Evening star., 1935-06-15
LOAN AGENCIES
SERVE COUNTIES
$3.50, 900, Made Avail
able Through Federal
Associations.

Because home owners in 1,580 coun-
ties out of the 3,072 counties in the
United States had no local home
financing facilities at that time. Con-
gress in June, 1898, passed an act to
establish and encourage private local
mutual thrift agencies, to be known
as Federal Savings and Loan As
sociations," in communities where
they were needed, as demonstrated
by the lack of existing facilities to
meet the needs of home owners for
loans for building, reflnancing or mod
ernizing their dwellings.
Now. less than two years after that
authorization, Federal savings and
loan associations are serving all or
parts of 100 of the 1880 counties
which formerly had no local home
financing institutions whatever, or ex-
ectly half of the counties which lacked
such mortgage lending agencies. Many
of the remaining counties not yet
served by local thrift associations are
sparsely settled areaS where none are
needed
$3.50, ,OOO, 200 Available.
The amended home loan act signed
by President Roosevelt recently en-
courages the development of Federal
associations by increasing the appro-
priations of Federal credit for invest
ment in their shares. A total of
$3.50, 900 900 has now been made avail
able for this purpose, compared with
the $50 100000 total previously appro-
priated. The additional sum is also
available to purchase bonds of the
Federal Home Loan Banks and for
investment in State chartered aSso-
Citations which are members of the
bank system or insured under the
Federal Savings & Loan Insurance
Corp.
The amendment permits any estab-
lished institution converting into
Federal savings and loan association
to continue to lend in the entire
territory in which it had made loans
while operating under State charter,
thus freeing it from previous restric-
tions to loaning area within So
mile radius.
A further appropriation Of 100000
for the promotion and development of
such local thrift and home financing
institutions is included in the new act.
Resources Are S21O, 900, 900
The 803 Federal savings and loan
associations now chartered. having to-
tai resources of over S270000.0 900. are
operating in some $50 cities and towns,
comprising the bulk of urban popula-
ton of the United States, varying in
size from a few thousand people to
the largest metropolitan centers. The
safety of each of their investors hold
ing withdrawable accounts is protected
against loss up to S5 900 by the Fed
eral Savings & Loan Insurance Corp.
Summarizing the objectives of this
program to date. the Federal Home
Loan Bank Board made the following
statement:
In the supervision of Federal saw
ings and loan associations, this board
is directed by law to embody in their
operation the soundeSt savings and
mortgage lending practices developed
in the century-long history of the
building and loan business.
Serve Two Main Functions.
Federal savings and loan associa-
tions serve two main functions to the
public, by setting up a permanent
framework for safe long-term invest
ment of the savings of the people, and
by providing loans at economical rates
for the ownership, improvement, re-
financing or construction of homes"
AS Of May 81. applications for Fed
eral charter by conversion we're pend
ing before the board from 34l addi-
tional established building and loan
associations, with total assets of S340,-
p16,787 In many States, local groups
Of business men are engaged on their
own initiative in the organization of
new Federal associations as a COM
munity asset. Some 140 such groups
have recently made formal applica-
tion and have received the boards
permission to organize" making a
total of All charters pending. in ad-
dition to the 803 Federal savings and
loan associations already in opera
fiOn