The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents regular information and data on USDA’s rural housing loan and grant obligation activity.
| Agency | USDA RD RUS |
| Action | NOFA |
| Date | 12/14/18 |
| Link | https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/14/2018-27038/broadband-pilot-program |
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RUS is offering loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to finance provision of broadband infrastructure in underserved rural areas. The NOFA includes tentative deadlines and says they will be finalized by notices in the Federal Register and on grants.gov on Feb. 22, 2019. |
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| Agency | USDA RD RHS |
| Action | Proposed rule |
| Date | 12/17/18 |
| Link | https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/17/2018-27138/section-538-guaranteed-rural-rental-housing-program-notice-of-funding-availability-elimination |
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RD plans to stop publishing an annual NOFA for Section 538 multifamily loan guarantees and accept applications continuously. It will use the standards from the last NOFA, published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2017, and will announce any changes in the Federal Register. |
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| Agency | USDA RD RHS |
| Action | Information Collection Request |
| Date | 12/28/18 |
| Link | https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/28/2018-28226/information-collection-activity-comment-request |
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RHS is requesting comments on revising its collection of information from Section 502 direct borrowers to determine whether they are able to graduate to other credit. This notice does not say what revisions are proposed. |
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| Agency | USDA RD RHS |
| Action | Notice |
| Date | 2/7/19 |
| Link | https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/02/07/2019-01350/guaranteed-rural-rental-housing-low-loan-to-cost-ratio |
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USDA is increasing the low loan-to-cost ratio required for loans guaranteed under Option Three (Continuous Guarantee, i.e., a single guarantee for construction and permanent loans) of the Section 538 rental guarantee program. Previously the loan-to-cost ratio was required to be at least 50% for a loan to be eligible. As of Feb. 7, 2019 (the date this notice was published), the ratio must be at least 70%. |
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| Agency | USDA RD Rural Utilities Service |
| Action | NOFA |
| Date | 2/25/19 |
| Link | https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/02/25/2019-03163/broadband-pilot-program-reconnect-program |
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The NOFA for this program was published in the December 14, 2018, Federal Register Notice with tentative application deadlines. This notice establishes the final deadlines (three different dates because there are three funding categories): July 12, June 21, and May 31, 2019. Another notice will be published in March 2019 announcing the date when USDA will start accepting applications. |
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USDA’s yearly occupancy survey shows the total number of properties in USDA’s rural rental portfolio fell by 1.79 from September 2017 to September 2018, a decrease of 227 Section 515 properties and 24 farmworker housing properties, with a total of 4,820 units. The average annual income of Section 515 tenants is $13,112. For Section 515 tenants with Section 521 Rental Assistance, average annual income is $10,911.
USDA’s yearly occupancy survey shows the total number of properties in USDA’s rural rental portfolio fell by 1.94% from September 2016 to September 2017, a decrease of 278 properties consisting of 246 Section 515 properties and 32 Section 514 properties. This represents a loss of 5,035 apartment units or 1.17 percent. The average annual income of Section 515 residents has increased to $12,776. For Section 515 tenants with RA, average income is $10,658.
USDA Rural Development’s Administrative Notices (ANs) and Unnumbered Letters (ULs) provide very useful information for rural developers and advocates. However, USDA does not maintain an archive of notices after they are removed from the RD website. HAC maintains this archive as a reference.
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2018
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The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2018 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.
As of the end of September, USDA obligated 131,485 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $18.4 billion. This is about $2.2 million less than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 149,860 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $20.7 billion.
Single Family Housing Program Highlights
The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $16.8 billion (115,864 loan guarantees) down from $19.3 billion (134,071) at the same time last year.
For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been about $1.1 billion (7,199 loans), up from $999.99 million (7,187 loans) in loan obligations this time last year. Very low-income (VLI) loan obligations as a percentage of the total Section 502 Direct loan dollars was 32.8 percent, down from 38.1 percent this time last year.
