Introduction It is pointed out that, “in its preamble to the 1949 Housing Act, Congress declared its goal of ‘a decent home in a suitable living environment for every American family’” (Schwartz 1). In the course of over the last six decades, beginning from the time this legislation was passed, the U.S Federal Government has engaged in assisting to finance the construction as well as rehabilitation of over five million housing units for the families that have a low income, and has also offered rental vouchers to almost two million more families. However, the housing problems in the United States remain severe. For instance, it is reported that in the year 2005, over forty two million families stayed in physically deficient housing, with more than thirty percent of their incomes being spent on housing and even some families were homeless (Schwartz 1). Since housing is very costly, its development as well as acquisition mostly relies on borrowed funds. It is reported that “housing construction, acquisition of existing rental buildings, and the purchase of single-family homes all rely on debt” (Schwartz 51). It is also reported that in the year 2009, the residential mortgages were more than eleven trillion dollars, and this was more than fifty percent of the whole federal government debt (Schwartz 51). Much has been written on the impacts of the US mortgage crisis on the global economy. Financial experts have warned that the impacts of the US housing and financial crises might persist if the necessary policies are not implemented (Kolb 6). As a result, adjustments in the financial institutions have been inevitable. Most mortgage lenders have tightened their lending rates to survive in the changing markets (Bardhan 2). Several financial experts believe that the effects of the current US mortgage crisis are far much worse than stated by the government economists. Objectives of the Study The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the mortgage and Housing Act in the United States of America. In this study, I sought to identify how the Housing Act has achieved its intended objectives. Moreover, my investigation sought to find out how the federal housing program has survived, despite the enormous economic challenges (Krugman 15). Another objective of the study was to assess the level of the current housing crisis in the US. In this regard, a number of the affected sectors were looked at and an evaluation of how the mortgage markets have behaved all through the recession was carried out. Last but not least, the study also sought to analyze the magnitude of the effects of the housing crisis on the annual revenue collected by the state and the local governments. The research questions for the study included:  1. To what extent have the objectives of the Housing Act in the U.S been met?  2. How have mortgage markets behaved all through the recession (2007- 2008)?  3. What are the effects of housing and financial crises on the government, organizations and households? Why I was Interested in Conducting this Study The Housing Act in the U.S. was enacted with an intention of ensuring that every American has a decent home in a proper living environment. This Act was intended to help ensure that proper housing is affordable to all Americans. However, the housing and financial cr