Evening star., 1935-01-26
WORKERS READY
FOR HOME-REPA|R
DRIVE ON FEB. |.
Property Owners Will Be
Asked to Spend Six
Million.
INTEREST IN MORTGAGE
PHASE OF ACT GROWS
Business Men Will Aid in Cam
paign to Modernize Capital
Residences.
BY JAMES Y. NEWTON.

1u6 Sd1Ifoco VA
Washington property owners in the
effort to obtain $6,000,000 in moderni-
cation and repair pledges will be
started February l, Joseph Karl
Gilchrist, director of the Federal
Housing Administrations activities in
the District. announced today.
Mr.. Gilchrist also said that greatly
increased interest has been shown
here in title 2, the mutual mortgage
insurance phase of the housing act,
which is designed to create a gigantic
mortgage market and consequently
make available more money for home
building. During the past week, the
director said, six commitments for
mortgage insurance have been issued
in the Capital.
Plans for the modernization can
vass were discussed Thursday in
conference between Mr. GilchriSt,
other housing officials and more than
a dozen Washington builders and
building supply men. The business
men were most enthusiastic" the
director said and promised full CO.
operation in the campaign. Final
plans for financing the campaign
will be made Monday when the
Finance Committee, set up by the
local Builders Committee, meets.
Three Months Drive.
If present arrangements stand, the
canvass will be completed in about
three months 1t will be thorough,
covering property owners in all Sec
tions of the city. Mr.. Gilchrist said
that he believed the goal of S6,000,000
will be reached easily. The campaign,
he said, should go far toward fur
nishing employment to idle building
tradesmen, and toward bringing sales
Of building supply firms to pre-de-
preston levels.
At first it is planned to have
slightly more than a score of can
vassers working in the campaign; the
number will gradually be increased to
about $50 The Federal Emergency
Relief Administration already has
promised % white collar" workers,
and Director Gilchrist believes that
more relief jobholders will be en-
ployed in the work later in the cam
paign.
The canvass, Mr.. Gilchrist ex-
planned, will be accompanied by an
intensive advertising campaign. Prop
erty owners and housewives will be
informed in a novel way of the visit
of the canvaSSer. The various
dairies operating here. have agreed
to attach a notice of the campaign
about the neck of each milk bottle
In addition, the bakeries and groceries
have promised cooperation in
similar way.
The Washington better housing
campaign headquarters announced
that Is official modernization infor-
nation booths will be established in
various parts of the city within the
next two weeks. -Four such informa-
ton stations have been set up al
ready, with the latest one in the
Hecht Co. store. The others have
been located in the offices of the Po-
tomac Electric Power Co., the National
Electrical Supply Co. and the Gen
eral Electric Co. air-conditioning
office on Connecticut avenue.
Applications Expected.
In regard to mortgage insurance,
Mr.. Gilchrist said he expects large
number of insurance applications to
come in within the next few weeks
He based the prediction on the numer-
GUS inquiries he has received from
banks this week, and the greatly ac-
celerated rate of applications for in
surance recently.
The housing administration today
announced certain changes in it's
regulations which will have the effect
of greatly increasing the number of
institutions eligible to be approved as
mortgages under title 2. The
changes were made effective as of
January 81.
These changes have been made in
pursuance of the policy announced
on November l, 1884, to the effect
that the administration sought to
make available the benefits of the
act to the greatest number of bor-
rowers, builders, and lenders, in the
shortest time consistent with careful
and effective administration; and
perfection and expansion of organi-
zation, would permit, and might re-
quire, reviSionS to be made in certain
initial limitations, restrictions and
definitions in the regulations. Par
ticularly in mind were the initial
limitations with respect to the eligi-
bility of mortgages, both as original
Lenders ana as successors and assigns
Of mortgages insured under the act.
Under the former regulations,
national mortgage associations, the
Reconstruction Finance Corp. and the
Federal Home Loan Bank were given
approval as mortgages in accordance
with section 203 (b) of the act: but
any other institutions desiring to be
so approved were required, among
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