12 U.S.C. § 1701y — National Homeownership Foundation
submitted 58 years ago by Pub. L. 90-448 to r/title-12-BANKS-AND-BANKING · 2,409 words · no verdicts yet
This section creates the National Homeownership Foundation to expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower-income families through assistance, counseling, technical help, grants, and loans. It sets the Foundation’s governance, duties, reporting and audit rules, funding limit, and operating restrictions.
(a) Creation and operation
(1) A corporation called the “National Homeownership Foundation” (“Foundation”) is created. It must continuously encourage public and private organizations at national, community, and neighborhood levels to expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower-income families in urban and rural areas by: (A) encouraging investment in and sponsorship of housing for those families; (B) encouraging assistance and counseling programs to help them obtain and afford adequate housing; (C) giving public and private organizations technical help through publications and advice when they are conducting or want to conduct such programs; and (D) giving grants and loans to organizations conducting such programs to help pay program expenses.
(2) The Foundation is treated as a corporation without members organized under the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act, with that Act’s rights, powers, and responsibilities except as this section or amendments limit them. This section is its articles of incorporation and charter. It is not an agency or instrumentality of the United States. Congress reserves the exclusive power to change or amend the charter. The Foundation continues until Congress dissolves it by law. Its main office must be in the District of Columbia.
(3) No net earnings may benefit a private person*. No substantial part of its activities may try to influence legislation. It may not support or oppose a political candidate’s campaign. It must always operate as a charitable and educational foundation.
(4) No employee or officer may receive more compensation than the amount received by, or later set by law for, the head of an executive department.
(5) The Foundation must make maximum use of existing public and private agencies and programs. It may contract with individuals, private corporations, organizations, associations, and federal, State*, and local government agencies.
(6) It may accept donations and grants from individuals and public or private organizations, foundations, and agencies.
(7) It may use only donated money or interest earned on its loans to pay principal or interest on borrowings.
(b) Board and officers
(1) The Foundation must have an 18-member Board of Directors. The President appoints 15 members with Senate advice and consent. The other 3 are, by virtue of their offices, the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture and the Director* of the Office of Economic Opportunity. The President appoints one of the 15 appointed members as Board Chair for that member’s Board term.
(2) Within 30 days after August 1, 1968, the President must appoint the 15 appointed members. At appointment, no more than 5 may be full-time federal, State, or local government officers or employees. Each appointed member serves 3 years, except a replacement serves the rest of the predecessor’s term, and the first members’ terms expire as the President designates: 5 after 1 year, 5 after 2 years, and 5 after 3 years. Members may be reappointed, but at no time may more than 5 members have been full-time federal, State, or local government officers or employees when appointed or reappointed.
(3) An appointed Board member who is not a federal employee may receive compensation set by the President, up to $100 per day including travel time, while attending Board meetings or conferences or doing Board business. While away from home or the regular workplace, the member may receive travel expenses, including a daily subsistence allowance, as allowed by 5 U.S.C. § 5703 for intermittent government workers.
(4) The Board must appoint an Executive Director, who is the Foundation’s chief executive and serves at the Board’s pleasure. Other executive officers and employees are responsible to the Executive Director. The Board must also appoint a secretary, treasurer, and other needed officers and provide for vacancies.
(5) The Board must adopt bylaws and make them available for public inspection on request.
(c) Functions and fees
(1) At their request, the Foundation must assist public and private organizations in starting, developing, and conducting programs that expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower-income families. It may: (A) continually encourage such programs; (B) help form organizations to conduct them, including local development funds that pool private money to finance housing; (C) identify and arrange needed technical, management, and personnel help; (D) help obtain mortgage financing, insurance, and other requirements or assistance for construction, rehabilitation, or improvement; (E) provide limited training in needed administrative skills; (F) encourage research and innovation and collect and share useful information, including seminars, conferences, meetings, and continuing information for families about improving housing and available opportunities; (G) help organizations provide counseling about using job-training and manpower-development programs to improve economic circumstances; and (H) perform similar services furthering this section.
(2) The Foundation may charge a reasonable fee for assistance or services under this subsection if it considers that appropriate.
