with respect to which a commitment to purchase was made prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. Section 4 (c) of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking out "$1,500,000,000" and inserting in lieu thereof "$2,000,000,000".

SEC. 4. Section 4 of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, as amended, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection reading as follows:

"(h) The Corporation may subscribe for the nonassessable stock of the Federal National Mortgage Association: Provided, That the total face amount of stock so subscribed for and held by the Corporation shall not exceed at any one time $20,000,000.”

SEC. 5. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended, is hereby amended by inserting immediately after section 510 thereof the following new section:

"INCONTESTABILITY

"SEC. 511. Any evidence of guaranty or insurance issued by the Administrator shall be conclusive evidence of the eligibility of the loan for guaranty or insurance under the provisions of this title and of the amount of such guaranty or insurance, except that nothing in this section shall preclude the Administrator from establishing, as against the original lender, defenses based on fraud or material misrepresentation, and except that the Administrator shall not, by reason of anything contained in this section, be barred from establishing, by regulations in force at the date of such issuance or disbursement, whichever is the earlier, partial defenses to the amount payable on the guaranty or insurance."

SEC. 6. Section 207 (c) (2) of the National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(1) By striking out the semicolon and the word "and" at the end of paragraph numbered (2), inserting in lieu thereof a colon, and adding the following new proviso: "And provided further, That, notwithstanding any of the provisions of this paragraph (2), a mortgage with respect to a project of a nonprofit cooperative ownership housing corporation (whose membership consists primarily of veterans of World War II) the permanent occupancy of the dwellings of which is restricted to members of such corporation, or a project constructed by a nonprofit corporation (whose membership consists primarily of veterans of World War II) organized for the purpose of construction of homes for members of the corporation, at prices, costs, or charges comparable to the prices, costs, or charges proposed to be charged such members, may involve a principal obligation in an amount not exceeding 95 per centum of the amount which the Administrator estimates will be the value of the project when the proposed improvements are completed; and".

Approved July 1, 1948.

[PUBLIC LAW 901-80TH CONGRESS]

[CHAPTER 832-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 6959]

AN ACT

To amend the Nationl Housing Act, as amended, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Housing Act of 1948".

TITLE I-FHA TITLE VI AND TRANSITIONAL PERIOD AMENDMENTS

SEC. 101. The National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

TITLE VI AMENDMENTS

(a) Section 603 (a) is amended

(1) By striking out "$5,350,000,000" and inserting in lieu thereof "$5,750,000,000 except that with the approval of the President such aggregate amount may be increased to not to exceed $6,150,000,000";

(2) By striking out the second proviso and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "Provided further, That no mortgage shall be insured under section 603 of this title after April 30, 1948, except (A) pursuant to a commitment to insure issued on or before April 30, 1948, or (B) a mortgage given to refinance an existing mortgage insured under section 603 of this title and which does not exceed the original principal amount and unexpired term of such existing mortgage, and no mortgage shall be insured under section 608 of this title after March 31, 1949, except (i) pursuant to a commitment to insure issued on or before March 31, 1949, or (ii) a mortgage given to refinance an existing mortgage insured under section 608 of this title and which does not exceed the original principal amount and unexpired term of such existing mortgage: Provided further, That no mortgage shall be insured under section 608 of this title unless the mortgagor certifies under oath that in selecting tenants for the property covered by the mortgage he will not discriminate against any family by reason of the fact that there are children in the family, and that he will not sell the property while the insurance is in effect unless the purchaser so certifies, such certifications to be filed with the Administrator; and violation of any such certification shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not to exceed $500:".

(b) Section 608 (b) (3) (B) is amended by striking out the semicolon and the word "and" at the end of the first proviso and inserting in lieu thereof a colon and the following: "And provided further, That the principal obligation of the mortgage shall not, in any event, exceed 90 per centum of the Administrator's estimate of the replacement cost of the property or project on the basis of the costs prevailing

on December 31, 1947, for properties or projects of comparable quality in the locality where such property or project is to be located; and". (c) Section 608 (b) (3) (C) is amended

8

By striking out "$1,500 per room" and inserting in lieu thereof "$8,100 per family unit"; and

(2) By striking out the colon and the proviso and inserting in lieu thereof a period.

(1) By striking out all of paragraph (1) of subsection (b) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"(1) The manufacturer shall establish that binding purchase contracts have been executed satisfactory to the Administrator providing for the purchase and delivery of the houses to be manufactured, which contracts shall provide for the payment of the purchase price at such time as may be agreed to by the parties thereto, but, in no event, shall the purchase price be payable on a date in excess of thirty days after the date of delivery of such houses, unless not less than 20 per centum of such purchase price is paid on or before the date of delivery and the lender has accepted and discounted or has agreed to accept and discount, pursuant to subsection () of this section a promissory note or notes, executed by the purchaser, representing the unpaid portion of such purchase price, in which event such unpaid portion of the purchase price may be payable on a date not in excess of one hundred and eighty days from the date of delivery of such houses;".

