Chap. 224.—-An ACT to amend an act entitled “An act to declare the necessity of
"creating political subdivisions of the Commonwealth with public and corporate
powers to be known as housing authorities to undertake slum clearance and
projects to provide dwelling accommodations for persons of low income; to
create such housing authorities in cities and in counties; to define the powers
and duties of housing authorities and to provide for the exercise of such powers,
including acquiring property, borrowing money, issuing bonds and other obliga-
tions, and giving security therefor; to provide that bonds of housing authorities
shall be legal investments; to provide that housing authorities may obtain the
Attorney General’s opinion upon their bonds; to confer remedies on obligees of
housing authorities; to authorize cities, towns, counties, and other public bodies
and subdivisions to aid housing projects of housing authorities or of the United
States of America by conveying or dedicating property, by furnishing parks,
playgrounds, streets, roads, water, sewer, or drainage facilities and other im-
provements and facilities, by exercising certain other powers and by making
agreements relating to such aid; to authorize cities, towns, counties and other
public bodies and subdivisions to make agreements respecting the exercise of
their powers relating to the remedying or elimination of unfit dwellings, to
make agreements relating to payments by housing authorities, and to purchase
bonds of housing authorities; and to authorize certain cities and counties to pay
moneys to housing authorities.”, approved March 29, 1938, by adding thereto
15 new sections numbered 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, 4f, 4g, 4h, 4i, 4j, 4k, 41, 4m, 4n, and
4o, respectively, to authorize the creation and establishment of regional housing
authorities by two or more counties and consolidated housing authorities by two
or more municipalities; to define the rights, powers and immunities of such
authorities ; to provide for the appointment of the commissioners of such authori-
ties; to define the areas of operation of certain housing authorities and provide
for changing such areas; to specifically authorize county and regional housing
authorities to undertake housing projects for farmers of low income; to author-
ize certain security for certain obligations of housing authorities; and to author-
ize housing authorities to cooperate with one another, and to operate in
municipalities outside their areas of operation with the consent of such
municipalities. [S B 150]
Approved March 14, 1942

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled “An act to declare the necessity of creating political subdivisions
of the Commonwealth with public and corporate powers to be known as
housing authorities to undertake slum clearance and projects to provide
dwelling accommodations for persons of low income; to create such
housing authorities in cities and counties ; to define the powers and duties
of housing authorities and to provide for the exercise of such powers, in-
cluding acquiring property, borrowing money, issuing bonds and other
obligations, and giving security therefor ; to provide that bonds of housing
authorities shall be legal investments ; to provide that housing authorities
may obtain the Attorney General’s opinion upon their bonds; to confer
remedies on obligees of housing authorities; to authorize cities, towns,
counties, and other public bodies and subdivisions to aid housing projects
of housing authorities or of the United States of America by conveying or
dedicating property, by furnishing parks, playgrounds, streets, roads,
water, sewer or drainage facilities and other improvements and facilities,
by exercising certain other powers and by making agreements relating to
such aid; to authorize cities, towns, counties and other public bodies and
subdivisions to make agreements respecting the exercise of their powers
relating to the remedying or elimination of unfit dwellings, to make agree-
ments relating to payments by housing authorities, and to purchase bonds
cH. 224] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 317

of housing authorities ; and to authorize certain cities and counties to pay
moneys to housing authorities.”, approved March twenty-ninth, nineteen
hundred and thirty-eight, be amended by adding thereto fifteen new sec-
tions numbered four-a, four-b, four-c, four-d, four-e, four-f, four-g, four-h,
four-i, four-j, four-k, four-l, four-m, four-n, and four-o, respectively,
which new sections shall read as follows: !

