A mortgage is the transfer of an interest in property (or the equivalent in law - a charge) to a lender as a security for a debt - usually a loan of money. While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is the lender's security for a debt. It is a transfer of an interest in land (or the equivalent) from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known by the term, HUD, is a Cabinet department of the United States federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded in 1965 to develop and execute policy on housing and cities.

The department was established on September 9, 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act Pub.L. 89-174 into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, 60 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. Former New York City housing commissioner and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan was nominated by President Obama in his weekly radio address on December 13th 2008 , and confirmed by the United States Senate unanimously on January 22, 2009.

Timeline

July 1947 - The Housing and Home Finance Agency established
July 1949 - The Housing Act of 1949 is enacted to help eradicate slums and promote redevelopment
September 1959 - The Housing Act of 1959 allows funds for elderly housing
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
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 (McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act) gives help to communities to deal with homelessness
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 revitalise public housing and how it works
October 1992 - The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 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 down payment of $100

Operating units

The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building is the headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development located in Washington D.C. The building was designed by Marcel Breuer.HUD has experimented with Enterprise Zones - granting economic incentives to economically depressed urban areas, but this function has largely been taken over by states.

The major program offices are:

Community Planning and Development: Many major affordable housing and homelessness programs are administered under Community Planning and Development. These include the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), the HOME program, Shelter Plus Care, Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG), Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab SRO), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA).
Housing: This office is responsible for the Federal Housing Administration; mission regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; regulation of Manufactured housing; administration of Multifamily housing programs, including Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Section 202) and Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811); and Healthcare facility loan insurance.
Public and Indian Housing: This office administers the public housing program HOPE VI, the Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly – yet more popularly – known as Section 8), and housing block grants for Indian tribes, Native Hawaiians and Alaskans.
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity: This office enforces Federal laws against discrimination against minority households, families with children, and persons with disability.
Policy Development and Research (PD&R): This office is responsible for maintaining current information on housing needs, market conditions, and existing programs, as well as conducting research on priority housing and community development issues through the HUD USER Clearinghouse.
Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.

Programs

The 203(k) program offers low-cost loans to allow low-income participants or nonprofit groups to buy and renovate a house. A scandal with the program arose in the 1990s in which at least 700 houses were sold for profit by real estate speculators taking the loans; at least 19 were arrested,[3] and the situation devastated the housing market in Brooklyn and Harlem and resulted in $70 million in HUD loans being defaulted on. Critics said that HUD's lax oversight of their program allowed the fraud to occur. In 1997, the HUD Inspector General had issued a report saying: "The program design encourages risky property deals, land sale and refinance schemes, overstated property appraisals, and phony or excessive fees."

One of the most successful HUD programs over the years has been the Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program. Each year since 1992, HUD has included in its Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA), a specific allocation of dollars to allow sponors and owners of HUD multifamily housing for the elderly the opportunity to hire a Service Coordinator. The Service Coordinator provides case management and coordinative services to elderly residents, particularly to those who are "frail" and "at-risk" allowing them to age in place. As a result, thousands of senior citizens throughout the United States have been given the opportunity to continue to live independently instead of in an institutional facility such as a nursing home. Professional organizations such as the American Association of Service Coordinators provide support to HUD Service Coordinator through education, training, networking and advocacy.

Due to HUD's lending practices, it occasionally takes possession of a home when a lender it insures forecloses. Such properties are then generally sold off to the highest bidder through the HUD auction process. Buyers of HUD homes as their primary residences who make a full-price offer to HUD using FHA-insured mortgage financing receive seller concessions from HUD enabling them to use only $100 down payment.

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