Prelercnce Ratings-Los Angeles Delense Area

William G. Bingham, district director, Federal Housing Administration, Los Angeles, under date of laly 3O' 1942, sent the following Circular Letter No. 140 to all approved lending institutions:

"'We are advised today by the National Housing Agency that effective immediately, the only area in the Los Angeles Defense Area where applications for preference ratings for critical materials for war housing, PD-105, will be approved is in that portion of the coastal cities, southeast cities and harbor area, lying south of the line of Manchester and Firestone Boulevards.

"Effective today, our office will discontinue the, processing of PD-105 applications in the now ineligible areas and such applications may be considered as dead. Any PD-105 applications submitted to our office in the future in ineligible areas will be rejected.

"PD-105 applications in process in our office in the areas remaining eligible will continue to be processed but will not be forwarded to the National Housing Agency until that Agency provides us with a schedule of permissible brackets and sub-area quotas in which preference ratings may be issued. PD-105 applications submitted to us in the eligible areas will be accepted and similarly processed.

"Applicants who have submitted or do submit applications in the eligible areas must be cautioned that there remains a question concerning their ultimate approval pending the schedule of permissible brackets and sub-area quotas to be set by the National Housing Agency.

"One requirement for the processing of applications for Mortgage fnsurance for new construcion or Property Eligibility Statements under Title I, Class 3 is that a P-55 has been issued. Effective August 3 all such applications pending in our office on which a P-55 has not been issued and in which the subject cases are in the now ineligible areas will be rejected. All such applications in ineligible areas submitted to this office in the future shall be rejected in Preliminary Examination unless evidence that the P-55 has been issued accompanies the applications. Also Circular Letter No. 134 remains in effect.

"A P-55 already issued remains in efrect in accordance with its terms even if the subject property is located in a now ineligible area.

"The eligibility of any particular property for preference rating, even though located in an eligible area, remains subject to its qualifying under the commuting distance formula with relation to a recognized war activity located in an eligible area."