The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the

U.S. federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a f ...

. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who reports directly to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

and is a member of the president's

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "

Great Society The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Universit ...

" program of President Lyndon B. Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.

History

The idea of a department of Urban Affairs was proposed in a 1957 report to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, led by New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. The idea of a department of Housing and Urban Affairs was taken up by President John F. Kennedy, with Pennsylvania Senator and Kennedy ally

Joseph S. Clark Jr. Joseph Sill Clark Jr. (October 21, 1901January 12, 1990) was an American writer, lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 90th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1956 and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvani ...

listing it as one of the top seven legislative priorities for the administration in internal documents. The department was established on September 9, 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, sixty days following the date of enactment. The actual implementation was postponed until January 14, 1966, following the completion of a special study group report on the federal role in solving urban problems. HUD is administered by the

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succ ...

. Its headquarters is located in the

Robert C. Weaver Federal Building The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building is a 10-story office building in Washington, D.C., owned by the federal government of the United States. Completed in 1968, it serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Housing and Urban ...

. Some important milestones for HUD's development include: * June 27, 1934 – The National Housing Act creates the Federal Housing Administration, which helps provide

mortgage insurance Mortgage insurance (also known as mortgage guarantee and home-loan insurance) is an insurance policy which compensates lenders or investors in mortgage-backed securities for losses due to the default of a mortgage loan. Mortgage insurance can b ...

on loans made by FHA-approved lenders. * September 1, 1937 – Housing Act of 1937 creates the U.S. Housing Authority, which helps enact

slum-clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities ...

projects and construction of low-rent housing. * February 3, 1938 – The National Housing Act Amendments of 1938 is signed into law. The law creates the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), which provides a secondary market to the Federal Housing Administration. * February 24, 1942 – Executive Order 9070, Establishing the National Housing Agency. The Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, The Home Owners' Loan Corporation, The United States Housing Authority, defense housing under the Federal Works Agency, the War Department, the Navy Department, the Farm Security Administration, the Defense Homes Corporation, the Federal Loan Administration, and the Division of Defense Housing Coordination were consolidated. The National Housing Agency would be made up of three units, each with its own commissioner. The units were the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration, and the United States Housing Authority. * July 27, 1947 – The

Housing and Home Finance Agency The Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA) was responsible for the principal housing programs of the United States from 1947 to 1965. It was superseded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and preceded by the National Housing ...

is established through

Reorganization Plan Number 3 A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the securities— equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of director ...

. * July 15, 1949 – The

Housing Act of 1949 The American Housing Act of 1949 () was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fai ...

is enacted to help eradicate slums and promote community development and redevelopment programs. * August 2, 1954 – The

Housing Act of 1954 The ''Housing Act of 1954'', , passed during the Dwight D. Eisenhower Administration, comprised a series of amendments to the National Housing Act of 1934. Referred to within the legislation simply as the "National Housing Act", the program was mana ...

establishes comprehensive planning assistance. * September 23, 1959 – The Housing Act of 1959 allows funds for elderly housing. * September 2, 1964 – The Housing Act of 1964 allows rehabilitation loans for homeowners. * August 10, 1965 – The

Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (, ) is a major revision to federal housing policy in the United States which instituted several major expansions in federal housing programs. The United States Congress passed and President Lyndon B. ...

instituted several major expansions in federal housing programs. * September 1965 – HUD is created as a cabinet-level agency by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act. * April 1968 – The

Fair Housing Act The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots. Titles II through VII comprise the Indian Civil Rights Act, which appl ...

is passed to ban discrimination in housing. * During 1968 – The

Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, , was passed during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration. The act came on the heels of major riots across cities throughout the U.S. in 1967, the assassination of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther ...

establishes the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). * August 1969 – The Brooke Amendment establishes that low income families only pay no more than 25 percent of their income for rent. * August 1974 –

Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, (12 U.S.C. 1706e), is a United States federal law that, among other provisions, amended the Housing Act of 1937 to create Section 8 housing, authorizes "Entitlement Communities Grants" to be a ...

allows community development

block grant A block grant is a grant-in-aid of a specified amount from a larger government to a smaller regional government body. Block grants have less oversight from the larger government and provide flexibility to each subsidiary government body in term ...

s and help for urban homesteading. * October 1977 – The Housing and Community Act of 1977 sets up Urban Development Grants and continues elderly and handicapped assistance. * July 1987 – The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act gives help to communities to deal with homelessness. It includes the creation of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness of which HUD is a member. * February 1988 – The Housing and Community Development Act provides for the sale of public housing to resident management corporations. * October 1992 – The HOPE VI program starts to revitalize public housing and how it works. * October 1992 – The

Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 was first introduced to the 102nd Congress on June 5, 1992, and was signed and made law by President George H. W. Bush on October 28, 1992. Also known as "The 1992 Act", the bill amended a number of hous ...

codifies within its language the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 that creates the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and mandates HUD to set goals for lower income and underserved housing areas for the GSEs

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

and

Agencies

* Federal Housing Administration

Offices

* Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (HUD) * Departmental Enforcement Center * Office of Community Planning and Development * Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations * Office of Equal Employment Opportunit

* Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity * Office of Field Policy and Management * Office of the General Counsel * Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control * Office of Hearings and Appeals * Office of Labor Relations * Office of Policy Development and Research * Office of Public Affairs *

Office of Public and Indian Housing The Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Its mission is to ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing, create opportunities for residents' self-sufficiency and economic in ...

* Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization * Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

Corporation

* Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)

Organizational structure

Major programs

The major program offices are: * Community Planning and Development: Many major affordable housing and homelessness programs are administered under Community Planning and Development. These include the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), the HOME program, Shelter Plus Care, Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG), Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab SRO), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). * Housing: This office is responsible for the Federal Housing Administration; mission regulation of

and

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.manufactured housing; administration of multifamily housing programs, including Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Section 202) and Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811); Project-Based Section 8 and healthcare facility loan insurance. * Public and Indian Housing: This office administers the public housing program HOPE VI, the Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly yet more popularly known as Section 8), Project-Based Vouchers, and individual loan programs housing block grants for Native American tribes, Native Hawaiians and Alaskans. * Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity: This office enforces federal laws against discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status. * Policy Development and Research (PD&R): This office is responsible for maintaining current information on housing needs, market conditions, and existing programs, as well as conducting research on priority housing and community development issues through the HUD USER Clearinghouse. * Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae * Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control * Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, developed in 1998

Office of Inspector General

The

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

enacted the Inspector General Act of 1978 to ensure integrity and efficiency in government. The Inspector General is appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation. He or she is responsible for conducting and supervising

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

s, investigations, and inspections relating to the programs and operations of HUD. The OIG is to examine, evaluate and, where necessary, critique these operations and activities, recommending ways for the Department to carry out its responsibilities in the most effective, efficient, and economical manner possible. The mission of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to: * Promote the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of HUD programs and operations to assist the Department in meeting its mission * Detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse * Seek administrative sanctions, civil recoveries, and/or criminal prosecution of those responsible for waste, fraud and abuse in HUD programs and operations The OIG accomplishes its mission by conducting investigations pertinent to its activities; by keeping Congress, the Secretary, and the public fully informed of its activities, and by working with staff (in this case of HUD) in achieving success of its objectives and goals. The Honorable Rae Oliver Davis, who was appointed on January 23, 2019, is the current Inspector General.

Budget and staffing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of $48.3 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as outlined in the following chart.

