INTRODUCTION
The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It operates a broad range of programs that were formerly administered by the Farmers Home Administration to support affordable housing and community development in rural areas. The RHS National Office is located in Washington, D.C., and is responsible for setting policy, developing regulations, and performing oversight. RHS employs a central computerized collection and servicing system called DLOS. RHS loans are both direct (made and serviced by USDA staff) and guaranteed for mortgages extended by others. In the field RHS operations are carried out through the USDA’s Rural Development offices. Rural Development State Offices administer programs in a state or multistate area. The organization of Rural Development offices within a state varies, but typically Area or District Offices supervise Local Offices (also termed county or community development offices) and do the processing and servicing of organizational loans and grants. Local Offices process single family housing applications, assist District Offices with organizational applications and servicing, and provide counseling to applicant families and backup servicing as needed.
RURAL HOUSING PRESERVATION GRANTS (SECTION 533)
Purpose
The Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) program provides grants to sponsoring organizations for the repair or rehabilitation of low- and very low-income housing. The grants are competitive and are made available in areas where there is a concentration of need.
Eligibility
Those assisted must own very low- or low-income housing, either as homeowners, landlords, or members of a cooperative. Very low income is defined as below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI); low income is between 50 and 80 percent of AMI. Eligible sponsors include state agencies, units of local government, Native American tribes, and nonprofit organizations.
Terms
HPG funds received by the sponsors are combined with other programs or funds and used as loans, grants, or subsidies for recipient households based on a plan contained in the sponsor’s application. Funds must be used within a two-year period.
Standards
The property must meet locally accepted development standards or the voluntary model national standards recognized by RHS. The Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Historical Properties apply to historic properties receiving an RHS Housing Preservation Grant.
Variations
RHS regulations prohibit mixing owner-occupied preservation with that for rental or cooperative housing, although an organization may submit separate preapplications at the same time. The program may be used on rental properties when landlords agree to maintain the units for low-income use for a minimum of five years.
Approval
HPG requests are approved by the State Director.
Basic Instruction
Instruction 1944-N
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional information on Section 533 and RHS, contact the RHS National Office, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 5037S, Washington, DC 20250; 202-720-4323. Contact your Rural Development State Office to find out the location of the Local Office closest to you. (See the “State Offices” Information Sheet for the address and telephone number of your State Office or visit https://www.rurdev.usda.gov/recd_map.html.) To obtain copies of RHS regulations, contact your Rural Development State offices or write to Rural Development, FC-313, 1520 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. The regulations are also available on-line at https://rurdev.usda.gov/regs.
For a complete list of HAC’s publications, on RHS and other topics, click here and for a list of HAC Information Sheets, click here.
This Information Sheet was prepared by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC). The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding from the Ford Foundation and funding under Cooperative Agreement H-5925 CA with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and finding of that work are dedicated to the public. HAC is solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication and such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the government.
INTRODUCTION
The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It operates a broad range of programs that were formerly administered by the Farmers Home Administration to support affordable housing and community development in rural areas. The RHS National Office is located in Washington, D.C., and is responsible for setting policy, developing regulations, and performing oversight. RHS employs a central computerized collection and servicing system called DLOS. RHS loans are both direct (made and serviced by USDA staff) and guaranteed for mortgages extended by others. In the field RHS operations are carried out through the USDA’s Rural Development offices. Rural Development State Offices administer programs in a state or multistate area. The organization of Rural Development offices within a state varies, but typically Area or District Offices supervise Local Offices (also termed county or community development offices) and do the processing and servicing of organizational loans and grants. Local Offices process single family housing applications, assist District Offices with organizational applications and servicing, and provide counseling to applicant families and backup servicing as needed.
HOUSING APPLICATION PACKAGING GRANTS [SECTION 509(f)(6)]
Purpose
Section 509(f)(6) provides packaging grants to enable eligible organizations to help RHS make loans and grants in 523 counties and colonias in 26 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Western Pacific Territories. Designated counties have a minimum of 10 percent occupied substandard housing and a 20 percent poverty rate. Colonias are “identifiable communities” in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas that are within 150 miles of the U.S. Mexico border and that lack decent water and sewage systems and decent housing.
Eligibility
States, state agencies, units of local government, and private nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. RHS publishes an annual list of the eligible areas.
Terms
Eligible organizations must attend RHS training sessions annually and become certified or recertified as packagers.
