Economic Stimulus Legislation Enacted

Housing Included

Section 502, NSP, Other Housing Funds Included in Final Stimulus Bill. February 17, 2009. President Barack Obama signed into Law H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009, as passed by the Congress on February 13. The final bill would fund $1 billion in direct Section 502 loans and $10.472 billion in Section 502 guaranteed loans, as well as numerous HUD programs and rural community facilities, business, and water/wastewater programs. Details are in the table below.

The final bill requires that at least 10 percent of the spending for each of the RD community facilities, business, and water/waste programs in the bill must be allocated to persistent poverty counties. These are defined as counties with poverty rates of 20 percent or more in the 1980, 1990, and 2000 decennial censuses. (This does not apply to Sec. 502 funding.)

• List of persistent poverty counties (PDF)

Updated February 19.

Program	H.R. 1 Final version
USDA Sec. 502 direct	$1 billion
USDA Sec. 502 guaranteed	$10.472 billion
HUD HOME	$2.25 billion
HUD CDBG	$1 billion
HUD Native Amer. Block Grants	$510 million
HUD Public Hsg. Capital Fund	$4 billion
HUD Neighbrhd Stablztn Prog.	$2 billion
HUD Emergency Shelter Grants Prog.	$1.5 billion
HUD Lead Hazard Reduction	$100 million
HUD SHOP	0
Energy refrofits for HUD-assisted rental housing	$250 million
USDA Rural Cmnty. Facilities	$1.171 billion loans $63 million grants
USDA Rural Water and Waste Loans and Grants	$2.82 billion loans $968 million grants
USDA Rural Business Loans and Grants	$2.99 billion loans $20 million grants

Senate Reaches Possible Agreement on Recovery Bill, May Vote February 10. February 9, 2009. After several days of debate and hundreds of amendments, the Senate is reportedly close to approving its version of the economic recovery and revitalization bill. The bill, called the Collins-Nelson Amendment to H.R. 1, and a summary of it, are available at the Senate Appropriations Committee website. After the Senate passes a bill, a House-Senate conference committee will need to work out the differences between the Senate’s bill and the House version of H.R. 1 (which is now available at https://thomas.loc.gov).

At midday on Monday, February 9, the Senate bill funds several rural housing and development programs, but at lower levels than the House provided. Like the House bill, it does not include funds for the National Housing Trust Fund; unlike the House bill, it also provides nothing for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The following table summarizes the differences between the House and Senate bills regarding assisted housing spending.

Program	H.R. 1 passed by House 1/28/09	Collins-Nelson Amdt. in Senate 2/9/09
USDA Sec. 502 direct	$4 billion	$1 billion
USDA Sec. 502 guaranteed	$18 billion	$10.5 billion
HUD HOME	$1.5 billion	$2.25 billion*
HUD CDBG	$1 billion	0
HUD Native Amer. Block Grants	$500 million	$510 million
HUD Public Hsg. Capital Fund	$5 billion	$5 billion
HUD Neighbrhd Stablztn Prog.	$4.19 billion	0
HUD Emergency Shelter Grants Prog.	$1.5 billion	$1.5 billion
HUD Lead Hazard Reduction	$100 million	$100 million
HUD SHOP	$10 million	0
HUD Proj.-Based Section 8**	$2.5 billion	$2.25 billion
USDA Rural Broadband	$6 billion	$3.3 billion
USDA Rural Cmnty. Facilities	$1.2 billion	***
USDA Rural Water and Waste Loans and Grants	$3.8 billion	$3.8 billion
USDA Rural Business Loans and Grants	$2 billion	$3 billion
Homebuyer tax credit	0	$35 billion

* $2 billion of the Senate’s $2.25 billion would be used to fill gaps in Low Income Housing Tax Credit financing.
**The House bill allocates part of its Section 8 funds for energy-efficient retrofits of HUD-funded rental housing. The Senate bill has no provision for energy retrofits.
***The House bill provides $200 million in actual government spending to support a program level of $1.2 billion. The Senate bill probvides $127 million in spending but does not indicate the expected program level.

A more detailed table is available on the National Housing Conference’s Open House blog.

