October 1, 1954, unless such mortgage is insured pursuant to a commitment therefor made prior to October 1, 1954. (b) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is further directed to permit copies of the plans and specifications (including written approvals of any amendments thereof, or changes or variations therein, as provided herein) for dwellings in connection with which warranties are required by subsection (a) of this section to be made available in their appropriate local offices for inspection or for copying by any purchaser, homeowner, or warrantor during such hours or periods of time as the said Secretary may determine to be reasonable. [Public Law 91--609, 84 Stat. 1770, 1814, 12 U.S.C. 1709-2] EQUITY SKIMMING SEC. 912. Whoever, with intent to defraud, willfully engages in a pattern or practice of (1) purchasing one- to four-family dwellings which are subject to a loan in default at time of purchase or in default within one year subsequent to the purchase and the loan is secured by a mortgage or deed of trust insured or held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or guaranteed by the Veterans' Administration, or the loan is made by the Veterans' Administration, (2) failing to make payments under the mortgage or deed of trust as the payments become due, and (3) applying or authorizing the application of rents from such dwellings for his own use, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. This section shall apply to a purchaser of such a dwelling, or a beneficial owner under any business organization or trust purchasing such dwelling, or to an officer, director, or agent of any such purchaser. Nothing in this section shall apply to the purchaser of only one such dwelling. CLOSING OF MILITARY BASES-MORTGAGE DEFAULT EXCERPTS FROM HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1965 [Public Law 89-117, 79 Stat. 451, 459, 12 U.S.C. 1735g and 38 U.S.C. 1816a] MORTGAGE RELIEF FOR CERTAIN HOMEOWNERS SEC. 1071 (a) For the purposes of this section (1) The term "mortgage" means a mortgage which (A) is insured under the National Housing Act, or (B) secures a home 1 Sec. 1012. Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966, Public Law 89-754, approved November 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 1255, 1288, amended that part of sec. 107 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 which precedes subsec. (f) to read as set forth in the text. 81-793 O - 77 - 23 loan guaranteed or insured under the Servicemen's Readjustment (A) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development when used in connection with mortgages insured under the National Housing Act, and (B) the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs when used in connection with mortgages securing home loans guaranteed or insured under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 or chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code. (3) The term "distressed mortgagor" means an individual who (A) was employed by the Federal Government at, or was assigned as a serviceman to, a military base or other Federal installation and whose employment or service at such base or installation was terminated subsequent to November 1, 1964, as the result of the closing (in whole or in part) of such base or installation; and (B) is the owner-occupant of a dwelling situated at or near such base or installation and upon which there is a mortgage securing a loan which is in default because of the inability of such individual to make payments due under such mortgage. (b) (1) Any distressed mortgagor, for the purpose of avoiding foreclosure of his mortgage, may apply to the appropriate Federal mortgage agency for a determination that suspension of his obligation to make payments due under such mortgage during a temporary period is necessary in order to avoid such foreclosure. (2) Upon receipt of an application made under this subsection by a distressed mortgagor, the Federal mortgage agency shall issue to such mortgagor a certificate of moratorium if it determines, after consultation with the interested mortgagee, that such action is necessary to avoid foreclosure. (3) Prior to the issuance to any distressed mortgagor of a certificate of moratorium under paragraph (2), the Federal mortgage agency, the mortgagor, and the mortgagee shall enter into a binding agreement under which (A) the mortgagor will be required to make payments to such agency, after the expiration of such certificate, in an aggregate amount equal to the amount paid by such agency on behalf of such mortgagor as provided in subsection (c), together with interest thereon at a rate not to exceed the rate provided in the mortgage; the manner and time in which such payments shall be made to be determined by the Federal mortgage agency having due regard for the purposes sought to be achieved by this section; and (B) the Federal mortgage agency will be subrogated to the rights of the mortgagee to the extent of payments made pursuant to such certificate, which rights, however, shall be subject to the prior right of the mortgagee to receive the full amount payable under the mortgage. (4) Any certificate of moratorium issued under this subsection shall expire on whichever of the following dates is the earliest (A) two years from the date on which such certificate was issued; (B) thirty days after the date on which the mortgagor gives notice in writing to the Federal mortgage agency that he is able to resume his obligation to make payments due under his mortgage; or (C) thirty days after the date on which the Federal mortgage agency determines that the mortgagor to whom such certificate was issued has ceased to be a distressed mortgagor as defined in subsection (a) (3). (c) (1) Whenever a Federal mortgage agency issues a certificate of moratorium to any