(d) The Secretary is authorized to make expenditures to correct or to reimburse the owner for the correction of structural or other major defects which so seriously affect use and livability as to create a serious danger to the life or safety of inhabitants of any one-, two-, three-, or four-family dwelling which is more than one year old on the date of issuance of the insurance commitment, is located in an older, declining urban area, and is covered by a mortgage insured under section 203 or 221 on or after January 1, 1973, but prior to the date of enactment of this subsection if (1) the owner requests assistance from the Secretary not more than one year after the date of enactment of this subsection, and (2) the defect is one that existed on the date of the issuance of the insurance commitment and is one that a proper inspection could reasonably have been expected to have disclosed. The Secretary may require from the seller of any such dwelling an agreement to reimburse him for any payments made pursuant to this subsection with respect to such dwelling. Expenditures pursuant to this subsection shall be made from the insurance fund chargeable for insurance benefits on the mortgage covering the structure to which the expenditures relate. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to cover the cost of such expenditures not otherwise provided for.

(e) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is authorized and directed to conduct a full and complete investigation and study and report to Congress, with recommendations, not later than March 1, 1977, with respect to an effective program for protecting home buyers from hidden or undisclosed defects seriously affecting the use and livability of the home, which would be applicable to existing homes financed with mortgates insured under this Act. In the study and report the Secretary shall particularly investigate the need for, cost and feasible structure of, a national home inspection and warranty program, with respect to such homes, to be operated by the Federal Government out of fees assessed on the home buyer and amortized over a period of two years. The Secretary's report shall also present an analysis of alternative Federal programs to meet these needs, and the cost and means of financing such programs. In the report the Secretary shall also outline administrative steps which can be taken to provide disclosure to purchasers of existing homes financed with mortgages insured under this Act of the actual condition of the home and the types of repairs or replacements likely to be needed within a period of two years, such as repairs or replacement of furnance, roof or major appliances, based on age and useful life expectancy of such appurte

nances.

ESTABLISHMENT OF GENERAL INSURANCE FUND

SEC. 519. (a) There is hereby created a General Insurance Fund which shall be used by the Secretary, on and after the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, as a revolving fund for carrying out all the insurance provisions of this Act with the exception of those specified in subsection (e). All mortgages or loans insured under this Act pursuant to commitments issued on or after the date of the enactment of the Housing

and Urban Development Act of 1965, except those specified in subsection (e), and all loans reported for insurance under section 2 on or after the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, shall be insured under the General Insurance Fund. The Secretary shall transfer to the General Insurance Fund

(1) the assets and liabilities of all insurance accounts and funds, except the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, existing under this Act immediately prior to the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965;

(2) all outstanding commitments for insurance issued prior to the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, except those specified in subsection (e);

(3) the insurance on all mortgages and loans insured prior to the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, except insurance specified in subsection (e); and

(4) the insurance of all loans made by approved financial institutions pursuant to section 2 prior to the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965. (b) The general expenses of the operations of the Department of Housing and Urban Development relating to mortgages and loans which are the General Insurance Fund may be charged to the General Insurance Fund.

(c) Moneys in the General Insurance Fund not needed for the current operations of the Department of Housing and Urban Development with respect to mortgages and loans which are the obligation of the General Insurance Fund shall be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States to the credit of such Fund, or invested in bonds or other obligations of, or in bonds or other obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest by, the United States or any agency of the United States: Provided, That such moneys shall to the maximum extent feasible be invested in such bonds or other obligations the proceeds of which will be used to directly support the residential mortgage market.

The Secretary may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, purchase in the open market debentures issued as obligations of the General Insurance Fund or issued prior to the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 under other provisions of this Act, except debentures issued under the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Such purchases shall be made at a price which will provide an investment yield of not less than the yield obtainable from other investments authorized by this section. Debentures so purchased shall be canceled and not reissued. (d) Premium charges, adjusted premium charges, and appraisals and other fees received on account of the insurance of any mortgage or loan which is the obligation of the General Insurance Fund, the receipts derived from the property covered by such mortgages and loans and from the claims, debts, contracts, property, and security assigned to the Secretary in connection therewith, and all earnings on the assets of the Fund shall be credited to the General Insurance Fund. The principal of, and interest paid and to be paid on, debentures which are the obligation of such Fund, cash insurance payments and adjustments, and expenses incurred in the

handling, management, renovation, and disposal of properties acquired, in connection with mortgages and loans which are the obligation of such Fund, shall be charged to such Fund.

(e) The General Insurance Fund shall not be used for carrying out the provisions of sections 203(b), 203(h) and 203(i), or the provisions of section 213 to the extent that they involve mortgages the insurance for which is the obligation of the Cooperative Management Housing Insurance Fund created by section 213(k), or the provisions of sections 223(e), 233(a)(2), 235, 236 and 237; and nothing in this section shall apply to or affect mortgages, loans, commitments, or insurance under such provisions.

(f) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to cover losses sustained by the General Insurance Fund.