Criticisms

A scandal arose in the 1990s when at least 700 houses were sold for profit by real estate speculators taking the loans; at least 19 were arrested. The scandal devastated the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

housing market and with $70 million in HUD loans going into default. Critics said that the department's lax oversight of their program allowed the fraud to occur. In 1997, the HUD Inspector General issued a report saying: "The program design encourages risky property deals, land sale, and refinance schemes, overstated property appraisals, and phony or excessive fees." In June 1993, HUD Secretary

Henry Cisneros Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 1981 to 1989, the second Latino mayor of a major American city and the city's first since 1842 (when Juan ...

admitted that "HUD has in many cases exacerbated the declining quality of life in America." In 1996, Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

, referring to public housing projects, declared that, "These crime-infested monuments to a failed policy are killing the neighborhoods around them". HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing Roberta Achtenberg has been quoted as saying "HUD walks a tightrope between free speech and fair housing. We are ever mindful of the need to maintain the proper balance between these rights."

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

critic

James Bovard James Bovard (; born 1956) is an American libertarian author and lecturer whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government. He is a ''USA Today'' columnist and is a frequent c ...

commented that, "The more aggressive HUD becomes, the fewer free speech rights Americans have. Many words and phrases are now effectively forbidden in real estate ads... Apparently, there are two separate versions of the Bill of Rights -- one for private citizens and the other for federal bureaucrats and politicians". In 2006, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' named HUD "New York City's worst landlord" and "the #1 worst in the United States" based upon decrepit conditions of buildings and questionable

eviction Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...

practices. In September 2010, HUD started auctioning off delinquent home mortgage loans, defined as at least 90 days past due, to the highest bidder. It sold 2,000 loans in six national auctions. In 2012, this sale was massively increased under a "Distressed Asset Stabilization Program" (DASP), and the 100,000 loans sold as of 2014 have netted $8.8 billion for the FHA, rebuilding cash reserves that had been depleted by loan defaults. The second stated and eponymous objective is to stabilize communities, by requiring purchasers to service the loans in a manner that stabilizes the surrounding communities by getting the loans to re-perform, renting the home to the borrower, gifting the property to a land bank or paying off the loans in full. An audit published August 2014 found "only about 11 percent of the loans sold through DASP ereconsidered 're-performing'". "Rather than defaulting— HAkeeps many of the properties they’re tied to from going through the typical foreclosure process. As a result, the FHA might actually be diverting housing stock from first-time homebuyers, the very group it was formed to serve..."

Related legislation

* 1944 – Servicemen's Readjustment Act, * 1949 – Housing Act, * 1950 – Housing Act, * 1951 – Defense Housing Act, * 1952 – 550 Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act, * 1954 – Housing Act, * 1959 – Housing Act, * 1962 – Senior Citizens Housing Act, * 1965 –

, * 1965 – Department of Housing and Urban Development Act, * 1968 –

, * 1974 – Housing and Urban Development Act, * 1976 – Housing and Urban Development Act, * 1986 –

Tax Reform Act of 1986 The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 22, 1986. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was the top domestic priority of President Reagan's second term. The ...

, ** Low-Income Housing Tax Credit * 1987 –

Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, P.L. 100-242, 101 Stat. 1815, is a United States federal law which amended the Housing and Community Development Act laws with regards to the Housing Act of 1937. The amendments revised sections of ...

, * 1987 – Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, * 1989 – Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, * 1989
H.R.2916 - Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, Independent Agencies Appropriations Act
1990, * 1990 – Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, * 1992 –

, ** Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992, * 2009 –

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...

, abbreviated ARRA, ** Repairing and modernizing public housing, including increasing the energy efficiency of units, $4 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Notes

References

External links

*
HUD
on USAspending.gov
HUD
in the

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on fede ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Department Of Housing And Urban Development 1965 establishments in Washington, D.C. Public housing in the United States Urban planning in the United States

Housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

Real estate in the United States Government agencies established in 1965 Housing ministries Urban development ministries

History

Agencies

Agencies

Offices

Corporation

Organizational structure

Major programs

Office of Inspector General

Budget and staffing

Criticisms

Related legislation

See also

Notes

References

External links