The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1941-01-02
Hopeless Of '33 Repay Billion
WASHNGTON-Ies :

Hopeless OF IS !
wAsm>GTo>-Less than
s.rht years sga. American Am
lies were seeing their homes =
= foreclosure Al = rate q ZOO
4 aay and the giant Home owners
Lean corporation. established b
congress n a desperate relief ef-
fort eegan refinancing mortgages
that 10 ere slse could Or would
handle
When !. 81 through trading
more than s. .oa3 900 900 IN bonds
for more than million had
loans the Hole had n is pos
session merely a lot q paper thar
no orthodox finaneier could look
A. without = shudder.
But View Year glimpse a. tns
records shows some strange but
resssurinE results from this IN
orthodox emergency financing
l. Nearly one out Of every
10 Of the hopeless" loans Of
the Hole has been crossed
Off the books. stamped paid
In full
?. Nearly $1,000. 900. 600 Of
the principal debt has been
repaid and applied 10 the re
tirement of the Governments
bonds.
=. An additional f57o.ooo.-
900 has been paid In interest
10 defras the costs IF noble
experiment." hich proved
practical.
To achieve this record. 90 900
original Hole borrowers have
paid their loans in full. APPROX
mstely 10000 other accounts have
been terminated hv cash sales of
properties by the Hole.
More than 725.000 original Dor
rowers still are retaining their
homes and today private financ-
ing agencies. which couldn't have
afforded TO give them glance
few years ago. would gladly
give credit to the great majority.
IN all. original borrowers have
paid in about 1855. 900, 900 of their
principal debt.
Some $50. 900 homes have been
foreelosed and acquired by the
Hole. about 127.0oo Of these
have been sold to new homes seek
ers. who already have paid in over
$4,000, 900 on their contracts.
Enough time has passed To
permit thoughtful evalustion Of
the legislation adopted by con-
grese in 1888 10 help the nations
hard-pressed home owners" said
Charles A. Jones. general manager
Of the Hole.
Almost everyone praised
the Hole at the start. when
II began Its great salvaging
task. But later came criti-
c:sm that 1t was another
waste of government money;
then. finally. the accusation
that Uncles Sam had become
'Shylock,' taking away the
homes of the people he had
pretended to help.
From financial angle. il can
be recalled that the Hole helped
halt the collapse of the real estate
market and did great part in
bolsterin9 the entire economic
structure. In exchange for de-
faulted mortgages. 1t dishursed
nearly billion dollars to banks
and trusts companies. s7s7 900. 900
10 savings and loans associations.
1892 000,0 600 to mortgage COM
panies. 1854 100000 to insurance
companies-helping them to be-
come liquid, grant leniency to
other home owners. and to release
funds to their investors.
Its I5-year. amortized, month
ly payment mortgages. bearing an
interest rate Of per cent, were
the most liberal ever granted.
Loans were scaled down at the
start about $500. 600. 600 Hole
borrowers have saved $500 0OO. 900
in interest alone and other home
owners benefited almost to the
same degree as interest rates
were lowered on all home mort
Cages within few years. The
Hole disbursed 1920. 900. 600 for
the payment of delinquent taxes.
1t directed the spending of SIS
100000 10 repair ard recondition
It's borrowers homes and has spent
an even greater amount to I'M