OPTIONAL CASH PAYMENTS OF INSURANCE BENEFITS

SEC. 520. (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act with respect to the payment of insurance benefits, the Secretary is authorized, in his discretion, to pay in cash or in debentures any insurance claim or part thereof which is paid on or after the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 on a mortgage or a loan which was insured under any section of this Act either before or after such date. If payment is made in cash, it shall be an amount equivalent to the face amount of the debentures that would otherwise be issued plus an amount equivalent to the interest which the debentures would have earned, computed to a date to be established pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary.

(b) The Secretary is authorized to borrow from the Treasury from time to time such amounts as the Secretary shall determine are necessary (1) to make payments in cash (in lieu of issuing debentures guaranteed by the United States, as provided in this Act) pursuant to the provisions of this section, and (2) to make payments for reinsured and directly insured losses under title XII of this Act: Provided, however, That borrowings to make payments for reinsured and directly insured losses under title XII shall be limited to $250,000,000 or such further sum as the Congress, by joint resolution, may from time to time determine. Notes or other obligations issued by the Secretary in borrowing under this subsection shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. Each sum borrowed pursuant to this subsection shall bear interest at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities during the month preceding the issuance of such notes or other obligations.

APPROVAL OF TECHNICALLY SUITABLE MATERIALS

SEC. 521. The Secretary shall adopt a uniform procedure for the acceptance of materials and products to be used in structures approved for mortgages or loans insured under this Act. Under such procedure any material or product which the Secretary finds is technically suitable for the use proposed shall be accepted. Acceptance of a material or product as technically suitable shall not be

deemed to restrict the discretion of the Secretary to determine that a structure, with respect to which a mortgage is executed, is economically sound or an acceptable risk.

WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES

SEC. 522. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no mortgage which covers new construction shall be approved for insurance under this Act (except pursuant to a commitment made prior to the date of the enactment of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965) if the mortgaged property includes housing which is not served by a public or adequate community water and sewerage system: Provided, That this limitation shall be applicable only to property which is not served by a system approved by the Secretary pursuant to title X of this Act and which is 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 is economically feasible: Provided further, That for purposes of this section the economic feasibility of establishing such public or adequate community water and sewerage systems shall be determined without regard to whether such establishment is authorized by law or is subject to approval by one or more local governments or public bodies.

WAIVER OF DEDUCTION ON ASSIGNMENT OF PROPERTY TO SECRETARY IN LIEU OF FORECLOSURE

SEC. 523. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, from and after the date of the enactment of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966, the Secretary, under such terms and conditions as he may approve, may waive all or a part of the 1 per centum deduction otherwise made from insurance benefits with respect to multifamily housing or land development mortgages assigned to him, where the assignment is made at his request in lieu of foreclosure of the mortgage.

FHA REHABILITATION STANDARDS FOR HOUSING IN URBAN RENEWAL AREAS

SEC. 524. In determining whether properties should be approved by the Secretary prior to rehabilitation and covered by mortgages insured under title II of this Act, the Secretary shall apply uniform property standards as between properties located outside urban renewal areas and those located within urban renewal areas.

ADVANCES

SEC. 525. The Secretary is authorized to insure mortgage proceeds advanced during construction or rehabilitation or otherwise prior to final endorsement of a project mortgage for the purpose of (1) financing improvements to the property and the purchase of materials and building components delivered to the property, and (2) providing funds to cover the cost of building components where such components have been assembled and specifically identified for incorporation into the property but are located at a site other

than the mortgaged property, with such security as the Secretary may require.

MINIMUM PROPERTY STANDARDS

SEC. 526. (a) To the maximum extent feasible, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall promote the use of energy saving techniques through minimum property standards established by him for newly constructed residential housing, other than manufactured homes, subject to mortgages insured under this Act. Such standards shall establish energy performance requirements that will achieve a significant increase in the energy efficiency of new construction. Such requirements shall be implemented as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this sentence.1 Following the effective date of this sentence,2 the energy performance requirements developed and established by the Secretary under this subsection for newly constructed residential housing, other than manufactured homes, shall be at least as effective in performance as the energy performance requirements incorporated in the minimum property standards that were in effect under this subsection on September 30, 1982.

(b) The Secretary may require that each property, other than a manufactured home, subject to a mortgage insured under this Act shall, with respect to health and safety, comply with one of the nationally recognized model building codes, or with a State or local building code based on one of the nationally recognized model building codes or their equivalent. The Secretary shall be responsible for determining the comparability of the State and local codes to such model codes and for selecting for compliance purposes an appropriate nationally recognized model building code where no such model code has been duly adopted or where the Secretary determines the adopted code is not comparable.

PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION ON ACCOUNT OF SEX IN

EXTENSION OF MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE

SEC. 527. (a) No federally related mortgage loan, or Federal insurance, guaranty, or other assistance in connection therewith (under this or any other Act), shall be denied to any person on account of sex; and every person engaged in making mortgage loans secured by residential real property shall consider without prejudice the combined income of both husband and wife for the purpose of extending mortgage credit in the form of a federally related mortgage loan to a married couple or either member thereof. (b) For purposes of subsection (a), the term "federally related mortgage loan" means any loan which

(1) is secured by residential real property designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families; and

(2)(A) is made in whole or in part by any lender the deposits or accounts of which are insured by any agency of the Federal Government, or is made in whole or in part by any lender

1 November 9, 1978.

2 November 30, 1983.

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