principally for residential use; and, notwithstanding any of the provisions of section 301 of the National Housing Act, as heretofore or hereafter amended, or of any other law unless enacted expressly in limitation hereof, any mortgage loans, or partial interests therein, may be offered to the Federal National Mortgage Association for purchase, and the Association shall be authorized to make real-estate loans, including advances thereon during construction, if such loans or advances are secured by property located in Alaska and insured under any of the provisions of the National Housing Act, as amended. SEC. 3. (a) In order to relieve the particularly severe impact of the housing shortage in Alaska, the legislature of that Territory may authorize the Alaska Housing Authority, in addition to the housing projects undertaken pursuant to the provisions of the Act of July 21, 1941 (55 Stat. 601; 48 U. S. C., secs. 481-483), as amended, also to undertake other projects for the construction and sale or rental of dwelling accommodations for inhabitants of the Territory, and to make loans for such projects to public agencies, or private nonprofit or limited dividend corporations, or private corporations which are regulated or restricted by the Authority (until the termination of all loan obligations to it) as to rents or sales, charges, capital structure, rate of return, and methods of operation to such an extent and in such manner as to provide reasonable rentals to tenants and a reasonable return on the investment, and the legislature of that Territory may authorize said authority to make character loans to individuals or cooperatives for the improvement, conversion or construction of dwellings in remote areas to be occupied by such individuals or members of such cooperatives where the loan does not exceed $500 per dwelling, and any powers of said Authority, including but not limited to powers of eminent domain and issuance of bonds and obligations, with respect to projects undertaken pursuant to the provisions of said Act of July 21, 1941, may be made available with respect to projects undertaken pursuant to the authorization provided in this section: Provided, That the authorization provided in this section shall be limited to projects where adequate financing on reasonable terms and conditions, or entrepreneurial sponsorship, or both, as the case may be, is not otherwise available: And provided further, That any projects constructed and owned by such Authority pursuant to the authorization provided in this section shall be sold for cash or on reasonable terms and giving consideration to full market value, as promptly as may be advantageous under the circumstances and in the public interest: And provided further, That such Authority shall exercise its powers under this section to encourage and assist the production, at lower costs, of housing of sound standards of design, construction, livability, and size for adequate family life, and the development of well planned residential neighborhoods. Any law enacted by the legislature of the Territory of Alaska which, except for its enactment prior to the enactment of this Act, would be authorized under this section, is hereby authorized, approved, and validated.

(b) To obtain funds for the purpose of undertaking and administering projects or of making loans pursuant to any authority conferred by the legislature of the Territory of Alaska under subsection (a) of this section, the Alaska Housing Authority may, on and after the effective date of this Act, issue and have outstanding at any one time

notes or other obligations for purchase by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator in an amount not to exceed $15,000,000 and the Housing and Home Finance Administrator is hereby authorized to purchase such notes or other obligations to the extent that funds are available therefor: Provided, That such notes and other obligations issued and outstanding for the purpose of making character loans to individuals or cooperatives shall not exceed $1,000,000. Such notes or other obligations shall be in such forms and denominations, shall have such maturities not exceeding forty years, and shall be purchased under such general terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator. Such notes and other obligations shall bear interest at a rate determined by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average rate on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States as of the last day of the month preceding the issuance of such notes or other. obligations.

(c) The Alaska Housing Authority shall make an annual report to the Governor of Alaska on all of the activities of the Authority, for each fiscal year ending June 30, for transmission with his comments and recommendations to the Housing and Home Finance Administrator.

(d) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Housing and Home Finance Administrator, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not to exceed $15,000,000 for the purposes of this section. Funds made available to the Administrator pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be deposited in a checking account or accounts with the Treasurer of the United States. Receipts and assets obtained or held by the Administrator in connection with the performance of his functions under this section shall be available for any of the purposes of this section. In the performance of, and with respect to, the functions, powers, and duties vested in him by this section, the Administrator, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, shall maintain an integral set of accounts which shall be audited annually by the General Accounting Office in accordance with the principles and procedures applicable to commercial transactions as provided by the Government Corporation Control Act, as amended, and no other audit shall be required: Provided, That such financial transactions of the Administrator as the making of loans or advances of funds and vouchers approved by the Administrator in connection with such financial transactions shall be final and conclusive upon all officers of the Government.

SEC. 4. The Housing and Home Finance Agency is authorized to provide technical advice and information and otherwise to cooperate to the full extent authorized by law to assist the Alaska Housing Authority in the program to relieve the severe shortage of housing in the Territory.