(2) By striking out the first and second sentences of paragraph (4) of subsection (b) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"The loan shall involve a principal obligation in an amount not to exceed 90 per centum of the amount which the Administrator estimates will be the necessary current cost, exclusive of profit, of manufacturing the houses, which are the subject of such purchase contracts assigned to secure the loan, less any sums paid by the purchaser under said purchase contracts prior to the assignment thereof. The loan shall be secured by an assignment of the aforesaid purchase contracts and of all sums payable thereunder on or after the date of such assignment, with the right in the assignee to proceed against such security in case of default as provided in the assignment, which assignment shall be in such form and contain such terms and conditions, as may be prescribed by the Administrator; and the Administrator may require such other agreements and undertakings to further secure the loan as he may determine, including the right, in case of default or at any time necessary to protect the lender, to compel delivery to the lender of any houses then owned and in the possession of the borrower."

(3) By adding at the end of subsection (f) the following new sentence: "The provisions of section 603 (d) shall also be applicable to loans insured under this section and the reference in said section 603 (d) to a mortgage shall be construed to include a loan or loans with respect to which a contract of insurance is issued pursuant to this section."

(4) By adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(i) (1) In addition to the insurance of the principal loan to finance the manufacture of housing, as provided in this section, and in order to provide short-term financing in the sale of houses to be delivered pursuant to the purchase contract or contracts assigned as security for such principal loan, the Administrator is authorized, under such terms and conditions and subject to such limitations as he may prescribe, to insure the lender against any losses it may sustain resulting from the acceptance and discount of a promissory note or notes executed by a purchaser of any such houses representing an unpaid portion of the purchase price of any such houses. No such promissory note or notes accepted and discounted by the lender pursuant to this subsection shall involve a principal obligation in excess of 80 per centum of the purchase price of the manufactured house or houses; have a maturity in excess of one hundred and eighty days from the date of the note or bear interest in excess of 4 per centum per annum; nor may the principal amount of such promissory notes, with respect to any individual principal loan, outstanding and unpaid at any one time, exceed in the aggregate an amount prescribed by the Administrator.

"(2) The Administrator is authorized to include in any contract of insurance executed by him with respect to the insurance of a loan to finance the manufacture of houses, provisions to effectuate the insurance against any such losses under this subsection.

"(3) The failure of the purchaser to make any payment due under or provided to be paid by the terms of any note or notes executed by the purchaser and accepted and discounted by the lender under the provisions of this subsection, shall be considered as a default under this subsection, and if such default continues for a period of thirty days, the lender shall be entitled to receive the benefits of the insurance, as provided in subsection (d) of this section except that debentures issued pursuant to this subsection shall have a face value equal to the unpaid principal balance of the loan plus interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum from the date of default to the date the application is filed for the insurance benefits.

"(4) Debentures issued with respect to the insurance granted under this subsection shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of section 604 (d) except that such debentures shall be dated as of the date application is filed for the insurance benefits and shall bear interest from such date.

"(5) The Administrator is authorized to fix a premium charge for the insurance granted under this subsection, in addition to the premium charge authorized under subsection (h) of this section. Such premium charge shall not exceed an amount equivalent to 1 per centum of the original principal of such promissory note or notes and shall be paid at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Administrator."

(e) Section 610 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

"The Administrator is further authorized to insure or to make commitments to insure in accordance with the provisions of this section

any mortgage executed in connection with the sale by the Government, or any agency or official thereof, of any of the so-called Greenbelt towns, or parts thereof, including projects, or parts thereof, known as Greenhills, Ohio; Greenbelt, Maryland; and Greendale, Wisconsin, developed under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, or of any of the village properties under the jurisdiction of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and any mortgage executed in connection with the first resale, within two years from the date of its acquisition from the Government, of any portion of a project or property which is the security for a mortgage insured pursuant to the provisions of this section.'

(f) Title VI is amended by adding after section 610 the following new section:

"SEC. 611. (a) In addition to mortgages insured under other sections of this title, and in order to assist and encourage the application of cost-reduction techniques through large-scale modernized site construction of housing and the erection of houses produced by modern industrial processes, the Administrator is authorized to insure mortgages (including advances on such mortgages during construction) which are eligible for insurance as hereinafter provided.

"(b) To be eligible for insurance under this section, a mortgage shall

"(1) have been made to and be held by a mortgagee approved by the Administrator as responsible and able to service the mortgage properly;

"(2) cover property, held by a mortgagor approved by the Administrator, upon which there is to be constructed or erected dwelling units for not less than twenty-five families consisting of a group of single-family dwellings approved by the Adminis trator for mortgage insurance prior to the beginning of construction: Provided, That during the course of construction there may be located upon the mortgaged property a plant for the fabrication or storage of such dwellings or sections or parts thereof, and the Administrator may consent to the removal or release of such plant from the lien of the mortgage upon such terms and conditions as he may approve;

"(3) involve a principal obligation in an amount—

"(A) not to exceed 80 per centum of the amount which the Administrator estimates will be the value of the completed property or project, exclusive of any plant of the character described in paragraph (2) of this subsection located thereon, and

"(B) not to exceed a sum computed on the individual dwellings comprising the total project as follows: $6,000 or 80 per centum of the valuation, whichever is less, with respect to each single-family dwelling.

"With respect to the insurance of advances during construction, the Administrator is authorized to approve advances by the mortgagee to cover the cost of materials delivered upon the mortgaged property and labor performed in the fabrication or erection thereof;

"(4) provide for complete amortization by periodic payments within such term as the Administrator shall prescribe and shall