Section 4a. Creation of Regional Housing Authority. If the board
of supervisors of each of two or more contiguous counties by resolution
declares that there is a need for one housing authority to be created for all
of such counties to exercise in such counties powers and other functions
prescribed for a regional housing authority, a political subdivision of the
Commonwealth to be known as a regional housing authority shall there-
upon exist for all of such counties and exercise its public and corporate
powers and other functions in such counties ; and thereupon each housing
authority created for each of such counties shall cease to exist except for
the purpose of winding up its affairs and executing a deed to the regional
housing authority as hereinafter provided; provided that the board of
supervisors of a county shall not adopt a resolution as aforesaid if there is
a county housing authority created for such county which has any obliga-
tions outstanding unless first, all obligees of such county housing authority
and parties to the contracts, bonds, notes, and other obligations of such
county housing authority consent in writing to the substitution of such
regional housing authority in lieu of such county housing authority on all
such contracts, bonds, notes, or other obligations; and second, the com-
missioners of such county housing authority adopt a resolution consenting
to the transfer of all the rights, contracts, obligations, and property, real
and personal, of such county housing authority to such regional housing
authority as hereinafter provided; and provided further that when the
above two conditions are complied with and such regional housing au-
thority is created and authorized to exercise its powers and other func-
tions, all rights, contracts, agreements, obligations, and property of such
county housing authority shall be in the name of and vest in such regional
housing authority, and all obligations of such county housing authority
shall be the obligations of such regional housing authority and all rights
and remedies of any person against such county housing authority may be
asserted, enforced, and prosecuted against such regional housing authority
to the same extent as they might have been asserted, enforced, and prose-
cuted against such county housing authority.

When any real property of a county housing authority vests in a
regional housing authority as provided above, the county housing au-
thority shall execute a deed of such property to the regional housing au-
thority which thereupon shall file such deed in the office provided for the
filing of deeds, provided that nothing contained in this sentence shall
affect the vesting of property in the regional housing authority as pro-
vided above.

The board of supervisors of each of two or more contiguous coun-
ties shall by resolution declare that there is a need for one regional hous-
ing authority to be created for all of such counties to exercise in such coun-
ties powers and other functions prescribed for a regional housing au-
thority, if such board of supervisors finds (and only if it finds) (a) that
insanitary or unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations exist in such
county or there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations
in such county available to persons of low income at rentals they can af-
ford and (b) that a regional housing authority would be a more efficient
or economical administrative unit than the housing authority of such
county to carry out the purposes of this Housing Authorities Law in suc
county. |

_ In any suit, action, or proceeding involving the validity or enforce-
ment of or relating to any contract of the regional housing authority, the
regional housing authority shall be conclusively deemed to have become
created as a public body corporate and politic and to have become éstab-
lished and authorized to transact business and exercise its powers here-
under upon proof of the adoption of a resolution by the board of super-
visors of each of the counties creating the regional housing authority
declaring the need for the regional housing authority. Each such resolu-
tion shall be deemed sufficient if it declares that there is need for the
regional housing authority and finds in substantially the foregoing terms
(no further detail being necessary) that the conditions enumerated above
in (a) and (b) exist. A copy of such resolution of the board of super-
visors of a county, duly certified by the clerk of such county, shall be ad-
missible in evidence in any suit, action, or proceeding.

The area of operation of a regional housing authority shall include
(except as otherwise provided elsewhere in this act) all of the counties for
which such regional housing authority is created and established.

Section 4b. Increasing Area of Operation of Regional Housing Au-
thority. The area of operation of a regional housing authority shall be
increased from time to time to include one or more additional contiguous
counties not already within a regional housing authority if the board of
supervisors of each of the counties then included in the area of operation
of such regional housing authority, the commissioners of the regional
housing authority and the board of supervisors of each such additional
county or counties each adopt a resolution declaring that there is a need
for the inclusion of such additional county or counties in the area of opera-
tion of such regional housing authority. Upon the adoption of such reso-
lutions, the county housing authority created for each such additional
county shall cease to exist except for the purpost of winding up its af-
fairs and executing a deed to the regional housing authority as herein-
after provided; provided, however, that such resolutions shall not be
adopted if there is a county housing authority created for any such ad-
ditional county which has any obligations outstanding unless first, all
obligees of any such county housing authority and parties to the contracts,
bonds, notes, and other obligations of any such county housing authority
consent in writing to the substitution of such regional housing authority
in lieu of such county housing authority on all such contracts, bonds, notes
or other obligations ; and second, the commissioners of such county hous-
ing authority adopt a resolution consenting to the transfer of all the rights,
contracts, obligations, and property, real and personal, of such county
housing authority to such regional housing authority as hereinafter pro-
cH. 224] - ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 319

