Housing

Question 1

What is the Tenement Act of 1879?

Answer 1

This law required that windows open to outside air, which resulted in the dumbbell tenement housing type, referred to as “Old Law Tenements.” Provided requirements for light and air, 2 toilets on each floor, accessible by a common hall, a window for each room, Jacob Riis “How the Other Half Lives” published in 1890

Question 2

What is the New Tenement Act of 1901?

Answer 2

This law created “New Law” tenements and outlawed dumbbell tenements. It required wide light and air areas between buildings, as well as toilets and running water in each apartment unit. Required permits and inspections for construction, alterations and conversions; housing was primarily provided by private individuals/companies; 70% lot coverage, toilet in every unit and windows that can open to fresh air.

Question 3

What is the National Housing Act of 1934?

Answer 3

created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to act as mortgager insurance agency; to regulate interest rates and mortgage terms; it revolutionized private housing finance by longer mortgages, smaller down payments, uniform self-amortization monthly payments, established minimum design standards. Created the FSLIC (Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation

Question 4

What year was NYC Housing Authority v. Muller and what did it determine?

Answer 4

1936; supreme court ruling established the NYC Housing Authority’s right to employ the power of eminent domain for slum clearing purposes

Question 5

What did the National Housing Act of 1937 create?

Answer 5

the USHA (US Housing Authority) to channel financial assistance in the form of direct loans and open subsidies to local housing authorities for slum clearance and for construction/operation of public housing for low income families

Question 6

What happened to all federal housing programs in 1947?

Answer 6

All federal housing programs were consolidated under Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA)

Question 7

What is the Federal Housing Act of 1949?

Answer 7

created Urban Renewal; focus on slum clearance; supposedly reaffirmed the Federal commitment to the housing needs of the poor; provided money for localities to assemble, clear, then sell and lease for “predominantly residential uses” to housing agencies or private developers; perpetual racial discrimination; also replaced the low density townhouses with superblocks or “housing projects” which were warehouses for the poor

Question 8

What is the Housing Act of 1954?

Answer 8

expanded Urban Renewal; focused on slum prevention; Section 701 - established the 1st Federal matching funds for local comprehensive plans for communities with less than 25K; included the Workable Program for Community Improvement

Question 9

Describe the amendments to the Housing Act of 1959

Answer 9

resulted in the Housing Act of 1961; Section 202 - created Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program; Section 202(d)(3) provided interest subsidies to private nonprofit corporations, limited dividend corporations, co-op and public agencies for the construction of public housing projects for low and moderate income families to rent

Question 10

What year was HUD created and what did it replace?

Answer 10

1965; replaced HHFA; rent supplied payments for households below poverty level; private home loans at 3% interest for low and moderate income households; subsidies for more than 200K low rent public housing projects

Question 11

What year was the Model Cities Program created?

Answer 11

1966

Question 12

Describe the Model Cities Program

Answer 12

quasi-political; federal government funded to decide on problems, solutions, and priorities

Question 13

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1968 accomplish?

Answer 13

made racial discrimination for housing, rentals or sale, illegal.

Question 14

What did the Housing and Urban Development Act in 1968 do?

Answer 14

Section 235 - subsidized low monthly payments for private homes financial and FHA mortgage insurance programs; for low and moderate income households

Question 15

What act required area-wide regional planning agency review?

Answer 15

Circular A-95 in the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (1968)

Question 16

What act created Section 8 housing?

Answer 16

Housing and Community Development Act (1974); created rent supplement programs for low-income housing; consolidated programs into the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

Question 17

The 1974 National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Act required what structural component for manufactured homes?

Answer 17

Required manufactured homes to have steel chassis and wheels.

Question 18

What did the 1977 Housing and Community Development Act do?

Answer 18

Ended Federal funding for the Section 701 Plans; creative Competitive Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG); Fair Housing Act or Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968

Question 19

What did the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (1987) do?

Answer 19

established emergency aid programs to provide food, shelter, education, job training and medical service to the homeless; limited amount of money for Section 8 moderate rehab program for single-room occupancy dwelling for the homeless; authorized 2 new housing programs (Emergency Shelter Grants Program, Supportive Housing Demonstration Program)

Question 20

What does the 1989 Fair Housing Act do?

Answer 20

Protects families with children under 18; made it illegal to deny loans for purchasing, construction, improvement, or maintenance of a dwelling; made it illegal for multifamily to discriminate against families

Question 21

What is inclusionary zoning?

Answer 21

ordinances that require a given share of new construction to be affordable with low to moderate income

Question 22

What is the significance of Levittown, NY?

Answer 22

Sales started in 1947; loans were backed by the VA and FHA; allowed qualified veterans to receive 30 year mortgages with no down payment; this process began suburbanization

Question 23

What year was the Fair Housing Act?

Answer 23

1968

Question 24

What did the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 accomplish?

Answer 24

wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability

Question 25

ADA Amended Act in 2008 did what?

Answer 25

provided border protection for disabled workers

Question 26

The HOME act in 1990 did what?

Answer 26

home investment partnership initiated from the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990; similar to CDBG

Question 27

What is the name of the law to remove the worst public housing projects?

Answer 27

HOPE IV - 1998

Question 28

What does NSP stand for and what does it do?

Answer 28

Neighborhood Stabilization Program; purpose of stabilizing communities that suffered from foreclosures and abandonment

Question 29

What is the NSP2?

Answer 29

American Recovery and Reinvestment - provide grants to states, local governments, nonprofits and a consortium of nonprofit entities on a competitive basis

Question 30

NPS3 did what?

Answer 30

Dodd-Frank Act of 2010; provided a third round of neighborhood stabilization grants

Question 31

Housing Choice Vouchers - what legislation are they a part of?

Answer 31

Section 8 - part of 1974 Housing and Community Development Act

Question 32

Describe the Low Income Housing Tax Credit

Answer 32

developed out of the Tax Reform Act of 1986; called Housing Credits; designed to attract equity Capital for investment in rent restricted affordable housing; rents charged cannot be more than 30% of their gross income

Question 33

What is Gentrification?

Answer 33

renovating deteriorated urban neighborhoods by means of influx of more affluent residents, causing existing residents to move away

Question 34

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944) aka GI Bill

Answer 34

Guarantee home loans to veterans. The result was the rapid development of the suburbs.

Question 35

What is the New York Tenement Act of 1867?

Answer 35

The first major housing code in the U.S. The Act required all rooms within tenements to have windows, but it did not require windows to open to the outside.