
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC1585]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
        CHAPTER 9--HOUSING OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
          SUBCHAPTER VII--DISPOSAL OF WAR AND VETERANS' HOUSING
 
Sec. 1585. Acquisition of housing sites


(a) Lease, condemnation or purchase; temporary housing

    The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may continue by lease 
or condemnation any interest less than a fee simple in lands heretofore 
acquired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for national 
defense or war housing or for veterans' housing (whether of permanent or 
temporary character), or held by any Federal agency in connection 
therewith, and may acquire, by purchase or condemnation, a fee simple 
title to or lesser interest in any such lands if the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development determines that the acquisition of such 
fee simple or lesser interest is necessary to protect the Government's 
investment or to maintain the improvements constructed thereon, or that 
the cost of fulfilling the Government's obligation to restore the 
property to its original condition would equal or exceed the cost of 
acquiring the title thereto.
    In any city in which, on March 1, 1953, there were more than ten 
thousand temporary housing units held by the United States of America, 
or any two contiguous cities in one of which there were on such date 
more than ten thousand temporary housing units so held, the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development may acquire, by purchase or condemnation, 
a fee simple title to any or all lands in which the Secretary holds a 
leasehold interest, or other interest less than a fee simple, acquired 
by the Federal Government for national defense or war housing or for 
veteran's housing where (1) the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development finds that the acquisition by the Secretary of a fee simple 
title in the land will tend to expedite the orderly disposal or removal 
of temporary housing under the Secretary's jurisdiction by facilitating 
the availability of improved sites for privately owned housing needed to 
replace such temporary housing, and will tend to expedite the transition 
of the city from a war-affected community containing, as of said date, a 
large number of temporary houses to a community having additional 
permanent, well-planned, residential neighborhoods, (2) the local 
governing body of the city makes a like finding and requests the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to acquire such title to the 
land, and (3) the city has furnished assurances satisfactory to the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development that no individual who is 
employed by, or is an official of, the government of the city in which 
the land is located, or any agency thereof, shall be permitted, directly 
or indirectly, to have any financial interest in the purchase or 
redevelopment of such land: Provided, That such acquisitions by the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to this sentence 
shall be limited to not exceeding four hundred and twenty-five acres of 
land in the general area in which approximately one thousand five 
hundred units of temporary housing held by the United States of America 
were unoccupied on said date: And provided further, That funds for such 
acquisition by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which are 
authorized, pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and title II of 
the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1955, to be expended from the 
revolving fund established by section 1701g-5 of title 12, shall be 
taken into consideration, to the extent that they are needed, in making 
any determination pursuant to the second proviso under that section. All 
or any part of any land so acquired by the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development may, during the five year period following the date of 
its acquisition, be sold by the Secretary, through negotiated sale, to 
such city or any local public agency where (1) the city or local public 
agency has represented to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
that it is duly authorized under State law to purchase and resell such 
land, that such land will be made available to private enterprise for 
development in accordance with local zoning and other laws, and that the 
aggregate of such land and any other land in the same city previously 
sold under the authority of this paragraph to the city or a local public 
agency will be developed for predominantly residential use, and (2) the 
city or local public agency has agreed to pay the fair market value of 
the land as determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, after giving consideration, among other relevant 
information, to the cost to the Federal Government of acquiring the fee 
simple title and of holding the land pending sale (including estimated 
amounts to cover legal and overhead expenses of such acquisition and to 
cover interest costs to the Federal Government of monies invested in the 
land pending sale). Any such negotiated sale of land to the city or a 
local public agency shall be made upon terms which require (1) that the 
city or public agency shall pay in cash at least one third of the price 
of the land upon its conveyance and the entire price within one year 
after its conveyance and (2) that any portion of the entire price not 
paid upon such conveyance shall be represented by an indebtedness which 
shall bear interest on outstanding balances at a rate of 4 per centum 
per annum and which shall be secured by a first mortgage lien upon the 
land or such portion of the land as the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development deems adequate to protect the financial interest of the 
Federal Government. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may, 
at any time that the Secretary deems it to be in the public interest to 
do so, dispose, under authority of other provisions of subchapters II to 
VII of this chapter, of any land acquired by the Secretary pursuant to 
this paragraph. Any land acquired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development pursuant to this paragraph which has not been disposed of 
within five years after its acquisition shall be disposed of by the 
Secretary as expeditiously as possible in the public interest in 
accordance with other authority contained in subchapters II to VII of 
this chapter. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1546 of this 
title or any other provisions of law, no payments in lieu of taxes shall 
be made for any tax year beginning subsequent to the date of the 
acquisition of title to the property by the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development.