Senate Committee Approves Recovery Bill, House Passes Different Version. January 29, 2009. The full House of Representatives passed H.R. 1 on January 28 and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a different measure, S. 336, on January 27. The Senate committee’s bill, report, and press release are available on the committee’s website, and the House bill is posted at https://thomas.loc.gov (search by bill number).

Like the House bill (summarized below), S. 336 would provide funds for a variety of rural housing and economic development programs. It would fund the Section 502 direct and guaranteed programs at lower levels than the House: $200 million in budget authority (actual federal spending) to support $1 billion in direct loans and $10.5 billion in guaranteed loans for a total of about 105,000 units.

Senators Introduce Rural Revitalization Act of 2009. January 26, 2009. Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) have introduced S. 323, the Rural Revitalization Act of 2009, which would fund a number of rural programs, including the Section 502 direct and guaranteed loan programs. Like H.R. 1, it would provides $4 billion for direct loans and $18 billion in unsubsidized guaranteed loans. The full text of S. 323 is available here.

Full Text of H.R. 1, House Appropriations Committee Bill, Available. January 26, 2009. The House Appropriations Committee’s economic recovery bill (summarized below) has been numbered H.R. 1 and is available on the Committee’s website.

Senate Committee Releases Highlights of its Proposal. January 23, 2009. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up a proposed bill on January 27. The proposed appropriations bill, along with tax cuts and new spending proposed by the Senate Finance Committee, totals $825 billion, according to the Appropriations Committee’s press release listing highlights of its bill. The text of the bill is not yet available. The summary includes a number of housing-related items (and there may be others in the bill itself):

• $2.25 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program block grant to enable state and local governments, in partnership with community-based organizations, to acquire, construct, and rehabilitate affordable housing and provide rental assistance to poor families.
• $5 billion to the public housing capital fund to enable local public housing agencies to address a $32 billion backlog in capital needs – especially those improving energy efficiency in aging developments.
• $2.1 billion for full-year payments to owners receiving Section 8 project-based rental assistance.
• Neighborhood Stabilization Program – The bill includes $2.25 billion for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes.
• Homeless Prevention Fund – The bill includes $1.5 billion for homeless prevention activities, which will be sent out to states, cities and local governments through the emergency shelter grant formula.
• $1.4 billion to support $3.8 billion in loans and grants for needed water and waste disposal facilities in rural areas.
• Community Development Financial Institutions: $250 million to immediately provide capital to qualified community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to invest in the development of underserved communities.
• Homeowners Assistance Program: $410 million to expand the Department of Defense Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) during the national mortgage crisis.

House Working on Bill. January 23, 2009. The House may vote during the week of January 26 on its proposed $825 billion, two-year economic stimulus package. The bill, approved by the House Appropriations Committee and now under review by several other committees, is described below.

Rural Housing Included in House Bill. January 15, 2009. Rural housing may get a big boost in an $825 billion, two-year economic stimulus package unveiled on January 15 by the House Appropriations Committee. The draft bill includes funds for both HUD and USDA housing programs, plus support for other USDA Rural Development initiatives. Not included in the bill are the National Housing Trust Fund, Section 8, rural rental programs, and some other housing programs that had been sought by advocates.

Included are:

• $500 million to support $22 billion in USDA Section 502 direct and guaranteed rural single-family loans. (This could mean $4 billion in direct and $18 billion in guaranteed loans, a huge increase over recent annual levels.)
• $1.5 billion in HOME funds to help local communities build and rehabilitate low-income housing using green technologies.
• $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants targeted to housing and services.
• $500 million in Native American Housing Block Grants to rehabilitate and improve energy efficiency for units in Native American housing programs.
• $5 billion in the Public Housing Capital Fund for building repair and modernization, including critical safety repairs.
• $4.2 billion in the new Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties.
• $1.5 billion for the HUD Emergency Shelter Grant program to provide short term rental assistance, housing relocation, and stabilization services for families.
• $100 million for competitive grants to local governments and nonprofits to remove lead-based paint hazards in low-income housing.
• $2.5 billion for a new competitive program for energy-efficient housing retrofits — to upgrade HUD sponsored low-income housing to increase energy efficiency with new insulation, windows, and furnaces.
• $6 billion to expand broadband internet access to rural and other underserved areas.
• $200 million in the USDA Rural Community Facilities program to support $1.2 billion in grants and loans for such critical community facilities as healthcare, education, fire and rescue, day care, community centers, and libraries.
• $1.5 billion in USDA rural water and waste funds to support $3.8 billion in grants and loans to help communities fund water and wastewater systems.
• $100 million for USDA rural business grants and loans to guarantee $2 billion in loans for rural businesses.

