Evening star., 1935-02-19
E.H.A.A|DS 10000,
M0FFETT REVEALS
Loans Aggregate $40, ,000,-
600, Administrator Tells
Radio Audience.
More than 10000 loans, aggregating

More than 10000 loans, aggregating
more than S4o,00o,o0O, have been
made in the home midernization pro-
gram Of the Federal Housing Admin
istration, it was stated last night by
James A. Moffett, administrator. In
O talk over a Nationwide fook-up of
the National Broadcasting Co., in the
National Forum sponsored by The Star.
He said this represented only part of
the modernization and improvement.
Through the program of the F. H.
A., 1t is expected to stimulate the
expenditure of $500, 100000, the
speaker said More than 10000 inSti-
tutions in all parts of the country
have signed the credit insurance con-
tracts and are prepared to make loans,
according to Mr.. Moffett.
IF American business and industry
are prepared to meet the challenge
and the opportunity contained in this
part of our program" the speaker
said, "the resulting stimulus to the
construction and durable goods indus
tries will in all probability be suf1-
cient during the present year to
absorb a considerable part of our
unemployment"
The speaker also told of the &C
complishments and the plans in the
community campaigns for better
housing.
Text Of Address.
The text of Mofett's address fol-
lows:
Six months ago I was invited by
The Washington Star to address the
vast audience of the National Radio
Forum on the work of the Federal
Housing Administration. At that
time we had just commenced business,
and I outlined to you the principles
and purposes of the national housing
act, which is the legislation authorlz-
ing all our activities.
said in substance that our opera
tions under this new law were de-
signed to enable private enterprise to
cope with situation more desperate
than that which existed in any other
field of business and industry. / re-
ferred. of course. to the demoralized
condition of the home mortgage mar
ket, which was paralyzing the resi-
dental construction industry, and to
the state of disrepair into which real
property of all kinds had been allowed
to drift, through neglect during the
depression.
Embarked on Two Main Phases.
I then went on to explain to you
the two main phases of the great
undertaking we had embarked upon.
The first of these was our newly
instituted plan of inStallment credit
insurance, whereby property owners
might borrow Immediately from banks
and other financial institutions the
sums necessary, not only to make up
the arrears in maintenance which had
been accumulating since the depreS-
sion began, but also to modernlze and
improve their property to a degree
well beyond its condition in times OF
prosperity. The second phase, which
at that time had not yet been entered,
was our long-range program, designed
to accomplish a thorough overhaullng
of existing methods and facilities for
financing home ownership, through
the development of a co-ordinated
national home mortgage financing
system.
OF all these matters I talked to
you six months ago, at length ana
in detail. Tonight I wish to give you,
first, a sort OF brief accounting OF
what has been done to date, and,
secondly, a picture of what is possible
of accomplishment. I shall refer,
in fact, to what has been done. prl-
marily for the purpose OF enabling
YOU to visualize the future; for our
task, considered in its entirety, has
only just begun.
Modernization Program.
First as to the modernization pro-
gram: Over 10000 financial lnsu-
tutions in all parts OF the country
have signed the credit insurance con-
tract and are prepared to grant loans
in amounts of from 500 to $4,000 for
periods of from one to five years for
the purpose of making repairs and
Improvements to every kind OF real
property. More than 10000 loans
have been made by financial inStltu-
tions and insured by us to date, for
an aggregate amount of about
S4O,0OO,000. But this sum represents
only the smaller part of moderniza-
ton and improvement which has al
ready resulted from our program.
According to careful estimates the
work of this kind undertaken or
pledged in response to the various
community better housing campaigns
throughout the country. amounts to
well over quarter of billion dollars.
Even this, however, represents only
o part of the results which may prop
erly be attributed to the moderniza-
ton program. Taking this program
as their cue, industrial and other cor
porations have already indicated their
intention to spend in the neighbor-
hood of quarters of billion
dollars during the present year for
the modernization of plant and equip
ment. No doubt other corporations
will follow suit. With the view to ex-
tending the benefits of the insured
credit plan to concerns which do not
have the necessary cash resources, we
have asked Congress to amend the
law by raising the limit of the in
dividual insured loan from $4,000 to
$4,000.
Our estimates indicate that by this
means alone it would be possible to