President Signs Housing Bill

The National Housing Act to provide 93,200,000,000 for the construction and repair of homes passed during the closing session of Congress, was signed by President Roosevelt on June 28. The act is designed to revive home building and relieve unemployment.

Simultaneously, a reduction of approximately 10 per cent in the cost of lumber and building materials was announced by the National Retail Lumber Dealers' Association as an aid to the administration's housing program.

Spencer D. Baldwin, president of the National Retail Lumber Dealers' Association. in a statement said: "The executives of the Association expect an immediate and sensational surge of building as soon as the machinery of administering the housing act gets in operation."

Several other major moves already have been made to aid home builders. The interstate commerce commission has been given power to reduce rates on shipments of building materials.

The President prepared to set up immediately the machinery to put the housing program into operation. Officials stated that the new act can be put into operation as soon as private agencies are ready.

The leading provisions of the act are:

A federal housing administrator to be appointed by the President.

A $200,000,000 fund under his jurisdiction to insure 20 per cent of losses by private lending institutions in advancing funds for home repairs and improvements.

A mutual mortgage insurance fund, also under the ad. ministrator, to insure first mortgages on homes and second mortgages on low cost housing projects. It will apply to mortgages up to $16,000 amortized over a N-year period and representing not more than 80 per cent of the valuation of new homes or 6O per cent of old ones.

Authority for the creation under the administrator of $5.000,000 national mortgage associations by private individuals to buy first mortgages in a manner similar to the way the fed'eral reserve system discounts commercial paper.

A savings and loan insurance corporation with a capital stock of $100,000,000 to insure accounts up to $5,000 in savings and loan associations comparable to the insurance of bank accounts.

Additional borrowing power for the Home Owners' Loan Corporation of $1,000,000,000, making $3,000,000,000 in all, with fund for repair loans on refinanced homes increased from $200,000,000 to $300,000,000.