The House Approprations Committee is expected to consider the bill the week of January 19. Congress hopes to send a final bill to President Obama by mid-February.

The House Appropriations Committee’s website provides the full text of the bill, an explanatory report, and a summary.

HAC’s recommendations for rural housing funding in the economic recovery package are available here.

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Posted: January 16, 2009
Last updated: February 13, 2009

President Signs H.R. 2786, Reauthorizing the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act

Update October 17, 2008: On October 14, President Bush signed the NAHASDA reauthorization act into law. Read the National American Indian Housing Council’s press release and other materials here.

On September 25 and 27, the Senate and House approved a compromise version of H.R. 2786, reauthorizing the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) through 2013, with important amendments. Originally enacted in 1996, NAHASDA consolidated several federal housing programs into a single, formula-based block grant program. Built on the solid foundation of Indian self-determination law and policy, NAHASDA recognizes tribes’ authority to provide housing and related infrastructure to their members in a way that maximizes tribal decisionmaking and flexibility in meeting their housing goals.

The reauthorization of NAHASDA comes after years of hard work by tribes, Alaska Native villages, tribal housing authorities, and the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), among others. The bill was sent to the President on October 3, and he is expected to sign it into law by the October 15 deadline.

Important provisions include the following.

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Posted: October 10, 2008
Last updated: October 17, 2008

Information on HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Additional Information and Links

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HUD’S NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION PROGRAM

Update November 20, 2008. All NSP plans should now be available online for comment; some comment periods may have closed. Jurisdictions receiving NSP funds must submit their plans to HUD by December 1. Key links for current information are:

• Links to plans proposed by states and entitlement jurisdictions receiving NSP funds
• HUD’s list of contact people in every state and jurisdiction receiving these funds (these are the entities responsible for distributing funds to the local level)
• Links to data for CDBG jurisdictions or for zip codes (note that states may be using different figures to allocate funds)
• HUD’s NSP site

October 15, 2008.The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 created a new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), making $3.92 billion available through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to help state and local governments purchase, renovate, and resell foreclosed properties. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has identified about 300 states and CDBG entitlement communities that can apply by December 1 for allocations of NSP funds.

Rural governments and nonprofits should have opportunities to influence the use of these funds, and/or to be designated subrecipients, through states and some metropolitan area governments. The sub-state allocation process will not necessarily be the same as CDBG’s. Each state will decide how to distribute its funds, or — an option not available in the CDBG program — whether to use the funds itself. The legislation requires states and local governments to allocate funds to places with the greatest needs, including those with the highest percentages of foreclosures and subprime loans.

HAC is offering to collect questions and comments on the regulations, particularly as they relate to rural areas, and will provide the information to HUD. Please send questions or comments to Leslie Strauss at HAC, leslie@ruralhome.org or 202-842-8600 ext. 141.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND LINKS

• HUD’s notice including NSP regulations and allocations to states and entitlement communities
• HAC’s brief summary of NSP
• HUD’s NSP website
• NeighborWorks® America’s information on neighborhood stabilization
• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia recommendations for governments designing NSP plans
• HUD’s presentations and handouts about NSP from October 7-8 Housing Summit
• HAC’s August letter to HUD regarding the need to ensure rural areas receive a fair share of the funds
• HAC’s page on the housing crisis

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Posted: October 15, 2008
Updated: November 20, 2008

If you have problems accessing any of the material on this page, or if you would like to suggest additional information to include, contact Leslie Strauss at HAC, leslie@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

USDA RD Funds Available, FY 2008

Update September 24, 2008. USDA RD has announced recipients of 2008 funds under the Rural Community Development Initiative and Housing Preservation Grant programs.