vided ; and provided further that when the above two conditions are com-
plied with and the area of operation of such regional housing authority is
increased to include such additional county, as hereinabove provided, all
rights, contracts, agreements, obligations, and property of such county
housing authority shall be in the name of and vest in such regional hous-
ing authority, all obligations of such county housing authority shall be the
obligations of such regional housing authority and all rights and reme-
dies of any person against such county housing authority may be asserted,
enforced, and prosecuted against such regional housing authority to the
same extent as they might have been asserted, enforced, and prosecuted
against such county housing authority.

When any real property of a county housing authority vests in a
regional housing authority as provided above, the county housing au-
thority shall execute a deed of such property to the regional housing au-
thority which thereupon shall file such deed in the office provided for the
filing of deeds, provided that nothing contained in this sentence shall at-
fect the vesting of property in the regional housing authority as provided
above.

The board of supervisors of each of the counties in the regional hous-
ing authority, the commissioners of the regional housing authority and
the board of supervisors of each such additional county or counties shall
by resolution declare that there is need for the inclusion of such county
or counties in the area of operation of the regional housing authority, if
(a) the board of supervisors of each such additional county or counties
finds that insanitary or unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations exist
in such county or there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling ac-
commodations in such county available to persons of low income at rentals
they can afford and (b) the board of supervisors of each of the counties
then included in the area of operation of the regional housing authority,
the commissioners of the regional housing authority and the board of
supervisors of each such additional county or counties find that the re-
gional housing authority would be a more efficient or economical admin-
istrative unit to carry out the purposes of this Housing Authorities Law
if the area of operation of the regional housing authority is increased to
include such additional county or counties.

Section 4c. Decreasing Area of Operation of Regional Housing Au-
thority. The area of operation of a regional housing authority shall be
decreased from time to time to exclude one or more counties from such
area if the board of supervisors of each of the counties in such area and the
commissioners of the regional housing authority each adopt a resolution
declaring that there is a need for excluding such county or counties from
such area; provided that no action may be taken pursuant to this section
if the regional housing authority has outstanding any bonds, notes or other
evidences of indebtedness, unless first, all holders of such evidences 0!
indebtedness consent in writing to such action; and provided further that
if such action decreases the area of operation of the regional housing au-
thority to only one county, such authority shall thereupon constitute anc
become a housing authority for such county, in the same manner as thougt
such authority were created by and authorized to transact business anc
exercise its powers pursuant to section four of this Housing Authorities
Law, and the commissioners of such authority shall be thereupon ap-
pointed as provided for the appointment of commissioners of a housing
authority created for a county.

The board of supervisors of each of the counties in the area of opera-
tion of the regional housing authority and the commissioners of the re-
gional housing authority shall adopt a resolution declaring that there is a
need for excluding a county or counties from such area if: (a) each such
board of supervisors of the counties to remain in the area of operation of
the regional housing authority and the commissioners of the regional
housing authority find that (because of facts arising or determined sub-
sequent to the time when such area first included the county or counties
to be excluded) the regional housing authority would be a more efficient
or economical administrative unit to carry out the purposes of this Hous-
ing Authorities Law if such county or counties were excluded from such
area, and (b) the board of supervisors of each such county or counties to
be excluded and the commissioners of the regional housing authority each
also find that (because of the aforesaid changed facts) the purposes of
this Housing Authorities Law could be carried out more efficiently or
economically in such county or counties if the area of operation of the
regional housing authority did not include such county or counties.

Any property held by a regional housing authority within a county
or counties excluded from the area of operation of such authority, as
herein provided, shall (as soon as practicable after the exclusion of said
county or counties respectively) be disposed of by such authority in the
public interest.

