The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-11-29

Minus the famous Roosevelt smile but apparently recovered from the tooth and digestive troubles that confined him to the White House recently, President Roosevelt faces the camera for the first time in several weeks just prior to preparing tOday's special message to Congress.
 where the mortgage is insured prior to July 1, 1889.
 Another change that would ask the congress to make in the exist ing legislation is to raise the in- surable limit from 30 per cent of the appraised value of the proper ty, as at present, to 90 per cent in the case of loans to oWner-occu- pants where the appraised value of the property does not exceed $6,000. This proposal is of great importance. It recognizes the fact that most persons who desire to own homes of their own cannot make 8 first payment as large as 20 per cent of the purchase price. This Is particularly true after the severe depression of recent years, in which the savings of millions of prudent and thrifty families were depleted.
 Not Home Owners
 The fact is not generally recog- nized that the majority of our ur- ban families are not hoine- owners. In the larger cities, the proportion of rented dwellings runs from 60 to nearly 30 per cent of the total. Accordingly, am suggesting for your consideration measures de- signed especially to facilitate the construction and financing, under the economies of blanket mort gage, of groups of houses for rent, or for rent with an option to pur- chase. Such operations would af- ford economies in construction as well as in financing, and would therefore believe, lead to the formation of substantial companies to avail themselves of the oppor- tunities in this particular field. These same measures are also de- signed to encourage the construc- ton of apartment buildings to be operated on moderate scale of rentals, with the mortgage in any case not to exceed $1 1000 per room. This is a type of apartment prop erty particularly adapted to the requirements of our smaller cities.
 In the construction of large- scale rental properties, @ small but creditable beginning has already been made under the existing pro- visions of the National Housing Act applicable to limited dividend companies. Those provisions, however, need to be clarified and simplifed in order to encourage a more extensive development of large rental projects in the larger communities where they are neded
 Among the most important of the measures to which I would in- vite your consideration are those designed to facilitate the financing of these large projects. Here there is a great gap in our financial mechanisn1s. The large projects thus far constructed under the provisions of the National Hous- ing act have been closely regulated as to rents, charges, capital struc- ture, rate of return, etc., and the excesses and abuses which widely characterized the financing of apartment properties in the l920's have thereby been avoided. The very size of the loans in the case of these large projects, however, makes 1t difficult to finance them by means of single mortgage.
 Liberallxe Provisions
 I would therefore urge the con- gress to liberalize the provisions of the act under which the charter ing of national mortgage associa. tons is authorized, and, among other things, to give these associa- tions explicit authority to make loans on large-scale properties that are subject to special regulation by the Federal Housing Adminis- trator. The effect of the change here proposed would be to enable these properties to be financed by national mortgage associations through the sale of housing bonds or debentures amply secured by the insured mortgage on the prop critics.
 Tn order that one or more such associations may be promptly or- ganized shall ask the Recon- struction Finance Corporation to make available, out of the funds already allocated to the REC Mortgage company, $50000,000 for capital purposes. Under the amendments proposed, this would provide the basis for $1 ,000, ,0O0, ,00O of private funds obtainable through the sale of national mort- gage association debentures.
 Another of the suggested amend ments that I regard as of special importance would make the limi. tation of $2,000,000,000 on the amount of mortgages i1surable un. der the National Housing Act ap- ply to the amount of insurance to be outstanding at any time and would remove the limitation of July 1, 1899, now applicable to the ultimate guaranty of the federal government. These changes would measurebly encourage private fl- nancing under the act without in. creasing the amount of the con-