A notice from USDA Rural Development explains how new mortgage disclosure requirements apply to self-help grantees who are packaging loans for people participating in USDA-financed self-help housing programs.
According to new research from USA Today the nation’s progress against cancer has left behind poor, minority and rural residents. The article includes state-by-state statistics on health and preventative care and stories of individual hardship.
Nonprofit Quarterly continues its coverage of the impacts of USDA Rural Housing Service’s current Rental Assistance shortfalls. The story examines an ongoing situation in Kitsap, Washington as it reflects on a national problem.
The HUD Info Exchange blog recently examined how HUD’s approach to ending chronic homelessness, while increasingly effective in urban areas, presents several challenges for rural communities that make it harder to address rural homelessness.
As of August 2015 the majority of rural counties have gained jobs compared to the same period last year. But energy-producing regions like the eastern coalfields and northern Great Plains have suffered. From The Daily Yonder.
HAC is hosting a two track training in Charleston, SC on November 19-20. Sharpening Your Skills: Financial Management for Rural Nonprofits will offer a general introduction to financial management for nonprofit organizations. Participants of Utilizing the LIHTC Pro-gram: Creating and Preserving Affordable Housing will obtain a basic understanding of the fundamentals of LIHTC.
by Keith Wiley
The number of rural loan applications fell last year because of a big decline in refinancing. But loan applications for home purchases grew by nearly 7 percent, even higher than the national increase. Also on the rise in rural areas were higher-interest loans, which are especially common for manufactured housing purchases.
Read the Complete blog post at The Daily Yonder
by Keith Wiley
The number of rural loan applications fell last year because of a big decline in refinancing. But loan applications for home purchases grew by nearly 7 percent, even higher than the national increase. Also on the rise in rural areas were higher-interest loans, which are especially common for manufactured housing purchases.
Recently released data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) signals a changing home finance market across the nation and rural America too. The 2015 HMDA figures, which reflect calendar year 2014 mortgage lending applications, show a substantial nationwide decline in overall mortgage activity. In fact, the total number of HMDA reported loan records in 2014 was the lowest level in the past 17 years.
An article in The Daily Yonder “Rural and Homeless: ‘I Had No Place to Go’”, describes the work of the Corner Haven Crisis Center in addressing rural homelessness in Eastern Kentucky. Statistics on national rural homelessness rates are included in the piece.
USDA is leading a cross-agency effort to combat child poverty in rural areas with the Administration’s “Rural Impact” effort. Ten rural and tribal communities from across the country will participate in the demonstration program.
New protections for farmworkers applying pesticides are provided in an EPA rule released September 19. It enhances requirements for training, protective equipment, and more. It also requires workers applying pesticides to be 18 or over.