(d) Grants and loans
(1) To help organizations meet unmet needs, start exceptional programs, and try new approaches, the Foundation may make grants and loans on terms and conditions it sets to help pay: (A) organizational and administrative costs of starting or expanding a program related to lower-income homeownership and housing; (B) necessary preconstruction costs for architectural help, land options, application fees, and similar items; and (C) counseling or similar services for families receiving housing, including home management, budget management, and home maintenance.
(2) An organization qualifies only if it satisfies the Foundation that federal sources do not otherwise provide the requested money. A grant or loan may cover the eligible part of a cost that federal money does not cover.
(3) The Foundation must encourage cooperation between the organizations and affected neighborhoods and communities. To promote cooperation and coordinate construction or rehabilitation with local development goals, it may not consider an application unless the applicant first submits it to the affected community’s governing body, or its designated local-government entity, for recommendations. The Foundation must carefully consider recommendations before deciding. If 30 days pass after submission without recommendations, it may consider the application without them.
(e) Coordination. The Foundation must coordinate its work and consult with HUD and other federal departments and agencies providing homeownership and housing opportunities to lower-income families.
(f) Annual reports
(1) Within 120 days after each fiscal year ends, the Foundation must send the President and Congress a full activity report. It must describe its experience with public and private efforts to expand opportunities and include recommendations it considers appropriate.
(2) If mortgage funds generally become unavailable badly enough to deter the Foundation from its objective, it must state its findings and recommend appropriate alternative financing in its annual or a separate report to the President and Congress.
(g) Audit. GAO must audit the Foundation’s financial transactions using principles and procedures for commercial corporate transactions and rules set by the Comptroller General. GAO representatives must have access to all Foundation books, accounts, financial records, reports, files, papers, things, and property needed for the audit, and full facilities to verify transactions against balances or securities held by depositories, fiscal agents, and custodians. The audit covers the U.S. Government’s fiscal year.
The Comptroller General must report each audit to Congress within 6½ months after the last audited year ends. The report must state the audit’s scope; include assets and liabilities, capital, and surplus or deficit; show sources and uses of money; and include information needed to keep Congress informed about the Foundation’s operations and financial condition, with recommendations the Comptroller General considers advisable. It must specifically identify any program, expenditure, transaction, or undertaking observed in the audit that the Comptroller General believes lacked legal authority. A copy must go to the President and Foundation when sent to Congress.
(h) Deposit of funds. As far as practicable, the Foundation must deposit its money with financial institutions actively making loans or otherwise supporting lower-income homeownership and housing opportunities.
(i) Appropriations. Congress may appropriate up to $10,000,000 to carry out this section. The money remains available until spent.
There is hereby created a body corporate to be known as the “National Homeownership Foundation” (hereinafter referred to as the “Foundation”) to carry out a continuing program of encouraging private and public organizations at the national, community, and neighborhood levels to provide increased homeownership and housing opportunities in urban and rural areas for lower income families through such means as—
encouraging the investment in, and sponsoring of, housing for lower income families;
encouraging the establishment of programs of assistance and counseling to lower income families to enable them better to achieve and afford adequate housing;
providing a broad range of technical assistance through publications and advisory services to public and private organizations which are carrying out, or are desirous of carrying out, programs to expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families; and
providing grants and loans to public and private organizations carrying out homeownership and housing opportunity programs for lower income families to help cover some of the expenses of such programs.
The Foundation shall be deemed to be a corporation without members organized and established under the provisions of the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act, with all the rights, powers, and responsibilities thereof except as limited by this section and any amendments thereto. This section shall constitute the articles of incorporation and charter of the Foundation, which shall not be an agency or instrumentality of the United States Government. The Congress expressly reserves the exclusive right to alter or amend this charter. The Foundation shall have succession until dissolved by Act of Congress. The Foundation shall maintain its principal office in the District of Columbia.
No part of the net earnings of the Foundation shall inure to the benefit of any private person*, and no substantial part of its activities shall be devoted to attempting to influence legislation. The Foundation shall not participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. The Foundation shall be operated and administered at all times as a charitable and educational foundation.
