Eff. July 27, 1947, 12 F.R. 4981, 61 Stat. 954

Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled May 27, 1947, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1945, approved December 20, 1945.

HOUSING AND HOME FINANCE AGENCY

Section 1. Housing and Home Finance Agency

The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, the United States Housing Authority, the Defense Homes Corporation, and the United States Housing Corporation, together with their respective functions, the functions of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and the other functions transferred by this plan, are consolidated, subject to the provisions of sections 2 to 5, inclusive, hereof, into an agency which shall be known as the Housing and Home Finance Agency. There shall be in said Agency constituent agencies which shall be known as the Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal Housing Administration, and the Public Housing Administration.

Sec. 2. Home Loan Bank Board

(a) The Home Loan Bank Board shall consist of three members appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Not more than two members of the Board shall be members of the same political party. The President shall designate the members of the Board first appointed hereunder to serve for terms expiring, respectively, at the close of business on June 30, 1949, June 30, 1950, and June 30, 1951, and thereafter the term of each member shall be four years. Whenever a vacancy shall occur among the members the person appointed to fill such vacancy shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term of the member whose place he is selected to fill. Each of the members of the Board shall receive compensation at the rate of $10,000 per annum.

(b) The President shall designate one of the members of the Home Loan Bank Board as Chairman of the Board. The Chairman shall (1) be the chief executive officer of the Board, (2) appoint and direct the personnel necessary for the performance of the functions of the Board or of the Chairman or of any agency under the Board, and (3) designate the order in which the other members of the Board shall, during the absence or disability of the Chairman, be Acting Chairman and perform the duties of the Chairman.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section there are transferred to the Home Loan Bank Board the functions (1) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, (2) of the Board of Directors of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, (3) of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, (4) of any member or members of any of said Boards, and (5) with respect to the dissolution of the United States Housing Corporation.

Sec. 3. Federal Housing Administration

The Federal Housing Administration shall be headed by a Federal Housing Commissioner who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and receive compensation at the rate of $10,000 per annum. There are transferred to said Commissioner the functions of the Federal Housing Administrator.

Sec. 4. Public Housing Administration

The Public Housing Administration shall be headed by a Public Housing Commissioner who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and receive compensation at the rate of $10,000 per annum. There are transferred to said Commissioner the functions—

(a) Of the Administrator of the United States Housing Authority (which agency shall hereafter be administered and known as the Public Housing Administration);

(b) Of the National Housing Agency with respect to non-farm housing projects and other properties remaining under its jurisdiction pursuant to section 2(a)(3) of the Farmers’ Home Administration Act of 1946 (Public Law 731, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 14, 1946) [7 U.S.C. 1001 note]; and

(c) With respect to the liquidation and dissolution of the Defense Homes Corporation.

Sec. 5. Housing and Home Finance Administrator

(a) The Housing and Home Finance Agency shall be headed by a Housing and Home Finance Administrator who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive compensation at the rate of $10,000 per annum.

(b) The Administrator shall be responsible for the general supervision and coordination of the functions of the constituent agencies of the Housing and Home Finance Agency and for such purpose there are transferred to said Administrator the functions of the Federal Loan Administrator and the Federal Works Administrator (1) with respect to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, and the United States Housing Authority, and (2) with respect to the functions of said agencies.

(c) There are also transferred to the Administrator the functions—

(1) Of holding on behalf of the United States the capital stock of the Defense Homes Corporation;

(2) Under Titles I and III, and sections 401, 501, and 502, of the Act of October 14, 1940 (54 Stat. 1125), as amended [42 U.S.C. 1521–1524, 1541–1550, 1552, 1553, 1561, 1571 and 1572];

(3) Of the Departments of the Army and Navy with respect to national defense and war housing (except that located on military or naval posts, reservations, or bases) under the Act of September 9, 1940 (54 Stat. 872), as amended; and

(4) Of all agencies designated to provide temporary shelter in defense areas under the Acts of March 1, 1941, May 24, 1941, and December 17, 1941 (55 Stat. 14, 197, and 810), insofar as such functions relate to such temporary shelter.

Sec. 6. National Housing Council

There shall be in the Housing and Home Finance Agency a National Housing Council composed of the Housing and Home Finance Administrator as Chairman, the Federal Housing Commissioner, the Public Housing Commissioner, the Chairman of the Home Loan Bank Board, the Administrator of Veterans Affairs or his designee, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or his designee, and the Secretary of Agriculture or his designee. The National Housing Council shall serve as a medium for promoting, to the fullest extent practicable within revenues, the most effective use of the housing functions and activities administered within the Housing and Home Finance Agency and the other departments and agencies represented on said Council in the furtherance of the housing policies and objectives established by law, for facilitating consistency between such housing functions and activities and the general economic and fiscal policies of the Government, and for avoiding duplication or overlapping of such housing functions and activities. [National Housing Council abolished and functions transferred to President, see §§ 1(a), 3 of Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1965.]

Sec. 7. Interim Appointments

Pending the initial appointment hereunder of any officer provided for by this Plan, the functions of such officer shall be performed temporarily by such officer of the existing National Housing Agency as the President shall designate.

Sec. 8. Transfers of Property, Personnel, and Funds

The assets, contracts, property, records, personnel, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, or other funds, held, employed, or available or to be made available in connection with functions transferred by this Plan are hereby transferred with such transferred functions, respectively.

Sec. 9. Abolitions

The Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Board of Directors of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, and the Board of Trustees of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, together with the offices for the members of said boards, the office of Federal Housing Administrator, and the office of Administrator of the United States Housing Authority, are abolished.

[For lapse of Housing and Home Finance Agency, Federal Housing Administration, and Public Housing Administration, and transfer of functions to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, see 42 U.S.C. 3534 and Transfer of Functions note thereunder.]

Message of the President

To the Congress of the United States:

I am transmitting herewith Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1947, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1945. This plan deals solely with housing. It simplifies, and increases the efficiency of, the administrative organization of permanent housing functions and provides for the administration of certain emergency housing activities pending their liquidation. I have found, after investigation, that each reorganization contained in this plan is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2 (a) of the Reorganization Act of 1945.

The provision of adequate housing will remain a major national objective throughout the next decade. The primary responsibility for meeting housing needs rests, and must continue to rest, with private industry, as I have stated on other occasions. The Federal Government, however, has an important role to play in stimulating and facilitating home construction.

Over the years the Congress has provided for a number of permanent housing programs, each involving a special approach to the basic objective of more adequate housing for our citizens. The Congress first enacted a series of measures to facilitate home construction and home ownership by strengthening the savings and loan type of home-financing institution. These measures established a credit reserve system for such agencies, authorized the chartering of Federal savings and loan associations to provide more adequate home financing facilities, and provided for the insurance of investments in savings and loan institutions in order to attract savings into this field. The Congress also created a system for the insurance of home loans and mortgages to stimulate the flow of capital into home-mortgage lending and thereby facilitate home ownership and improvement and increase home construction. These measures were supplemented by legislation extending financial assistance to local communities for the clearance of slums and the provision of decent housing for families of low income who otherwise would be forced to live in the slums. It is significant that these programs were first established, and have been continued, by the Congress because of their special contributions to home construction and improvement.

In my message of January 6 on the state of the Union, I recommended legislation establishing certain additional programs to help to alleviate the housing shortage and achieve our national objective of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family. No lesser objective is commensurate with the productive capacity and resources of the country or with the dignity which a true democracy accords the individual citizen. The Congress is now considering measures authorizing these programs. I again recommend the early en