United States Department of Housing and Urban Development - History

History

The department was established on September 9, 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, sixty days following the date of enactment. The actual implementation was postponed until January 13, 1966, following the completion of a special study group report on the federal role in solving urban problems.

HUD is administered by the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Shaun Donovan, a former New York City housing commissioner and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, is the current Secretary, having been confirmed by the United States Senate unanimously on January 22, 2009. Its headquarters is located in the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building. Some important milestones for HUD's development include:

• June 27, 1934 - The National Housing Act creates the Federal Housing Administration, which helps provide mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders.
• September 1, 1937- Housing Act of 1937 creates the United States Housing Authority, which helps enact slum-clearance projects and construction of low-rent housing
• February 3, 1938: The National Housing Act Amendments of 1938 is signed into law. The law creates the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), which provides a secondary market to the Federal Housing Administration
• July 27, 1947 – The Housing and Home Finance Agency is established through Reorganization Plan Number 3
• July 15, 1949 – The Housing Act of 1949 is enacted to help eradicate slums and promote community development and redevelopment programs
• August 2, 1954 - The Housing Act of 1954 establishes comprehensive planning assistance
• September 23, 1959 – The Housing Act of 1959 allows funds for elderly housing
• September 2, 1964 - The Housing Act of 1964 allows rehabilitation loans for homeowners
• September 1965 – HUD is created as a cabinet level agency by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act
• April 1968 – The Fair Housing Act is made to ban discrimination in housing
• During 1968 – The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 establishes the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)
• August 1969 – The Brooke Amendment establishes that low income families only pay no more than 25 percent of their income for rent
• August 1974 – Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 allows community development block grants and help for urban homesteading
• October 1977 – The Housing and Community Act of 1977 sets up Urban Development Grants and continues elderly and handicapped assistance
• July 1987 – The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act gives help to communities to deal with homelessness. It includes the creation of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness of which HUD is a member.
• February 1988 – The Housing and Community Development Act provides for the sale of public housing to resident management corporations
• October 1992 – The HOPE VI program starts to revitalize public housing and how it works
• October 1992 – The Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 codifies within its language the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 that creates the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and mandates HUD to set goals for lower income and underserved housing areas for the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• March 1996 – The Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act give public housing authorities the tools to screen out and evict residents who might endanger other existing residents due to substance abuse and criminal behavior
• October 1998 – Government laws are proposed which would allow local housing authorities to open up more public housing to the middle class
• November 2007 – HUD initiates program providing seller concessions to buyers of HUD homes, allowing them to use a down payment of $100