FHA Insurance Provisions WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1954 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 10 a. m., in room 301, Senate Office Building, Senator Homer E. Capehart (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Capehart, Bricker, Ives, Bennett, Bush, Beall, Payne, Maybank, Frear, Douglas, and Lehman. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Our first witness this morning will be Mr. Walter L. Greene. Mr. Greene, will you please come forward? Will you be sworn, please? Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? TESTIMONY OF WALTER L. GREENE, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER (Retired), FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION Mr. GREENE. I do. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. You may be seated, Mr. Greene. Do you have a prepared statement, Mr. Greene, that you wish to make? Mr. GREENE. No, Senator; I do not have a prepared statement. I have a few suggestions that I would like to make. The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask you a couple of questions, first, and get you identified here, so that your testimony will possibly be worth more. How long have you been with the FHA? Mr. GREENE. Since the inception of the FHA. The CHAIRMAN. Since 1934? Mr. GREENE. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And what has been your position? Mr. GREENE. I started out in the Birmingham office as executive assistant to the director, and transferred to Washington in 1937, as an underwriter in the Underwriting Division, Chief of the Location Section of the Underwriting Division. The CHAIRMAN. Chief of the Location Section? Mr. GREENE. Yes. That is a part of the appraising operation. I was transferred in 1939 or 1940, and later became zone commissioner, now called regional director, for the west coast area. 44750-54-pt. 3- -23 And then I became Deputy Commissioner under Mr. Richards, and retained that title until 1952, when I became Commissioner. And then I again became Deputy Commissioner, when Mr. Hollyday The CHAIRMAN. You have been Deputy Commissioner during the entire tenure of Mr. Hollyday? Mr. GREENE. That is right. The CHAIRMAN. You resigned just recently? Mr. GREENE. That is right, on the 14th. The CHAIRMAN. April 14th? Mr. GREENE. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. You were Commissioner how long, for how many years? Mr. GREENE. About 9 months. The CHAIRMAN. That was what period? Mr. GREENE. From July 1, 1952, until April of 1953. The CHAIRMAN. You were Deputy Commissioner for how long? Mr. GREENE. Deputy Commissioner from 1947 to 1952, under Mr. Richards, and for 1 year under Mr. Hollyday. The CHAIRMAN. As Deputy Commissioner, did you have any specific responsibilities or duties above, say, others? I know you were a sort of assistant general manager, but did you have any specific duties above others? Mr. GREENE. As Deputy Commissioner I had no specific operations. My job was to assist the Commissioner in the administration of the FHA and to coordinate the activities. I was chairman of the Finance Committee for 6 years. The CHAIRMAN. You are very, very familiar, then, with the operations of title I? Mr. GREENE. Well, I have never operated directly in title I. The CHAIRMAN. I see. Mr. GREENE. I am familiar with the operation. The CHAIRMAN. As Deputy Commissioner you would be. Mr. GREENE. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And you are familiar with the operations of section 608? Mr. GREENE. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Tell us, Mr. Greene, in your own way, what you think we ought to do to tighten up or improve or eliminate from this new bill the possibilities of the alleged irregularities ever happening again that we have been hearing so much about here in the past 3 weeks. Or, if you do not think the legislation needs to be changed or tightened, tell us what you think ought to be done with the administration of the act, as written, to avoid or eliminate the things we have been hearing about. Mr. GREENE. Senator, in connection with title I, I would like to make for your consideration two suggestions. In the first place, let me say that I think title I is basically an excellent program. I think if it was confined more to the structural repairs and improvements, it would adhere closer to that basic concept. I would suggest that, legislativewise, the statute should be changed to provide for the interpretation that would not rule out all gadgets, as some of them are very essential in the improvement and maintenance of residential properties. But I think it would be well if most |