554
Contract authority.
Self-Help Fund.
Ante, pp. 477, 498. Ante, p. 551.
Loans.
Considerations.
PUBLIC LAW 90-448-AUG. 1, 1968
[82 STAT.
" (b) I n order to carry out the purposes of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the 'Secretary') is authorized— "(1)(A) to make grants to, or contract with, public or private nonprofit corporations, agencies, institutions, organizations, and other associations approved by him, to pay part or all of the costs of developing, conducting, administering, or coordinating effective and comprehensive programs of technical and supervisory assistance which will aid needy low-income individuals and their families in carrying out mutual or self-help housing efforts; and " (B) to establish the Self-Help Housing Land Development Fund, referred to herein as the Self-Help Fund, to be used by the Secretary as a revolving fund for making loans, on such terms and conditions and in such amounts as he deems necessary, to public or private nonprofit organizations for the acquisition and development of land as building sites to be subdivided and sold to families, nonprofit organizations, and cooperatives eligible for assistance under section 235 or 236 of the National Housing Act or section 521 of this Act. Such a loan, with interest at a rate not to exceed 3 percent per annum, shall be repaid within a period not to exceed two years from the making of the loan, or within such additional period as may be authorized by the Secretary in any case as being necessary to carry out the purposes hereof; and "(2) to make loans, on such terms and conditions and in such amounts as he deems necessary, to needy low-income individuals participating in programs of mutual or self-help housing approved by him, for the acquisition and development of land and for the purchase of such other building materials as may be necessary in order to enable them, by providing substantially all of their own labor, and by cooperating with others participating in such programs, to carry out to completion the construction of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for such individuals and their families, subject to the following limitations: " (A) there is reasonable assurance of repayment of the loan; " (B) the amount of the loan, together with other funds which may be available, is adequate to achieve the purpose for which the loan is made; " (C) the credit assistance is not otherwise available on like terms or conditions from private sources or through other Federal, State, or local programs; " (D) the loan bears interest at a rate not to exceed 3 per centum per annum on the unpaid balance of principal, plus such additional charge, if any, toward covering other costs of the loan program as the Secretary may determine to be consistent with its purposes; and " (E) the loan is repayable within not more than thirtythree years. "(c) I n determining whether to extend financial assistance under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b), the Secretary shall take into consideration, among other factors, the suitability of the area within which construction will be carried out to the type of dwelling which can be provided under mutual or self-help housing programs, the extent to which the assistance will facilitate the provision of more decent, safe, and sanitary housing conditions than presently exist in the area, the extent to which the assistance will be utilized efficiently and expeditiously, the extent to which the assistance will effect an increase in the standard of living of low-income individuals participating in the mutual or self-help housing program, and whether the
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