SEC. 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 4 and 301 of the Act entitled "An Act to expedite the provision of housing in connection with national defense, and for other purposes", approved October 14, 1940, as amended, with respect to the disposition of housing of a permanent character, any such housing in Alaska under the jurisdiction of the Housing and Home Finance Administrator which has been

reserved (in whole or in part), prior to the enactment of this Act, for employees of an agency of the Federal Government may be retained by him for employees of that agency for such time as he determines such action necessary to provide adequate housing accommodations for them in the area.

SEC. 6. Any executive department or agency of the Federal Government is hereby authorized to sell, transfer, and convey to the Alaska Housing Authority at fair value (as determined by such department or agency), for use under this Act, all or any right, title, and interest in any real or personal property under the jurisdiction of such department or agency which it determines to be in excess of its own requirements, notwithstanding any limitations or requirements of law with respect to the use or disposition of such property: Provided, That the authority conferred by this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other powers and authorities of such department or agency.

Approved April 23, 1949.

7

[PUBLIC LAW 65-81ST CONGRESS]

[CHAPTER 127-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 2440]

AN ACT

To authorize the Public Housing Commissioner to sell the suburban resettlement projects known as Greenbelt, Maryland; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenhills, Ohio, without regard to provisions of law requiring competitive bidding or public advertising.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, notwithstanding the provisions of section 3709, as amended, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, or any other provision of law, the Public Housing Commissioner is hereby authorized, by means of negotiated sale or sales and without competitive bidding or public advertising, to sell and convey, at fair market value as determined by him on the basis of an appraisal made by an independent real-estate expert selected by the Commissioner and subject to such terms and conditions as he may determine to be in the best public interest, to such purchaser or purchasers as he deems to be responsible, all right, title, and interest of the United States in or to all or any part of the suburban resettlement projects known as Greenbelt, Maryland; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenhills, Ohio (including improved and unimproved lands, war housing constructed on lands of or adjacent to said suburban resettlement projects, and personal property used in connection with said projects or housing): Provided, however, That the Public Housing Commissioner shall, during such period as he deems to be reasonable, give a first preference in such negotiated sale or sales to veteran groups organized on a nonprofit basis (provided that any such group shall accept as a member of its organization, on the same terms, subject to the same conditions, and with the same privileges and responsibilities, required of, and extended to other members of the group, any tenant occupying a dwelling unit in such project at any time during such period as the Commissioner shall deem appropriate, starting on the effective date of this Act, and who shall be a tenant therein at the time of making application for such membership), and may sell to such groups at fair market value (as determined by him on the basis stated above) or at cost (as determined by him, including the apportioned cost of structures, lands, appurtenances, and personal property transferred, together with the apportioned share of the cost of all utilities and other facilities provided for and common to the project of which any property being sold is a part), whichever is lower, except, however, that in the event two or more such groups desire to purchase any such project they shall be required to submit sealed bids therefor and the award shall be made on the basis of the highest acceptable monetary return to the Government: And provided further, That evidence is furnished to the Commissioner, satisfactory to him, that the compensation paid or to be paid for organizing such (281)

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groups, for negotiating the purchase of such property, and for financing such purchase is fair in relation to the purchase price and reasonable on the basis of time effectively devoted to such services on a professional or similar basis: And provided further, That in the event of a sale other than for cash, the Commissioner shall require a down payment of at least 10 per centum of the total purchase price, the balance to be amortized over a period of not more than twenty-five years, the unpaid balance to bear interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum and the payment of any unpaid balance to be secured by a first mortgage or deed of trust against the properties sold. The Commissioner is authorized, as a condition of any sale hereunder, to transfer, or to require the transfer or an agreement for the transfer of, streets, roads, public buildings, federally owned utilities, playgrounds, swimming pools, and parks, including adequate open land surrounding or adjacent to each project, to the appropriate nonFederal governmental agency, at such times, to such an extent, and upon such terms and conditions as he shall determine to be in the public interest.

SEC. 2. As used in this Act, (1) the term "veteran" means any person who shall have served in the active military or naval service of the United States at any time on or after September 16, 1940, and prior to July 26, 1947, and who shall have been discharged or released from active service under conditions other than dishonorable, and (2) the term "groups organized on a nonprofit basis" shall include but not be limited to, mutual ownership or cooperative housing associations or limited dividend corporations which by the terms of their charters and bylaws have limited their rate of return to a rate no higher than the Public Housing Commissioner deems reasonable and necessary.

Approved May 19, 1949.