Update August 19, 2008. The NOFA for RD’s Preservation Revolving Loan Fund, which makes loans to intermediaries who then re-loan the funds to owners or purchasers of USDA-financed rental housing, was issued on August 19. This year for the first time the funds can be used for preservation of Section 514/516 farmworker housing as well as for Section 515 multifamily rental housing. Applications are due October 20.

Update July 31, 2008. USDA transfers funds to Section 502 guarantees. USDA has shifted $13 million in FY 2008 budget authority (more than $20 million in program funds) from Sections 502 direct, 514/516, 504/533, and processing workers housing to generate over $1.2 billion for Section 502 guarantees. Reps. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) and Lincoln Davis (D-TN) are leading an effort in the House to restore the funds in a supplemental appropriations bill.

Update July 21, 2008. RD published an amendment to its April 21Federal Register notice on the Section 538 demonstration. Rather than requiring each applicant to have received its program obligation at least one week before the deadline for its application, RD is making all applicants with obligations during FY 2008 eligible. This seems to mean that an applicant receiving its obligation on September 29 could apply on September 29 for the final round of the demo (if funds were still available).

Update April 30, 2008. RD published a notice in the April 30 Federal Register correcting the percentages of funds for the Section 502 direct and 504 programs that are available for each quarter of FY 2008.

Update April 21, 2008. As it did in 2007, RD is implementing a demonstration program for Section 538 loan guarantees that cover both construction and permanent financing. RD’s announcement in the April 21 Federal Register explains the process for Section 538 applicants to request these continuous guarantees. Those who received Section 538 obligations between October 1, 2007 and April 4, 2008 can make a request by April 25. The request deadlines for later rounds are July 11 and September 29.

Update March 28, 2008. The annual “1940-L” notice for FY 2008 regarding allocation of funds for most of USDA’s rural housing programs was published in today’s Federal Register. Deadlines (if any) and links are provided in the table below.

Update March 24, 2008. The NOFA for USDA RD’s Section 542 Voucher Program was published in today’s Federal Register. USDA has $5 million available to provide vouchers for low-income tenants in Section 515 properties whose loans are prepaid or foreclosed after September 30, 2005. A voucher can be used at the prepaid property or anywhere else in the country, provided that the landlord is willing to accept the voucher and the unit passes an RD health inspection. A voucher is for one year, with a three year limit on voucher assistance to each tenant or family. USDA will follow Section 8 regs and administrative guidance as much as possible.

Update March 12, 2008. Today’s Federal Register contains funding announcements for Section 515 new construction, Section 514/516 off-farm new construction, and the Multi-Family Housing Preservation Demonstration Program (MPR). This year for the first time MPR funds are available for Section 514/516 developments as well as Section 515. A minor correction to the Section 533 Housing Preservation Grant funding notice was also published on March 12, providing accurate contact information for the Rural Development State Office in Oregon.

USDA Rural Development funding notices published to date are summarized in the table below, and new notices will be added as they are issued.

Links to funding notices for business and utilities programs are available on USDA RD’s website, here.