The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 3,225 loans representing $19.8 million. There were fewer loans than this time last year (3,431 loans) but more dollars obligated ($19.6 million.) There were also $28.2 million (4,585 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $28.9 million (4,763 grants) at the same time last year.
USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 45 grants and contracts totaling $34.8 million less than this time last year at this time when funding totaled $36.6 million.
USDA has also funded 14 credit sales representing $1,591,104.
Multifamily Housing Program Highlights
USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 132 loan guarantees totaling $185.7 million, up from 106 loan guarantees ($177.0 million.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 35 loans totaling $42.6 million obligated compared to 31 loans totaling $35.0 million this time last year. There were also 186 MPR loans and 2 grants totaling $116.0 million and $251,260 respectively, compared to 33 loans ($26.8 million) and 3 grants ($102,561) this time last year.
USDA obligated funds for 268,514 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $1.35 billion. This compares to about 302,451 units ($1.37 billion) obligated same time last year. There were also 6,353 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $26.7 million compared to 5,609 vouchers representing $22.0 million this time last year.
In the Farm Labor Housing programs, 19 loans and 12 grants have been funded totaling $35.5 million and $17.2 million, respectively. Last year, there were 21 loans and 6 grants funded representing $34.9 million and $8.2 million.
There were also 143 Section 533 Housing Preservation grants totaling $10.8 million compared to 107 grants last year totaling $4.9 million.
Download the combined document.
* The Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligation reports are produced by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606, Washington, DC 20005. The monthly figures derive from HAC tabulations of USDA –RHS 205c, d, and f report data. For questions or comments about the obligation reports, please contact Michael Feinberg at 202-842-8600 or michael@ruralhome.org.
The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2018 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.
As of the end of August, USDA obligated 107,385 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $14.97 billion. This is about $1.73 billion less than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 121,655 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $16.71 billion.
Single Family Housing Program Highlights
The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $13.92 billion (95,949 loan guarantees) up from $15.71 billion (109,516) at the same time last year.
For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been over $822.2 million (5,426 loans), also down from $771.4 million (5,596 loans) in loan obligations this time last year. Very low-income (VLI) loan obligations as a percentage of the total Section 502 Direct loan dollars was 33.5 percent, down from 36.8 percent at the same time last year.
The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 2,386 loans representing $14.6 million. As in the other single family housing programs, loan volume was down from this time last year (2,605 loans representing $14.6 million.) There were also $21.1 million (3,428 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $22.8 million (3,774 grants) at the same time last year.
Obligations in the Mutual Self-Help program totaled 23 grants and contracts totaling $18 million compared to 26 grants and contracts totaling $20.3 million last year.
USDA has also funded 14 credit sales representing $1,591,104.
Multifamily Housing Program Highlights
USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 98 loan guarantees totaling $125.3 million, up from 71 loan guarantees ($121.6 million.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 16 loans totaling $19.6 million obligated compared to 10 loans totaling $10.5 million this time last year. There were also 15 MPR loans and 2 grants totaling $10.5 million and $251,260 respectively, compared to 30 loans ($21.4 million) and 2 grants ($53,220) this time last year.
In the Farm Labor Housing program, there were 6 loans ($8.5 million) and 4 grants ($7.9 million) compared to 7 loans ($10.7 million) and no grants at this time last year. One Housing Preservation Grant has been obligated ($21,417) versus none last year.
USDA obligated funds for 193,148 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $950.6 million. This compares to about 194,472 units ($1.093 billion) obligated same time last year. There were also 5,526 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $23.2 million compared to 5,011 vouchers representing $19.8 million this time last year.
There were no other obligations for Multi-Family Housing programs in November.
Download the combined document.
* The Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligation reports are produced by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606, Washington, DC 20005. The monthly figures derive from HAC tabulations of USDA –RHS 205c, d, and f report data. For questions or comments about the obligation reports, please contact Michael Feinberg at 202-842-8600 or michael@ruralhome.org.
