Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination, and transform the way HUD does business.
The Federal Housing Administration, generally known as "FHA", provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States and its territories. FHA insures mortgages on single family and multifamily homes including manufactured homes and hospitals. It is the largest insurer of mortgages in the world, insuring over 34 million properties since its inception in 1934.
FHA mortgage insurance provides lenders with protection against losses as the result of homeowners defaulting on their mortgage loans. The lenders bear less risk because FHA will pay a claim to the lender in the event of a homeowner's default. Loans must meet certain requirements established by FHA to qualify for insurance.
FHA is the only government agency that operates entirely from its self-generated income and costs the taxpayers nothing. The proceeds from the mortgage insurance paid by the homeowners are captured in an account that is used to operate the program entirely. FHA provides a huge economic stimulation to the country in the form of home and community development, which trickles down to local communities in the form of jobs, building suppliers, tax bases, schools, and other forms of revenue.
Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in 1934. The FHA became a part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Housing in 1965. When the FHA was created, the housing industry was flat on its back:
During the 1940s, FHA programs helped finance military housing and homes for returning veterans and their families after the war.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the FHA helped to spark the production of millions of units of privately-owned apartments for elderly, handicapped and lower income Americans. When soaring inflation and energy costs threatened the survival of thousands of private apartment buildings in the 1970s, FHA's emergency financing kept cash-strapped properties afloat.
The FHA moved in to steady falling home prices and made it possible for potential homebuyers to get the financing they needed when recession prompted private mortgage insurers to pull out of oil producing states in the 1980s. By 2001, the nation's homeownership rate had soared to an all time high of 68.1 percent as of the third quarter that year.
The FHA and HUD have insured over 34 million home mortgages and 47,205 multifamily project mortgages since 1934. FHA currently has 4.8 million insured single family mortgages and 13,000 insured multifamily projects in its portfolio.
In the 80 years since the FHA was created much has changed and Americans are now arguably the best housed people in the world. HUD has helped greatly with that success.
History
1937 U.S. Housing Act of 1937
1965 Department of Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 creates HUD as Cabinet-level agency.
1966 Robert C. Weaver becomes the first HUD Secretary, January 18.
1968 Riots in major cities follow assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Act of 1968 (also known as the Fair Housing Act) outlaws most housing discrimination, gives HUD enforcement responsibility. Housing Act of 1968 establishes Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) to expand availability of mortgage funds for moderate income families using government guaranteed mortgage-backed securities.
1969 Robert C. Wood receives recess appointment as HUD Secretary, January 7. George C. Romney is appointed HUD Secretary by President Richard M. Nixon, January 22.
1970 Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 introduces Federal Experimental Housing Allowance Program and Community Development Corporation.
1972 Pruitt-Igoe public housing buildings in St. Louis are demolished.
1973 President Nixon declares moratorium on housing and community development assistance. James T. Lynn becomes HUD Secretary, February 2.
1974 Housing and Community Development Act consolidates programs into Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Section 8 tenant-based certificates increase low-income tenants' choice of housing. Gerald R. Ford becomes president following Nixon's resignation.
1975 Carla A. Hills is appointed HUD Secretary, March 10.
1977 Patricia R. Harris is appointed HUD Secretary by President James E. Carter, January 23. Urban Development Action Grants (UDAG) give distressed communities funds for residential or nonresidential use.
1979 Moon Landrieu becomes HUD Secretary, September 24. Inflation hits 19 percent, seriously impacting home buying and home mortgage loans.
1980 Depository Institutions' Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 changes rules governing thrift institutions, expands alternative mortgages.
1981 Samuel R. Pierce Jr. is appointed HUD Secretary by President Ronald W. Reagan, January 23. Interest rates for FHA-insured mortgages peak at 15.17 percent (up from 7 percent in 1972).
1983 Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 begins Housing Development Action Grant and Rental Rehabilitation programs.
1987 Stewart B. McKinney Act sets up programs to help communities deal with homelessness.
1988 Indian Housing Act gives HUD new responsibilities for housing needs of Native Americans and Alaskan Indians. Housing and Community Development Act allows sale of public housing to resident management corporations. Fair Housing Amendments Act makes it easier for victims of discrimination to sue, stiffens penalties for offenders.
1989 Jack F. Kemp is appointed HUD Secretary by President George H. W. Bush, February 13. Financial Institutions' Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act bails out failing thrift institutions.
1990 Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act emphasizes homeownership and tenant-based assistance, launches HOME housing block grant. Low-Income Housing Preservation and Residential Homeownership Act of 1990 fortifies Federal commitment to preservation of -assisted low-income, multifamily housing.
1992 Federal Housing Enterprises' Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 creates HUD Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to provide public oversight of FNMA and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
1993 Henry G. Cisneros is named Secretary of HUD by President William J. Clinton, January 22. Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community program becomes law as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.
1995 "Blueprint for Reinvention of HUD" proposes sweeping changes in public housing reform and FHA, consolidation of other programs into three block grants.
1996 Homeownership totals 66.3 million American households, the largest number ever.
1997 Andrew M. Cuomo is named by President Clinton to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the first appointment ever from within the Department.
1998 HUD opens Enforcement Center to take action against HUD-assisted multifamily property owners and other HUD fund recipients who violate laws and regulations. Congress approves Public Housing reforms to reduce segregation by race and income, encourage and reward work, bring more working families into public housing, and increase the availability of subsidized housing for very poor families.
2000 America's homeownership rate reaches a new record-high of 67.7 percent in the third quarter of 2000. A total of 71.6 million American families own their homes - more than at any time in American history.
2001 Mel Martinez, named by President George W. Bush to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 23, 2001.
2004 Alphonso Jackson, named by President George W. Bush to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 31, 2004. Mr. Jackson is the first Deputy Secretary to subsequently be named Secretary.
2008 Steve Preston was sworn in as the 14th HUD Secretary on June 5, 2008. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
2009 Shaun Donovan was sworn in as the 15th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on January 26, 2009. President Obama named Donovan to lead the Department and the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination to confront the challenges facing today’s housing market.
2014 Julián Castro was sworn in as the 16th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on July 28, 2014.
(Link: https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/about/hud_history)