Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 60 Part 1.djvu/1093

 PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 964-AUG. 14, 1946 Infra. Claims of $100 or less. Claims of $10 or less. Report to Congress. Collection of claims, etc. Rules, etc. approved applicants under agreements assuming that portion of their outstanding indebtedness to the Secretary which is equal to the earning capacity value of the farm at the time of the trans- fer, and borrowers whose farms have been acquired by the Sec- retary, in cases where the county committees certify and the Secretary determines that the borrowers have cooperated in good faith with the Secretary, have farmed in a workmanlike manner, used due diligence to maintain the security against loss, and other- wise fulfilled the covenants incident to their loans, to the best of their abilities; "(C) No compromise or adjustment shall be made upon terms more favorable than recommended by the appropriate County Committee established pursuant to section 42 of this Act; "(3) Any claim of $100 or less, which has been due and payable for three years or more, and where the debtor has no assets from which the claim could be collected or is deceased and has left no estate, or has been absent from his last known address for a period of at least two years and his whereabouts cannot be ascertained without undue expense, may be charged off or released by the Secretary upon a report and favorable recommendation of the employee of the Administra- tion having charge of the claim: Provided, That claims of $10 or less may be canceled and released whenever it appears to the Secretary that further collection efforts would be ineffectual or likely to prove uneconomical; and "(4) At the end of each fiscal year the Secretary shall report to Congress the names of all persons against whom claims in excess of $1,000 have been compromised, the address of such person, the nature of the claim, the amount of the compromise, and the reason therefor. "(h) Collect all claims and obligations arising or administered under this Act, or under any mortgage, lease, contract, or agreement entered into or administered pursuant to this Act and, if in his judg- ment necessary and advisable, pursue the same to final collection in any court having jurisdiction. All legal work arising out of such claims and obligations, including, but not limited to, the prosecution and defense of all litigation, is authorized to be performed, as determined by the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture, through the Department of Justice, by attorneys of the Office of the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture, or by local counsel approved by the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture, whose fees, upon approval by the Solicitor, shall be paid by the Secretary;and a(i) Make such rules and regulations and such delegations of authority as he deems necessary to carry out this Act. " COUNTY COMMITTEES "SEC. 42. (a) The Secretary is authorized and directed to appoint in each county in which activities are carried on under this Act a county committee composed of three individuals residing in the county, at least two of whom shall be farmers residing on a farm and deriving Terms of offea the principal part of their income from farming. In making the first appointments pursuant to the amendments made by Farmers' Home Administration Act of 1946, the Secretary shall designate one mem- ber of each committee to serve for a period of one year, one member to serve for a period of two years, and one member to serve for a period of three years. All subsequent appointments shall be for a ltenate three-year period. The Secretary may appoint an alternate for each member of each committee who shall have the same qualifications and be appointed for the same term as such member. The members of 1066 [60 STAT.

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