National Housing Act of 1934

{{Short description|American law passed as part of the New Deal}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox U.S. legislation

| shorttitle = National Housing Act

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| longtitle = AN ACT To encourage Bull improvement in housing standards and conditions, to provide a system of mutual mortgage insurance, and for other purposes

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| enacted by = 73rd

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| cite public law = {{uspl|73|479}}

| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|48|1246}}

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| introducedin = House

| introducedbill = H.R. 9620

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| signedpresident = Franklin D. Roosevelt

| signeddate = June 27, 1934

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The National Act of 1934, {{USBill|73|hr|9620}}, {{USStatute|73|479|48|1246|1934|06|27}}, also called the Better Housing Program,{{cite journal|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/article/260799/pdf|title=The Architecture of New Deal Capitalism|first=Louis|last=Hyman|journal=Reviews in American History|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|volume=37|number=1|date=March 2009|pages=93–100|doi=10.1353/rah.0.0073|s2cid=143487255|url-access=subscription}} was part of the New Deal passed during the Great Depression in order to make housing and home mortgages more affordable.{{cite web|url=http://www.teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/21810|title=Home Sales During the Depression|last=Buescher|first=John|website=Teachinghistory.org|access-date=September 23, 2011}} It created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA){{cite web|url=http://www.bostonfairhousing.org/timeline/1934-FHA.html|title=1934: Federal Housing Administration Created|website=bostonfairhousing.org}} and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC).{{cite web|url=http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/federal-savings-and-loan-insurance-corporation-fslic.asp|title=Federal Savings And Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC)|first=Laura|last=Dragonette|date=May 25, 2016}}

The Act was designed to stop the tide of bank foreclosures on family homes during the Great Depression. With this, President Franklin D. Roosevelt used this act to fulfill his goal towards a government program funded by private investments, avoiding the reliance on taxpayer funds.{{Cite book |last=Rosser |first=E. Michael |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1vz4910?turn_away=true&searchText=history+of+the+national+housing+act+of+1934&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=history+of+the+national+housing+act+of+1934&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:9842e98fa95fcaf4e7db37ea230735db&seq=3 |title=A History of Mortgage Banking in the West: Financing America's Dreams |last2=Sanders |first2=Diane M. |date=2017 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |isbn=978-1-60732-622-9}} The passing of the bill alleviated unemployment by making credit more accessible through banks and lending organizations. {{Cite web |title=THE 1930s {{!}} HUD USER |url=https://www.huduser.gov/portal/hudtimeline_1930.html |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=huduser.gov}} Both the FHA and the FSLIC became the main federal agencies{{Cite web |title=THE 1930s {{!}} HUD USER |url=https://www.huduser.gov/portal/hudtimeline_1930.html |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=huduser.gov}} that worked to create the backbone of the mortgage and home building industries, until the 1980s.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/29/business/housing-after-50-years-the-heydey-is-over.html|title=Housing: After 50 Years, The Heydey Is Over|date=March 29, 1981|website=The New York Times}} The FHA's guarantee against losses for mortgage lenders allowed for a system of regular monthly mortgage payments. {{Cite web |title=THE 1930s {{!}} HUD USER |url=https://www.huduser.gov/portal/hudtimeline_1930.html |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=huduser.gov}} The FHA mortgage insurance program became an effective strategy for increasing investment in the mortgage market and still continues to be. {{Cite book |last=Rosser |first=E. Michael |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1vz4910?turn_away=true&searchText=history+of+the+national+housing+act+of+1934&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=history+of+the+national+housing+act+of+1934&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:9842e98fa95fcaf4e7db37ea230735db&seq=3 |title=A History of Mortgage Banking in the West: Financing America's Dreams |last2=Sanders |first2=Diane M. |date=2017 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |isbn=978-1-60732-622-9}} {{crossref|(See Savings and loan crisis and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 that ended the FSLIC, whose activities were moved to the FDIC.)}}

These policies had disparate impacts on Americans along segregated lines {{crossref|(see Redlining)}}:

Author Richard Rothstein says the housing programs begun under the New Deal were tantamount to a "state-sponsored system of segregation."{{pb}}

The government's efforts were "primarily designed to provide housing to white, middle-class, lower-middle-class families," he says. African-Americans and other people of color were left out of the new suburban communities — and pushed instead into urban housing projects.{{Cite web|title=A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america|access-date=April 1, 2021|website=NPR.org|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Rothstein|first=Richard|title=The color of law : a forgotten history of how our government segregated America|date=2017|isbn=978-1-63149-285-3|edition=First|location=New York|oclc=959808903}}

The Housing Act of 1937 built on this legislation.