The Foundation shall be deemed to be a corporation without members organized and established under the provisions of the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act, with all the rights, powers, and responsibilities thereof except as limited by this section and any amendments thereto. This section shall constitute the articles of incorporation and charter of the Foundation, which shall not be an agency or instrumentality of the United States Government. The Congress expressly reserves the exclusive right to alter or amend this charter. The Foundation shall have succession until dissolved by Act of Congress. The Foundation shall maintain its principal office in the District of Columbia.

No part of the net earnings of the Foundation shall inure to the benefit of any private person, and no substantial part of its activities shall be devoted to attempting to influence legislation. The Foundation shall not participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. The Foundation shall be operated and administered at all times as a charitable and educational foundation.

No employee or officer of the Foundation shall receive compensation in excess of that received by or hereafter prescribed by law for heads of executive departments.

The Foundation shall make maximum use of existing public and private agencies and programs, and in carrying out its functions the Foundation is authorized to contract with individuals, private corporations, organizations, and associations, and with agencies of the Federal, State, and local governments.

The Foundation is authorized to receive donations and grants from individuals and from public and private organizations, foundations, and agencies.

The Foundation may use only donated funds, or funds derived from payment of interest on loans made by it, for the principal and interest payments on any borrowings.

The Foundation shall have a Board of Directors consisting of eighteen members, fifteen of whom shall be appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The other three members shall be, ex officio, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. The President shall appoint one of the fifteen appointed members to serve as Chairman of the Board during his term of office as a member.

Within thirty days after August 1, 1968, the President shall appoint the fifteen appointed members of the Board. Not more than five of such members shall, at the time of their appointment, be serving full time as officers or employees of the Federal Government, or as officers or employees of any State or local government. Each appointed member of the Board shall hold office for a term of three years, except that (A) any member appointed to fill a vacancy prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and (B) the terms of the members first taking office shall expire, as designated by the President at the time of appointment, five at the end of the first year, five at the end of the second year, and five at the end of the third year after the date of appointment. Members of the Board, however appointed, shall be eligible for reappointment, but at no time shall there be more than five members of the Board who at the time of their appointment or reappointment were full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government or of any State or local government.

Appointed members of the Board who are not employees of the Federal Government, while attending meetings or conferences of the Board or otherwise serving on business of the Board, shall be entitled to receive compensation at rates fixed by the President, but not exceeding $100 per day, including travel time, and while so serving away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5 for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.

The Board shall appoint an Executive Director of the Foundation. The Executive Director shall be the chief executive officer of the Foundation and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board, and all other executive officers and employees of the Board shall be responsible to him. The Board shall also cause to be appointed a secretary, a treasurer, and such other officers as may be necessary to conduct properly the business of the Foundation, and shall provide for filling vacancies in such offices.

The Board shall adopt bylaws for the Foundation which shall be made available for public inspection upon request.

The Foundation may, if it deems it appropriate, charge a reasonable fee for any assistance or service provided under this subsection.

In order to be eligible for a grant or loan under this subsection, the organization seeking such assistance shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Foundation that the funds requested are not otherwise available from Federal sources: Provided, That a grant or loan under this subsection may be provided to help cover that portion of the cost of an eligible activity not covered by Federal funds.

The Foundation shall encourage cooperation between public and private organizations carrying out programs of homeownership and housing opportunity for lower income families and the neighborhoods and communities affected by such programs. To help assure such cooperation and in order to coordinate, to the maximum extent feasible, any construction or rehabilitation activities with the development goals of the neighborhood or community affected, no application for a loan or grant under this subsection shall be considered unless such application has been submitted to the governing body of the community affected, or to such other entity of local government as may be designated by the governing body, for such recommendations as the local governing body or its designee may desire to make. Any recommendations so made shall be given careful consideration by the Foundation before taking final action on any such application. If, upon the expiration of thirty days after any such application has been submitted to such governing body or its designee, such body or designee fails to provide such recommendations, the application may be considered without the benefit of such recommendations.

Not later than one hundred and twenty days after the close of each fiscal year, the Foundation shall prepare and submit to the President and to the Congress a full report of its activities during such year. Such report shall include an account of the Foundation’s experiences with the efforts of private and public organizations to expand homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families, together with such recommendations as it deems appropriate.

Whenever in its judgement the general unavailability of mortgage funds is sufficiently serious to deter the Foundation from carrying out its objective of expanding homeownership and housing opportunities for lower income families, the Foundation shall, in its annual report or in a separate report to the President and the Congress, state its findings and make such recommendations for alternate means of financing housing for such families as it deems appropriate.

The financial transactions of the Foundation shall be audited by the Government Accountability Office in accordance with the principles and procedures applicable to commercial corporate transactions and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The representatives of the Government Accountability Office shall have access to all books, accounts, financial rec­ords, reports, files, and all other papers, things, or property belonging to or in use by the Foundation and necessary to facilitate the audit, and they shall be afforded full facilities for verifying transactions with the balances or securities held by depositories, fiscal agents, and custodians. The audit shall cover the fiscal year corresponding to that of the United States Government.

A report of each such audit shall be made by the Comptroller General to the Congress not later than six and one-half months following the close of the last year covered by such audit. The report shall set forth the scope of the audit and shall include a statement of assets and liabilities, capital, and surplus or deficit; a statement of sources and application of funds; and such comments and information as may be deemed necessary to keep the Congress informed of the operations and financial condition of the Foundation, together with such recommendations with respect thereto as the Comptroller General may deem advisable. The report shall also show specifically any program, expenditure, or other financial transaction or undertaking, observed in the course of the audit, which, in the opinion of the Comptroller General, has been carried on or made without authority of law. A copy of each report shall be furnished to the President and to the Foundation at the time submitted to the Congress.