Section 4d. Housing Authority for County Excluded from Regional
Authority. At any time after a county or counties is excluded from the
area of operation of a regional housing authority as provided above, the
board of supervisors of any such county may adopt a resolution declaring
that there is a need for a housing authority in the county, if the board shall
find such need according to the provisions of section four of this Housing
Authorities Law. Thereupon a political subdivision of the Common-
wealth to be known as the housing authority of the county shall exist for
such county and may transact business and exercise its powers in the
same manner as though created by section four. Nothing contained here-
in shall be construed as preventing such county from thereafter being in-
cluded within the area of operation of a regional housing authority as
provided in sections four-a or four-b of this Housing Authorities Law.

Section 4e. Public Hearing to Create Regional Authority or Change
Its Area of Operation, and Findings. The board of supervisors of a
county shall not adopt any resolution authorized by sections four-a,
four-b or four-c of this Housing Authorities Law unless a public hearing
has first been held. The clerk of such county shall give notice of the time,
place, and purpose of the public hearing at least ten days prior to the day
on which the hearing is to be held, in a newspaper published in such coun-
ty, or if there is no newspaper published in such county, then in a news-
paper published in the Commonwealth and having a general circulation
in such county. Upon the date fixed for such public hearing an opportunity
to be heard shall be granted to all residents of such county and to all other
interested persons.

In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe or in-
sanitary the board of supervisors of a county shall take into consideration
the safety and sanitation of dwellings, the light and air space available to
the inhabitants of such dwellings, the degree of overcrowding, the size
and arrangement of the rooms and the extent to which conditions exist
in such dwellings which endanger life or property by fire or other causes.

In connection with the issuance of bonds or the incurring of other
obligations, a regional housing authority may covenant as to limitations
on its right to adopt resolutions relating to the increase or decrease ot its
area of operation.

Section 4f. Commissioners of Regional Housing Authority. The
board of supervisors of each county included in a regional housing au-
thority shall appoint one person as a commissioner of such authority, and
each such commissioner to be first appointed by the board of supervisors
of a county may be appointed at or after the time of the adoption of the
resolution declaring the need for such regional housing authority or de-
claring the need for the inclusion of such county in the area of operation
of such regional housing authority. When the area of operation of a re-
gional housing authority is increased to include an additional county or
counties as provided above, the board of supervisors of each such county
shall thereupon appoint one additional person as a commissioner of the
regional housing authority. The board of supervisors of each county shall
appoint the successor of the commissioner appointed by it. A certificate of
the appointment of any such commissioner shall be filed with the clerk of
the county, and such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the due
and proper appointment of such commissioner. If any county is excluded
from the area of operation of a regional housing authority, the office of
the commissioner of such regional housing authority appointed by the
board of supervisors of such county shall be thereupon abolished.

If the area of operation of a regional housing authority consists at
any time of an even number of counties, the commissioners of the regional
housing authority appointed by the boards of supervisors of such coun-
ties shall appoint one additional commissioner whose term of office shall
be as herein provided for a commissioner of a regional housing authority
except that such term shall end at any earlier time that the area of opera-
tion of the regional housing authority shall be changed to consist of an odd
number of counties. The commissioners of such authority appointed by
the board of supervisors of such counties shall likewise appoint each per-
son to succeed such additional commissioner ; provided that the term of
office of such person begins during the terms of office of the commissioners
appointing him. A certificate of the appointment of any such additional
commissioner of such regional housing authority shall be filed with the
other records of the regional housing authority and shall be conclusive evi-
dence of the due and proper appointment of such additional commissioner.

The commissioners of a regional housing authority shall be appointed
for terms of four years except that all vacancies shall be filled for the un-
expired terms. Each commissioner shall hold office until his successor has
been appointed and has qualified, except as otherwise provided herein.
The commissioners shall constitute the regional housing authority,
and the powers of such authority shall be vested in such commissioners in
office from time to time.

The commissioners of a regional housing authority shall elect a chair-
man from among the commissioners and shall have power to select or em-
ploy such other officers and employees as the regional housing authority
may require. A majority of the commissioners of a regional housing au-
thority shall constitute a quorum of such authority for the purpose of con-
ducting its business and exercising its powers and for all other purposes.