distressed mortgagor with respect to any mortgage, it shall transmit to the mortgagee a copy of such certificate, together with a notice stating that, while such certificate is in effect, such agency will assume the obligation of such mortgagor to make payments due under the mortgage. (2) Payments made by any Federal mortgage agency pursuant to a certificate of moratorium issued under this section with respect to the mortgage of any distressed mortgagor may include, in addition to the payments referred to in paragraph (1), an amount equal to the unpaid payments under such mortgage prior to the issuance of such certificate, plus a reasonable allowance for foreclosure costs actually paid by the mortgagee if a foreclosure action was dismissed as a result of the issuance of a moratorium certificate. Payments by the Federal mortgage agency may also include payments of taxes and insurance premiums on the mortgaged property as deemed necessary when these items are not provided for through payments to a tax and insurance account held by the interested mortgagee. (3) While any certificate of moratorium issued under this section is in effect with respect to the mortgage of any distressed mortgagor, no further payments due under the mortgage shall be required of such mortgagor, and no action (legal or otherwise) shall be taken or maintained by the mortgagee to enforce or collect such payments. Upon the expiration of such certificate, the mortgagor shall again be liable for the payment of all amounts due under the mortgage in accordance with its terms. (4) Each Federal mortgage agency shall give prompt notice in writing to the interested mortgagor and mortgagee of the expiration of any certificate of moratorium issued by it under this section. (d) The Federal mortgage agencies are authorized to issue such individual and joint regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section and to insure the uniform administration thereof. (e) There shall be in the Treasury (1) a fund which shall be available to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for the purpose of extending financial assistance in behalf of distressed mortgagors as provided in subsection (c) and for paying administrative expenses incurred in connection with such assistance, and (2) a fund which shall be available to the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs for the same purpose, except administrative expenses. The capital of each such fund shall consist of such sums as may, from time to time, be appropriated thereto, and any sums so appropriated shall remain available until expended. Receipts arising from the programs of assistance under subsection (c) shall be credited to the fund from which such assistance was extended. Moneys in either of such funds not needed for current operations, as determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, as the case may be, shall be invested in bonds or other obligations of the United States, or paid into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN PROPERTIES SITUATED AT OR NEAR MILITARY BASES WHICH HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO BE CLOSED SEC. 108.1 Approved August 10, 1965. 1 See sec. 1013, Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966, Public Law 89-754, approved November 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 1255, 1290, which replaced and repealed sec. 108. LOW-RENT PUBLIC HOUSING § 201 and § 3 EXCERPTS FROM HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1974 [Public Law 93-383, 88 Stat. 633] TITLE II-ASSISTED HOUSING AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937 SEC. 201. (a) The United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended to read as follows: SHORT TITLE SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "United States Housing Act of 1937". DECLARATION OF POLICY SEC. 2. It is the policy of the United States to promote the general welfare of the Nation by employing its funds and credit, as provided in this Act, to assist the several States and their political subdivisions to remedy the unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions and the acute shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for families of low income and, consistent with the objectives of this Act, to vest in local public housing agencies the maximum amount of responsibility in the administration of their housing programs. No person should be barred from serving on the board of directors or similar governing body of a local public housing agency because of his tenancy in a lowincome housing project. DEFINITIONS SEC. 3. When used in this Act (1) The term, "low-income housing" means decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings within the financial reach of families of low income, and embraces all necessary appurtenances thereto. Except as otherwise provided in this section, income limits for occupancy and rents shall be fixed by the public housing agency and approved by the Secretary. The rental for any dwelling unit shall not exceed one-fourth of the family's income as defined by the Secretary. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the rental for any dwelling unit shall not be less than the higher of (A) 5 per centum of the gross income of the family occupying the dwelling unit, and (B) if the family is receiving payments for welfare assistance from a public agency and a part of such payments, adjusted in accordance with the family's actual housing costs, is specifically designated by such agency to meet the family's housing costs, the portion of such payments which is so designated. At least 20 per centum of the dwelling units in any project placed under annual contributions contracts in any fiscal year beginning after the effective date of this section shall be occupied by very low-income families. In |