Title 42 › Chapter 9— HOUSING OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN NATIONAL DEFENSE › Subchapter IX— DEFENSE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND SERVICES › § 1592a
Build permanent defense housing as one- to four-family homes (including row houses) so each unit can be sold separately. Permanent houses must be sold as quickly as is in the public interest while still meeting defense needs. Buyers who already live there and veterans get first chance to buy. Among veterans, those the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has found to have service‑connected disabilities get first priority. Larger projects designed for more than four families must be sold as a whole. For those projects, veteran groups organized as cooperatives get first opportunity to buy for a period the HUD Secretary sets (not less than 90 days and not more than six months from the first offer). Such groups must accept tenants who live there during that period. The HUD Secretary must use a fair way to pick buyers when people with the same priority compete. Sales can be for cash or credit at the fair value the HUD Secretary sets. Full payment may be required within no more than 25 years, with interest of at least 4 percent per year on unpaid balances. If HUD decides housing is only needed short-term, use mobile, portable, or reusable units, or other existing government housing. When temporary housing is no longer needed, HUD may transfer it to Defense, report it as excess, or sell it after public notice to the highest responsible bidder. If a veteran bidder wants a unit for personal use, the unit goes to the highest responsible veteran bidder. HUD may reject any bid under two‑thirds of appraised value. Housing can be sold to a public body at fair value. Structures are usually sold to be removed, unless the local government approves leaving them on site. While housing awaits sale or other action, veterans get priority for moving in, with service‑connected disabled veterans first.
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The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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42 U.S.C. § 1592a
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60