Program, Link, and Publication Date	Deadline	Eligible Applicants	Contact
Sec. 502 single-fam. direct (March 28 and correction April 30)	Rolling	Low- and very low-income homebuyers	RD local offices
Sec. 502 single-fam. guaranteed (March 28)	Rolling	Low- and very low-income homebuyers	RD local offices
Sec. 504 repair loans (March 28 and correction April 30)	Rolling	Very low-income homeowners	RD local offices
Sec. 504 repair grants (March 28)	Rolling	Very low-income homeowners age 62 or older	RD local offices
Sec. 515 new constr. (March 12)	May 12	Nonprofits, for-profits, indivs., prtnrshps., pub. agencies, etc.	RD state offices
Multifamily revitaliz. demo (MPR) (March 12)	May 12	Owners or purchasers of Sec. 515 or Sec. 514/516 (off-farm) rental property	Sherry Engel, 715-345-7677
Preserv. Revolving Loan Fund (Aug. 19)	Oct. 20	Nonprofits, nonprofits’ loan funds, state or local hsg. finance agencies	Henry Searcy, Jr., 202-720-1753 or Bonnie Edwards-Jackson, 202-690-0759
Sec. 514 farm labor loans (off-farm) (March 12)	May 12	Nonprofits, pub. agencies, tribes, prtnrshps w/ nonprofit GP *	RD state offices
Sec. 516 farm labor grants (off-farm) (March 12)	May 12	Nonprofits, pub. agencies, frmwrkr ass’ns, tribes	RD state offices
Farmworker housing disaster and emerg. funds (Feb. 4)	April 4	Nonprofits and public agencies	RD local offices or Henry Searcy, 202-720-1753
Farmworker housing technical assistance (Feb. 4)	March 14	Public and private nonprofits	Sue M. Harris-Green, 202-720-1604
Sec. 523 self-help tech. assistance (March 28)		Nonprofits, public agencies with existing Sec. 523 TA contracts (no new applications accepted in FY 2008)	Technical & Management Assistance Contractors Information about partial funding of self-help TA grants in FY 2008 is available here
Sec. 523/524 site loans (March 28)	Rolling	Nonprofits, public agencies, tribes	RD local offices
Sec. 306C water/waste (March 28)	Rolling	Nonprofits, public agencies, tribes in Ariz., Calif., N.M., and Texas	RD local offices
Sec. 525/509 packaging (March 28)	Rolling	States, state agencies, local gov’t, nonprofits	RD local offices
Sec. 533 Hsg. Preserv. Grants (Feb. 20 and correction March 12)	April 21	Nonprofits, state or local gov’t agencies, tribes	RD state offices
Sec. 538 guar. rental (Feb. 4)	April 25, then rolling while funds available	Approved lenders	RD state offices
Sec. 538 guar. demo (April 21)	April 25, July 11, Sept. 29	Approved lenders	RD state offices
Sec. 542 vouchers (March 24)	Rolling	Tenants in Sec. 515 properties w/ prepaid or foreclosed mortgages	RD offices or Stephanie B.M. White, 202-720-1615
Rural Community Devel. Init. (RCDI) (Feb. 4)	May 5	Nonprofit and public intermediaries, tribes	RD state offices
Household Water Well Systems Grants (Jan. 28)	May 31	Nonprofits	Cheryl Francis, 202-720-1937

* HAC stated incorrectly in the HAC News of March 12, 2008 and on this page that farmers were eligible for Section 514 loans for off-farm housing. Farmers are eligible for Section 514 loans for on-farm housing only, and may apply at any time. Contact an RD state office for more details. HAC apologizes for any confusion.

Posted: Feb. 20, 2008
Last updated:April 30, 2008

Help Develop a Rural Housing Platform

HAC is working with rural communities across the country to develop a Rural Housing Platform that is being shared with the incoming Obama Administration and Congress. As of January 2, 2009, HAC has developed one-page papers on 11 separate issues. The papers are available here in a single document that contains all 11, or in individual documents:

• All 11 Papers
• Sustained Economic Recovery
• Protection Against Foreclosure
• USDA Rural Development Mission and Structure
• Rural Housing Program Funding Levels
• Sustaining Local Rural Housing Organizations
• Vulnerable Populations
• Direct and Guaranteed Loans
• Rural Rental Housing
• Disaster Response and Recovery
• Rural Homelessness
• Water and Sanitation

Those who attended the HAC National Rural Housing Conference 2008 had the opportunity to discuss and to blog about the platform. Due to technological problems, HAC is not yet able to post the blog on its website. We invite you to email your comments to Leslie Strauss at HAC, leslie@ruralhome.org, and we will post them here so the discussion can continue.

Please help us by sending your comments and recommendations on three major issues impacting rural affordable housing development:

1. What measures need to be taken to ensure that USDA’s housing programs remain accessible to rural communities?
2. Given reduced philanthropic and government resources, what opportunities exist to help increase nonprofit sustainability?
3. How can vulnerable populations (e.g., homeless, Native American) be effectively served in the current economic environment?