For inefficiency or neglect of duty or misconduct in office, a com-
missioner of a regional housing authority may be removed by the board of
supervisors appointing him, or in the case of the commissioner appointed
by the commissioners of the regional housing authority, by such com-
missioners ; provided that such commissioner shall be removed only after
he shall have been given a copy of the charges against him at least ten
days prior to the hearing thereon and had an opportunity to be heard in
person or by counsel. In the event of the removal of a commissioner by
the board of supervisors appointing him, a record of the proceedings,
together with the charges and findings thereon, shall be filed in the office
of the clerk of the county ; and in the case of the removal of the commis-
sioner appointed by the commissioners of the regional housing authority,
such record shall be filed with the other records of the regional housing
authority.

section 4g. Powers of Regional Housing Authority. Except as
otherwise provided herein, a regional housing authority and the commis-
sioners thereof shall, within the area of operation of such regional housing
authority, have the same functions, rights, powers, duties, privileges, im-
munities and limitations provided for housing authorities created for cities
or counties and the commissioners of such housing authorities, and all
the provisions of law applicable to housing authorities created for cities or
counties and the commissioners of such authorities shall be applicable to
regional housing authorities and the commissioners thereof; provided,
that for such purposes, the term “mayor” or “governing body” as used in
this Housing Authorities Law shall be construed as meaning “board of
supervisors’, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the con-
text ; and provided further that a regional housing authority, with respect
to housing projects for farmers of low income, shall not be subject to the
limitations provided in clause (c) of section ten of this Housing Au-
thorities Law. A regional housing authority shall have power to select
any appropriate corporate name.

Section 4h. Rural Housing Projects. County housing authorities
and regional housing authorities are specifically empowered and autho-
rized to borrow money, accept grants and exercise their other powers to
provide housing for farmers of low income. In connection with such proj-
ects, any such housing authority may enter into such leases or purchase
agreements, accept such conveyances and rent or sell dwellings forming
part of such projects to or for farmers of low income, as such housing
authority deems necessary in order to assure the achievement of the ob-
jectives of this Housing Authorities Law. Such leases, agreements or con-
veyances may include such covenants as such housing authority deems
appropriate regarding such dwellings and the tracts of land described
in any such instrument, which covenants shall be deemed to run with the
land where such housing authority deems it necessary and the parties to
such instrument so stipulate. Nothing contained in this section shall be
construed as limiting any other powers conferred by this Housing Au-
thorities Law.

Section 41. Housing Applications by Farmers. The owner of any
farm operated, or worked upon, by farmers of low income in need of safe
and sanitary housing may file an application with a county housing au-
thority or a regional housing authority requesting that it provide for a
safe and sanitary dwelling or dwellings for occupancy by such farmers
of low income. Such applications shall be received and examined by such
housing authorities in connection with the formulation of projects or pro-
grams to provide housing for farmers of low income.

Section 4j. Farmers of Low Income Defined. “Farmers of low in-
come’, as used in this act, shall mean persons or families who at the time
of their admission to occupancy in a dwelling of a county or regional
housing authority : (a) live under unsafe or insanitary housing conditions;
(b) derive their principal income from operating or working upon a
farm; and (c) had an aggregate average annual net income for the three
years preceding their admission that was less than the amount determined
by such housing authority to be necessary, within its area of operation, to
enable them, without financial assistance, to obtain decent, safe and sani-
tary housing, without overcrowding.