No employee or officer of the Foundation shall receive compensation in excess of that received by or hereafter prescribed by law for heads of executive departments.
The Foundation shall make maximum use of existing public and private agencies and programs, and in carrying out its functions the Foundation is authorized to contract with individuals, private corporations, organizations, and associations, and with agencies of the Federal, State*, and local governments.
The Foundation is authorized to receive donations and grants from individuals and from public and private organizations, foundations, and agencies.
The Foundation may use only donated funds, or funds derived from payment of interest on loans made by it, for the principal and interest payments on any borrowings.
The Foundation shall have a Board of Directors consisting of eighteen members, fifteen of whom shall be appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The other three members shall be, ex officio, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. The President shall appoint one of the fifteen appointed members to serve as Chairman of the Board during his term of office as a member.
Within thirty days after August 1, 1968, the President shall appoint the fifteen appointed members of the Board. Not more than five of such members shall, at the time of their appointment, be serving full time as officers or employees of the Federal Government, or as officers or employees of any State or local government. Each appointed member of the Board shall hold office for a term of three years, except that (A) any member appointed to fill a vacancy prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and (B) the terms of the members first taking office shall expire, as designated by the President at the time of appointment, five at the end of the first year, five at the end of the second year, and five at the end of the third year after the date of appointment. Members of the Board, however appointed, shall be eligible for reappointment, but at no time shall there be more than five members of the Board who at the time of their appointment or reappointment were full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government or of any State or local government.
Appointed members of the Board who are not employees of the Federal Government, while attending meetings or conferences of the Board or otherwise serving on business of the Board, shall be entitled to receive compensation at rates fixed by the President, but not exceeding $100 per day, including travel time, and while so serving away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5 for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.
The Board shall appoint an Executive Director of the Foundation. The Executive Director shall be the chief executive officer of the Foundation and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board, and all other executive officers and employees of the Board shall be responsible to him. The Board shall also cause to be appointed a secretary, a treasurer, and such other officers as may be necessary to conduct properly the business of the Foundation, and shall provide for filling vacancies in such offices.
The Board shall adopt bylaws for the Foundation which shall be made available for public inspection upon request.
The Foundation shall assist public and private organizations, at their request, in initiating, developing, and conducting programs to expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families. To provide such assistance and to carry out the purposes of this section, the Foundation is authorized to—
carry out a continuing program of encouraging private and public organizations at the national, community, and neighborhood levels in the establishment of such programs;
assist in the formation of organizations the purpose of which is the development and carrying out of such programs, including the establishment of local development funds for financing housing for lower income families through the pooling of moneys from private sources;
identify and arrange for the technical and managerial assistance and personnel needed for the successful operation of such programs by public and private organizations;
assist public and private organizations in obtaining the mortgage financing, insurance, and other requirements or aids necessary for conducting programs of housing construction, rehabilitation, or improvement for lower income families;
arrange for, or provide on a limited basis, training for persons in the skills needed in administering programs of homeownership and housing opportunity for lower income families;
encourage research and innovation, and collect and make available such information as may be desirable to further the purposes of this section, including but not limited to such activities as the sponsoring of seminars, conferences, and meetings and the establishment of a continuing information program to acquaint lower income families with the means they can use to improve the quality of their housing and the homeownership and housing opportunities available to them;
assist private and public organizations in establishing, in connection with their homeownership and housing opportunity programs for lower income families, counseling and similar activities designed to advise lower income families of the means available to better themselves economically through job training and manpower development programs; and
perform other similar services in order to further the purposes of this section.
The Foundation may, if it deems it appropriate, charge a reasonable fee for any assistance or service provided under this subsection.
In order to assist public and private organizations which are carrying out homeownership and housing opportunity programs for lower income families to fill unmet needs, initiate exceptional programs, and experiment with new approaches and programs, the Foundation is authorized, subject to such terms and conditions as it may prescribe, to make grants and loans to such organizations to help defray the following expenses:
organizational and administrative expenses incurred in commencing the operation of a program, or in expanding an existing program, to the extent that the activities are related to providing homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families;
necessary preconstruction costs incurred for architectural assistance, land options, application fees, and similar items; and
the cost of carrying out programs providing counseling or similar services to lower income families for whom housing is being provided, in order to enable those families better to achieve and afford adequate housing, in such matters as home management, budget management, and home maintenance.