Comments posted to date:

ACCESSING THE UNACESSIBLE
(The Failure of Rural America to Access the Grant Process)

At first glance it could be perceived that the opportunities for Rural America to receive grants are many and varied. From healthcare to housing to education to childcare to infrastructure to livestock to farm aide, you name it and it can not only be found but found in abundance. But the truth is that very few of these grants, in proportion to those that are offered, are accessed by Rural America. There are a lot of well held beliefs for this apathetic behavior toward free aide by Rural America. Some of them are that Rural America is distrustful of strangers; that they distrust the federal government; they like the way that they live and; they are resistant to change. For the record, I was born in Rural America in a share croppers’ shanty. Most of my family and friends live in Rural America and I can say with out a doubt that these are not the beliefs of poor Rural America. But it certainly can be and on most occasions are the beliefs of large property owners, local politicians and middle class and above residents in Rural America. Those who are fine with things just the way they are. This population, all though relatively small in numbers, represent most of the almost insurmountable resistance to the aide that Rural America so direly need. The rest of the resistance is caused by systemic measures that appear to be fair and reasonable to those who accept their advantages and opportunities as the norm for all.

There are four major obstacles to Rural America accessing grants and other opportunities available to them: (1) lack of knowledge; (2) lack of resources; (3) Inability to access resources and; (4) the lack of support from local politicians, agencies, banks and power brokers:

• Lack of Knowledge – Federal Agencies are quick to tell you that any grants and other opportunities that they have can be found on their web site. This is what they call freedom of information. But most people in Rural America do not have a computer and those that have one have limited skills in its application. There are no radio or television programs informing the community of what grants and/or opportunities are available for them, even though this would be the best way to get information to the Rural Community.
• Lack of Resources – Even if someone gains the information about a grant and/or opportunity available to their community, there is still the question of who will research and write the proposal. Rural America is not a haven for grant writers and/or program consultants.
• Inability to Access Resources – Grant writers in Rural America are generally employed by the Educational Systems, Healthcare Systems, County/Town and local Agencies. Seldom if ever will one of these entities donate the use of these persons for the general use of the community and if you seek their assistance outside their employment, they request their money in advance. The problem with this is that if the community had the money, they would not be seeking a grant.
• Lack of Support from Local Politicians, Agencies, Banks and Power Brokers – the refusal of local politicians, agencies, banks and power brokers to support something that they did not initiate, can not benefit from and/or control is the single greatest reason for the inability of Rural Communities to apply for and/or successfully complete Federally funded grants and other opportunities. If Rural America is fortunate enough to obtain a grant it is not unusual for them to either be unable to fulfill the requirements of the grant opportunity and/or fail to sustain it for more than three years. The unspoken rule is what the powers that be can not control they will destroy.

Lee Walter Jenkins
December 19, 2008

I think it is critical to find new ways to measure and describe housing problems in rural areas. For instance, in our state the data used to justify the distribution of Neighborhood Stabilization Program monies had little to say about rural areas. The data was unreliable if it existed at all. Other data sources, like RealtyTrac, favored urban areas by counting one foreclosure multiple times. Fast forward to December 2008 when the 3-year estimates were released from the census. In our county of over 80,000 the margin of error on even basic data like household income had a margin of error of 10-20% (although I don’t doubt those numbers will become more reliable in coming years.) If we are going to have anything to say about rural housing then we need new ways to measure and express need because we are at a huge disadvantage statistically when compared with urban areas.

Alan Trunnell’s comments (below) add a lot to the discussion – rural areas are where the greatest opportunities for creative thinking on affordable housing exist. We have discussed things like community land trusts, working with local farmers to put a small set of affordable housing on unused land (and give them an additional monthly income), and combining neighborhood housing redevelopment with small scale cottage industry. There is funding at the state level for more creative, outside-the-box initiatives like this but it is not nearly enough and rarely funds personnel. Federal support could play an important role here, at the very least it could help in providing seed monies that counties or nonprofits could then match.