Section 4k. Consolidated Housing Authority. If the governing
body of each of two or more municipalities (whether or not contiguous)
by resolution declares that there is a need for one housing authority to be
created for all of such municipalities to exercise in such municipalities the
powers and other functions prescribed for a consolidated housing author-
ity, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to be known as a con-
solidated housing authority (with such corporate name as it selects) shall
thereupon exist for all of such municipalities and exercise its public and
corporate powers and other functions within its area of operation (as
herein defined), including the power to undertake projects therein; and
thereupon each housing authority (if any) created for each of such mu-
nicipalities shall cease to exist except for the purpose of winding up its
affairs and executing a deed of its real property to the consolidated hous-
ing authority: Provided that the creation of a consolidated housing au-
thority and the finding of need therefor shall be subject to the same pro-
visions and limitations of this act as are applicable to the creation of a
regional housing authority and that all of the provisions of this act ap-
plicable to regional housing authorities and the commissioners thereof
shall be applicable to consolidated housing authorities and the commis-
sioners thereof; provided further that the area of operation of a consoli-
dated housing authority shall include all of the territory within the
boundaries of each municipality joining in the creation of such authority,
except that such area of operation may be changed to include or exclude
any municipality or municipalities in the same manner and under the
same provisions as provided in this act for changing the area of operation
of a regional housing authority by including or excluding a county or
counties ; and provided further that for all such purposes the term “board
of supervisors” shall be construed as meaning “governing body” except
in section four-f of this act where it shall be construed as meaning
“mayor” or other executive head of the municipality, the term “county”
shall be construed as meaning “municipality” and the terms “county
housing authority” and “regional housing authority” shall be construed
as meaning “housing authority of the city” and “consolidated housing
authority,” respectively, unless a different meaning clearly appears from
the context.

The governing body of a municipality for which a housing authority
has not been created shall not adopt the above resolution unless it first
declares that there is a need for a consolidated housing authority to func-
tion in said municipality, which declaration shall be made in the same man-
ner and subject to the same conditions as the declaration of the governing
body of a city required by section four of this Housing Authorities Law
for the purpose of authorizing a housing authority created for a city to
transact business and exercise its powers.

Except as otherwise provided herein, a consolidated housing au-
thority and the commissioners thereof shall, within the area of operation of
such consolidated housing authority, have the same functions, rights,
powers, duties, privileges, immunities and limitations as those provided
for housing authorities created for cities, counties, or groups of counties
and the commissioners of such housing authorities, in the same manner as
though all the provisions of law applicable to housing authorities created
for cities, counties, or groups of counties were applicable to consolidated
housing authorities.

The term “municipality” as used in this act shall mean any city or
town in the Commonwealth.

Section 41. Housing Authority Operations in Other Municipalities.
In addition to its other powers, any housing authority (including any
housing authority established pursuant to any of the provisions of sec-
tions four-a to four-o of this act) may exercise any or all of its powers
within the territorial boundaries of any municipality not included in the
area of operation of such housing authority, for the purpose of planning,
undertaking, financing, constructing and operating a housing project or
projects within such municipality; provided that a resolution shall have
been adopted (a) by the governing body of such municipality in which
the housing authority is to exercise its powers and (b) by the authority
of such municipality (if one has been theretofore established by such mu-
nicipality and authorized to exercise its powers therein) declaring that
there is a need for the aforesaid housing authority to exercise its powers
within such municipality. A municipality shall have the same powers to
furnish financial and other assistance to such housing authority exercising
its powers within such municipality under this section as though the mu-
nicipality were within the area of operation of such authority.
cH. 224] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 325

No governing body of a municipality shall adopt a resolution as
provided in this section declaring that there is a need for the housing au-
thority (other than a housing authority established by such municipality)
to exercise its powers within such municipality, unless a public hearing
has first been held by such governing body and unless such governing
body shall have found in substantially the following terms: (a) that in-
sanitary or unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations exist in such mu-
nicipality or that there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling accom-
modations in such municipality available to persons of low income at
rentals they can afford; and (b) that these conditions can be best reme-
died through the exercise of the aforesaid housing authority’s powers
within the territorial boundaries of such municipality : provided that such
findings shall not have the effect of establishing an authority for any such
municipality under section four of this Housing Authorities Law nor of
thereafter preventing such municipality from establishing an authority or
joining in the creation of a consolidated housing authority or the increase
of the area of operation of a consolidated housing authority. The clerk of
the city or other municipality shall give notice of the time, place and pur-
pose of the public hearing at least ten days prior to the date on which the
hearing is to be held, in a newspaper published in such municipality, or if
there is no newspaper published in such municipality, then in a news-
paper published in the Commonwealth and having a general circulation in
such municipality. Upon the date fixed for such public hearing an oppor-
tunity to be heard shall be granted to all residents of such municipality
and to all other interested persons.

