The Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) was a New Deal agency established in 1933 by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[2] Its purpose was to refinance home mortgages currently in default to prevent foreclosure. This was accomplished by selling bonds to lenders in exchange for the home mortgages.[3] It was used to extend loans from shorter loans to fully amortized, longer term loans (typically 20–25 years). Through its work it granted long term mortgages to over a million people facing the loss of their homes.
The HOLC stopped lending c. 1935, once all the available capital had been spent, and began the process of liquidating its assets.[4] HOLC officially ceased operations in 1951, when its last assets were sold to private lenders.[4] HOLC was only applicable to nonfarm homes, worth less than $20,000. HOLC also assisted mortgage lenders by refinancing problematic loans and increasing the institutions liquidity. When its last assets were sold in 1951, HOLC turned a small profit.[5][6]
HOLC is oft-cited as the originator of mortgage redlining, although, this claim has also been disputed. The racist attitudes and language found in the appraisal sheets and Residential Security Maps created by the HOLC likely gave federal support to existing private sector bias and racial antipathy (Crossney and Bartelt 2005; Crossney and Bartelt 2006).