(b) Land rentals

    In any case in which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
holds, on or after April 1, 1950, an interest in land acquired by the 
Federal Government for national defense, war housing, or veterans' 
housing and where (1) the term of such interest (as prescribed in the 
taking or in the lease or other instruments) is for the ``duration of 
the emergency'' or ``duration of the war'', or ``duration of the 
emergency'' or ``duration of the war'' plus a specific period 
thereafter, or for some similarly prescribed term, and (2) the rental, 
award, or other consideration which the Federal Government is obligated 
to pay or furnish for such interest gives the owner of the land less 
than an annual return, after payment of real estate taxes, of 6 per 
centum of the lowest value placed on such land by an independent 
appraiser, hired by the Government to make such appraisal based on the 
value of the land before the acquisition of the Government's interest 
therein, plus 100 per centum of such value, the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development shall, upon request of the owner of the land and, 
notwithstanding any existing contractual or other rights or obligations, 
increase the amount of future payments for such interest in order to 
give the owner of the land a return for the Government's use thereof not 
exceeding the 6 per centum annual return described in (2) of this 
subsection: Provided, That this subsection shall not affect any payment 
heretofore made or any future payment accepted by an obligee, nor shall 
this subsection limit the consideration which may be paid for the use of 
any land beyond the existing term of the Government's interest therein.

(c) Reserve account; availability of moneys

    Notwithstanding any other provisions of law unless hereafter enacted 
expressly in limitation hereof, moneys shall be deposited in the reserve 
account established pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of section 1543 
of this title (which account is continued subject to the limitation as 
to amount specified in subsection (c) of section 1543 of this title) and 
all moneys deposited in such reserve account shall be and remain 
available for any or all of the purposes specified in said subsections 
(a) or (b) of section 1543 of this title or in this section without 
regard to the time prescribed in subsection (c) of section 1543 of this 
title with respect to covering moneys in such account into miscellaneous 
receipts. Moneys in such reserve accounts shall also be available for 
the payment of necessary expenses (which shall be considered 
nonadministrative expenses) in connection with administering (1) 
transfers pursuant to section 1581 of this title, (2) redeterminations 
of the temporary or permanent character of demountable housing pursuant 
to section 1583 of this title, (3) changes in land tenure and revisions 
in the consideration payable to landowners pursuant to subsections (a) 
and (b) of this section, and (4) transfers of permanent war housing for 
low-rent use pursuant to section 1586 of this title. Moneys in such 
reserve account shall also be available for the purpose of making 
improvements to, or alterations of, any permanent housing or part 
thereof if (1) the dwelling structures therein are designed for 
occupancy by not more than four families and are to be sold separately 
and (2) such improvement or alteration is requested by the local 
governing body as a condition to the acceptance of the dedication of 
streets or utilities or is necessary for compliance with local law or 
regulation relating to the continued operation or occupancy of the 
housing by a purchaser.

(Oct. 14, 1940, ch. 862, title VI, Sec. 605, as added June 28, 1948, ch. 
688, Sec. 7, as added Apr. 20, 1950, ch. 94, title II, Sec. 201, 64 
Stat. 59; amended Sept. 1, 1951, ch. 378, title VI, Sec. 603(b), (c), 65 
Stat. 314; Aug. 2, 1954, ch. 649, title VIII, Sec. 805(1), 68 Stat. 644; 
Aug. 11, 1955, ch. 783, title I, Sec. 108(d), 69 Stat. 638; Pub. L. 89-
174, Sec. 5(a), Sept. 9, 1965, 79 Stat. 669.)

                       References in Text

    Title II of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1955, 
referred to in subsec. (a), is title II of act June 24, 1954, ch. 359, 
68 Stat. 294. Provisions of title II that authorized funds for 
acquisition of housing sites are not classified to the Code.
    Subchapters III and VI of this chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), 
were comprised of sections 1531 to 1536 and 1571 to 1576, respectively, 
of this title and have been omitted from the Code. For further details, 
see note set out under section 1522 of this title.
    Section 1543 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c), was omitted 
from the Code.


                               Amendments

    1955--Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 11, 1955, authorized Administrator to 
acquire a fee simple title to lands where he finds that such acquisition 
will tend to expedite the transition of the city from a war-affected 
community containing a large number of temporary houses to a community 
having additional permanent, well-planned, residential neighborhoods.
    1954--Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 2, 1954, added second par.
    1951--Subsec. (b). Act Sept. 1, 1951, in cl. (2), inserted ``plus 
100 per centum of such value'', substituted ``shall'' for ``is 
authorized'' and ``increase'' for ``to increase''.

                          Transfer of Functions

    For transfer of functions to Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, see note set out under section 1581 of this title.