During the time that, pursuant to these findings, the aforesaid hous-
ing authority has outstanding (or is under contract to issue) any evi-
dences of indebtedness for a project within the municipality, no other
housing authority (including any housing authority established pursuant
to this act) may undertake a project within such municipality without the
consent of said housing authority which has such outstanding indebtedness
or obligation. ,

Section 4m. ‘Meetings and Residence of Commissioners. Nothing
contained in this Housing Authorities Law shall be construed to prevent
meetings of the commissioners of a housing authority (including any
housing authority established pursuant to this act) anywhere within the
perimeter boundaries of the area of operation of the authority or within
any additional area where the housing authority is authorized to under-
take a housing project, nor to prevent the appointment of any person as
a commissioner of the authority who resides within such boundaries or
such additional area, and who is otherwise eligible for such appointment
under this Housing Authorities Law.

Section 4n. Cooperation of Authorities. Any two or more housing
authorities (including any housing authority established pursuant to any
of the provisions of sections four-a to four-o of this act) may join or co-
operate with one another in the exercise, either jointly or otherwise, of
any or all of their powers for the purpose of financing (including the is-
suance of bonds, notes or other obligations and giving security therefor),
planning, undertaking, owning, constructing, operating or contracting
with respect to a housing project or projects located within the area of op-
eration of any one or more of said authorities. For such purpose any au-
thority may by resolution prescribe and authorize any other housing au-
thority or authorities, so joining or cooperating with it, to act on its behalf
with respect to any or all of such powers. Any authorities joining or co-
operating with one another may by resolutions appoint from among the
commissioners of such authorities an executive committee with full power
to act on behalf of such authorities with respect to any or all of their pow-
ers, as prescribed by resolutions of such authorities.

Section 4-0. Agreement to Sell as Security for Obligations to Fed-
eral Government. In any contract or amendatory or superseding con-
tract for a loan and annual contributions heretofore or hereafter entered
into between a housing authority (including any housing authority estab-
lished pursuant to any of the provisions of sections four-a to four-o of this
act) and the Federal Government with respect to any housing project
undertaken by said housing authority, any such housing authority is au-
thorized to make such covenants (including covenants with holders of ob-
ligations of said authority issued for purposes of the project involved),
and to confer upon the Federal Government such rights and remedies, as
said housing authority deems necessary to assure the fulfillment of the
purposes for which the project was undertaken. In any such contract, the
housing authority may, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, agree
to sell and convey the project (including all lands appertaining thereto)
to which such contract relates to the Federal Government upon the oc-
currence of such conditions, or upon such defaults on obligations for
which any of the annual contributions provided in said contract are
pledged, as may be prescribed in such contract, and at a price (which may
include the assumption by the Federal Government of the payment, when
due, of the principal of and interest on outstanding obligations of the
housing authority issued for purposes of the project involved) deter-
mined as prescribed therein and upon such other terms and conditions as
are therein provided. Any such housing authority is hereby authorized to
enter into such supplementary contracts, and to execute such convey-
ances, aS may be necessary to carry out the provisions hereof. Notwith-
standing any other provisions of law, any contracts or supplementary con-
tracts or conveyances made or executed pursuant to the provisions of this
paragraph shall not be or constitute a mortgage within the meaning or
for the purposes of any of the laws of this State.

2. Be it further enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That
notwithstanding any other evidence of legislative intent, it is hereby de-
clared to be the controlling legislative intent that if any ‘provision of this
act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held in-
valid, the remainder of the act and the application of such provision to per-
sons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall
not be affected thereby.

3. Beit further enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That
insofar as the provisions of this act are inconsistent with the provisions of
any other law, the provisions of this act shall be controlling. The powers
cus. 224, 225] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 327

conferred by this act shall be in addition and supplemental to the powers
conferred by any other law.

4. Be it further enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That
an emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its passage.