Finally, it seems obvious to me that there should be some reward/incentive for providing comprehensive planning for the related areas of affordable housing, poverty, and homelessness. It is tough to distinguish where one of these issues ends and the other begins.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment, I think everyone here has had something to add to this discussion.
Tim Emmert
Moore County (NC) Community Development
December 18, 2008

In Arizona this administration has consolidated its offices into the metropolitan areas Phoenix, Green Valley (closer to Tucson), therefore there is no intake opportunities other than non-profit housing entities. We will need to build capacity of non-profit counseling agencies in rural areas, by increasing the 502 direct loan funding allocations, and go back to the 525 packing fees paid to non-profits for taking applications and counseling rural residents on their best mortgage options particularly the USDA loan programs.

Additionally, something has to be done in the form of acquisition of existing properties to allow for first-time rural residents to buy these homes, as opposed to investors purchasing them and then renting them or reselling them for higher prices. Other than subsequent 502 loans which of course many of these foreclosed properties are not financed through USDA. There is a glut of foreclosed properties in rural areas, and there aren’t the type of rural housing programs throughout rural Arizona that we once thought we had. What is going on is that the USDA Guarantee Program was increased and the expense of the 502 direct loan program, and we’ll be seeing more of these foreclosure as well, what then?
Thank You,
Frank J. Martinez
Community Equity
December 16, 2008

I am a housing counselor for Community Action Partnership in Lewiston Idaho. I am spending a considerable amount of time on foreclosure prevention counseling. I wish the new administration would greatly expand the USDA RD RHS 502 Home loan program so owners who can only afford subsidized payments would be able to refinance their current conventional loans into USDA loans. I wish they would also include urban areas. This would certainly prevent a lot of foreclosures. Many of the people I am working with have lost jobs or become disabled — including seniors who do not have the equity for reverse mortgages.
Barbara
December 10, 2008

As the Executive Director of non-profits located in southern West Virginia, I want to speak to serving vulnerable populations. I know without the assistance of non-profits in our area there would be little housing development. Private developers cannot overcome the issues of lack of infrastructure and low appraisal values for housing in our poverty stricken area. The need to support the capacity building of non-profit organizations is a way to serve vulnerable populations.
Sharon Walden, Executive Director of SAFE
McDowell County, WV
December 3, 2008

As the only founding director of HAC, I am extremely proud of the job the HAC staff has done with this conference and with its mission over the years. We started with about three million dollars and no staff with knowledge of rual housing. Now our assets are about go million dollars and we have assisted poor people in building anout 60 million self help housing. WE have been doing subprime lending for almost 40 years without major defaults. CongraduLATIONS HAC. I may not get there with you but I know you will worl your self out of A MISSION.
December 3, 2008

I think we should urge the new administration to think outside of the traditional silos in which federal programs normally operate. For example, lack of public infrastructure is one of the major challenges in developing affordable housing in rural areas. If communities applying for federal infrastructure funding were given financial incentives to direct those funds to affordable housing developments that would make an enormous difference. Climate change legislation might offer some possibilities such as directing money from the sale of carbon credits to energy efficiency improvements and even alternative energy in affordable housing.
Polly Nichol
December 4, 2008

I wonder how well we approach rural community viability. I have some concerns that while we strive to provide affordable rural housing are we considering rural community sustainability;job creation, telecommunications, small farms, coops, and maybe outside the box enterprise that supports the growth of the rural village. thanks for allowing me to comment,
Alan Trunnell
December 4, 2008

I would like for the new administration to consider revising the program’s implementation policies/regulations ..most of the times the people that creates the regulations for the programs are so unaware of the issues because they are no longer relate to the poor..and the results are programs that nobody qualifies for..We need to consider the people that really works directly with the low income families in the process of developing the programs in order to successfully implement them.
San Juana Gonzales, Uvalde, Texas
December 4, 2008

1. Enact the Section 515 revitalization program;
2. Create a resident voucher program that protect residents and operates similar to the HUD enhanced voucher program.
3. Limit the guaranteed loan program and create mechanisms to protect borrowers against foreclosrue.
4. increase the RD staff and bring servicing back to the local offices.
December 4, 2008

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To add an entry, email your comment to Leslie Strauss at HAC, leslie@ruralhome.org, and it will be posted here.

The latest draft (January 2, 2009) of HAC’s “Affordable Rural Housing Issues and Recommendations” paper is available here.

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Posted: December 8, 2008
Last updated: January 2, 2009