Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968

The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, Pub.L. 90–448, 82 Stat. 476, enacted August 1, 1968, was passed during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration. It established Ginnie Mae to expand availability of mortgage funds for moderate income families using government-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. The new entity was split from the former Fannie Mae, which retained other functions under that same name. The new entity was under the purview of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Federal Housing Administration.

The Act included "Section 235" guarantees for lenders to offer mortgages for the poor with $200 down and 20% of a person's salary. The Rouse Company offered this service on hundreds of homes condemned and abandoned for a cancelled highway project in Baltimore, Maryland. After poor results, the highway project was renewed.

Title IV, provided funding for New Town projects. The initial funding of $500 million was reduced to $250 million. Jonathan, Minnesota, and Park Forest South, Illinois developments were the first to utilize this funding.

(Several communities also applied as Title VII new towns with the follow-on National Urban Policy and New Community Development Act of 1970)

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