In order to be eligible for a grant or loan under this subsection, the organization seeking such assistance shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Foundation that the funds requested are not otherwise available from Federal sources: Provided, That a grant or loan under this subsection may be provided to help cover that portion of the cost of an eligible activity not covered by Federal funds.
The Foundation shall encourage cooperation between public and private organizations carrying out programs of homeownership and housing opportunity for lower income families and the neighborhoods and communities affected by such programs. To help assure such cooperation and in order to coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any construction or rehabilitation activities with the development goals of the neighborhood or community affected, no application for a loan or grant under this subsection shall be considered unless such application has been submitted to the governing body of the community affected, or to such other entity of local government as may be designated by the governing body, for such recommendations as the local governing body or its designee may desire to make. Any recommendations so made shall be given careful consideration by the Foundation before taking final action on any such application. If, upon the expiration of thirty days after any such application has been submitted to such governing body or its designee, such body or designee fails to provide such recommendations, the application may be considered without the benefit of such recommendations.
The Foundation shall coordinate its activities and consult with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other Federal departments and agencies engaged in providing homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families.
Not later than one hundred and twenty days after the close of each fiscal year, the Foundation shall prepare and submit to the President and to the Congress a full report of its activities during such year. Such report shall include an account of the Foundation’s experiences with the efforts of private and public organizations to expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families, together with such recommendations as it deems appropriate.
Whenever in its judgement the general unavailability of mortgage funds is sufficiently serious to deter the Foundation from carrying out its objective of expanding homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families, the Foundation shall, in its annual report or in a separate report to the President and the Congress, state its findings and make such recommendations for alternate means of financing housing for such families as it deems appropriate.
The financial transactions of the Foundation shall be audited by the Government Accountability Office in accordance with the principles and procedures applicable to commercial corporate transactions and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The representatives of the Government Accountability Office shall have access to all books, accounts, financial records, reports, files, and all other papers, things, or property belonging to or in use by the Foundation and necessary to facilitate the audit, and they shall be afforded full facilities for verifying transactions with the balances or securities held by depositories, fiscal agents, and custodians. The audit shall cover the fiscal year corresponding to that of the United States Government.
A report of each such audit shall be made by the Comptroller General to the Congress not later than six and one-half months following the close of the last year covered by such audit. The report shall set forth the scope of the audit and shall include a statement of assets and liabilities, capital, and surplus or deficit; a statement of sources and application of funds; and such comments and information as may be deemed necessary to keep the Congress informed of the operations and financial condition of the Foundation, together with such recommendations with respect thereto as the Comptroller General may deem advisable. The report shall also show specifically any program, expenditure, or other financial transaction or undertaking, observed in the course of the audit, which, in the opinion of the Comptroller General, has been carried on or made without authority of law. A copy of each report shall be furnished to the President and to the Foundation at the time submitted to the Congress.
Funds of the Foundation shall be deposited, to the extent practicable, in accounts with financial institutions which are actively engaged in making loans or are otherwise carrying on activities in furtherance of homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Foundation not to exceed $10,000,000 to carry out the purposes of this section. Appropriations made hereunder shall remain available until expended.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 90–448, title I, § 107, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 491; Pub. L. 93–604, title VI, § 604, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1963; Pub. L. 104–66, title I, § 1072(b), Dec. 21, 1995, 109 Stat. 721; Pub. L. 108–271, § 8(b), July 7, 2004, 118 Stat. 814.)
- 1968Enacted · Pub. L. 90-448 · 82 Stat. 491
- 1975Amended · Pub. L. 93-604 · 88 Stat. 1963
- 1995Amended · Pub. L. 104-66 · 109 Stat. 721
- 2004Amended · Pub. L. 108-271 · 118 Stat. 814
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 90-448 on 1968-08-01.
all 0 arguments · sorted by: best
no arguments yet — make the first case