Grant Amounts
Grant amounts vary by loan type as follows:
1. Single-family housing loans and grants (Section 502/504): $500
2. On-farm Section 514 farm labor housing loans: $500
3. Multifamily housing loans and grants (including 514/516):
|
Loan Amount |
Packaging Fee Calculation |
|
to $400,000 |
1.6 percent |
|
$400,000 – $800,000 |
add 1.2 percent |
|
$800,001 – $1,200,000 |
add 1.0 percent |
|
$1,200,001 – $1,600,000 |
add 0.7 percent |
|
$1,600,001 – $2,000,000 |
add 0.5 percent |
|
above $2,000,000 |
no additional amount |
4. Section 524 site loans: 1 percent of the loan amount
5. Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants: 2 percent of the grant amount
Reimbursement
The reimbursement schedule depends on loan type.
1. Single-family housing – payable when complete packaging requirements are met.
2. On-farm labor housing–payable when complete packaging requirements are met.
3. Section 515 and 514/516 multifamily housing–payable in three installments:
a. 25 percent at filing of complete preapplication
b. 20 percent at filing of complete application
c. Balance at loan approval from loan funds
4. Section 524–payable in two installments:
a. 30 percent after RHS review of preapplication
b. 70 percent upon completion of full docket
5. Section 533–payable in two installments:
a. 40 percent upon receipt of an AD-622 inviting a full application
b. 60 percent after grant closing
Other
State Directors will announce annually, via advertising, a request for packaging services for the applicable counties, including the number needed by program type. The same announcement will include a packaging training date. Announcements will be made some time between October 1 and December 31 each year.
Basic Instructions
Instruction 1944-B
Instruction 1940-L
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional information on Housing Application Packaging Grants and RHS, contact the RHS National Office, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 5037S, Washington, DC 20250; 202-720-4323. Contact your Rural Development State Office to find out the location of the Local Office closest to you. (To find your state office, visit https://www.rurdev.usda.gov/recd_map.html.) To obtain copies of RHS regulations, contact your Rural Development State offices or write to Rural Development, FC-313, 1520 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. The regulations are also available on-line at https://rurdev.usda.gov/regs.
For a complete list of HAC’s publications, on RHS and other topics, click here and for a list of HAC Information Sheets, click here.
This Information Sheet was prepared by the Housing Assistance Council. The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding from the Ford Foundation and funding under Cooperative Agreement H-5925 CA with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and finding of that work are dedicated to the public. The publisher is solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication and such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the government.
INTRODUCTION
HUD’s Housing Counseling program, authorized under Section 106 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, allows approved organizations to provide information, assistance and counseling to prospective homebuyers, homeowners, and tenants of federally-assisted and conventionally-mortgaged housing. There are approximately 750 HUD-approved counseling agencies across the United States.
PROGRAM BASICS
Purpose: This program provides grant funds to eligible, HUD-approved housing counseling agencies to counsel homebuyers, homeowners, and tenants under HUD programs and homeowners with conventional mortgages, Department of Veterans Affairs guaranteed loans, or Farmers Home Administration mortgages. Counseling–which consists of providing information and guidance related to purchase or rental, Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, money management, budgeting, and credit counseling — is provided to assure successful homeownership or tenancy and prevent delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, and other losses.
Eligibility: Agencies applying for a HUD housing counseling grant must first become HUD-approved counseling agencies. An applicant agency must be nonprofit (either public or private), such as a union, housing development corporation, legal service, or government agency.
Terms: Funding assistance is for a discrete period of time, usually one year. Grantees invoice HUD on a monthly basis for housing counseling services delivered during the previous month.
Comments: HUD-approved agencies compete for counseling funds. HUD announces the availability of funds through a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published annually in the Federal Register, usually in the first or second quarter of the federal fiscal year in which the funds are available. Application for funds is made through a Request for Grant Application (RFGA) available from the appropriate HUD office shortly after publication of the NOFA. Grantees are expected to find additional sources of counseling and operating funding as the HUD funds can only support limited activities. Counseling services are then provided by the agency free of charge, with emphasis on low- and moderate-income households. Generally, the most frequent service provided is mortgage default counseling, followed by rental delinquency and pre- and post-occupancy counseling.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional information contact the Director of Housing in HUD regional offices or the Chief of the Loan Management Branch in local HUD field offices or call HUD’s Single-Family Servicing Division, Secretary-Held and Counseling Services Branch in Washington, DC at (202) 708-3664.
January 2001
This Information Sheet was prepared by the Housing Assistance Council. The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding from the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and finding of that work are dedicated to the public. HAC is solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication and such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the government.