The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2021 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

As of the end of May, USDA obligated 94,334 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $16.2 billion, nearly $2.4 billion higher than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 88,196 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $13.9 billion.

Federal agencies operated under a series of short-term continuing resolutions (CR) for most of the first quarter of FY 2021. A final CR was signed into law on December 27, 2020 which provides funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. Since March 20, 2020, USDA offices have been operating from remote locations due to the COVID-19 virus.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated nearly $15.5 billion (87,519 loan guarantees) up from almost $13.0 (79,509 loan guarantees) this time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $605 million (3,281 loans), a bit less than last year’s obligation level of $629 million (3,681 loans.) Nearly 37 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented over 43 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 1,316 loans representing about $8 million. Loan volume was down from this time last year (1,722 loans representing $10.4 million.) About $13.7 million (2,119 grants) was obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to over $20 million (3,105 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 27 grants and contracts totaling $16.9 million, a bit less than last year’s 14 grants and contracts totaling over $20.5 million.

Multi-Family Housing Program Highlights

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing program obligated 51 loan guarantees totaling $135.7 million compared to last year’s 92 loan guarantees ($145.6 million.) No Section 515 Rural Rental Housing loans and no MPR loans or grants have been funded so far this year, similar to last year at this time.

No Farm Labor Housing loans or grants have been funded so far this year. Last year at this time, 13 loans and 5 grants were obligated ($19.7 million and $5.9 million, respectively.)

In the Section 521 Rental Assistance program, USDA obligated funds for 125,076 rental assistance units the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling nearly $740.0 million. This compares to about 135,675 units ($783.0 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 5,007 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $24.3 million compared to 5,368 vouchers representing $25.0 million this time last year.

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 2021 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

As of the end of February, USDA obligated 60,232 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $10,330,206,982. This is $2,134,121,531 higher than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 53,209 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $8,196,085,451.

Federal agencies operated under a series of short-term continuing resolutions (CR) for most of the first quarter of FY 2021. A final CR was signed into law on December 27, 2020 which provides funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. Since March 20, 2020, USDA offices have been operating from remote locations due to the COVID-19 virus.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $9,888,959,509 (56,221 loan guarantees) up from $7,721,657,308 ( 48,119 loan guarantees) this time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $356,827,444 (1,965 loans), similar to last year’s obligation level of $365,962,478 (2,157 loans.) About 38 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented over 44 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated  750 loans representing $4,369,687. Loan volume was up from this time last year (1,015 loans representing $6,193,027.) There were also about $7,942,283 (1,245 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $12,003,752 (1,869 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 6 grants and contracts totaling $3,710,175 up from last year’s 3 grants and contracts totaling $1,900,426.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing program obligated 35 loan guarantees totaling $68,356,333 compared to last year’s 29 loan guarantees ($60,715,592.) No Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program have been funded so far this year, similar to last year at this time. There have been 0 loans and 5 grants obligated in the MPR program totaling $0 and $251,778 this year compared to 0 loans and 3 grants representing $0 and $988,734, respectively last year.

No Farm Labor Housing loans or grants have been funded so far this year. Last year at this time, 9 loans and 5 grants were obligated ($18,630,577 and $5,853,855, respectively.)

USDA obligated funds for 38,592 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $219,583,640. This compares to about 83,226 units ($477,189,635) obligated same time last year. There were also 1,939 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $9,651,145 compared to2,340 vouchers representing $11,057,083 this time last year.

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 2021 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

As of the end of January, USDA obligated 47,476 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $8.1 billion, an increase of more than $3.1 billion over this time last year. At that time, there were 32,361 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling nearly $5 billion.

Federal agencies operated under a series of short-term continuing resolutions (CR) for most of the first quarter of FY 2021. A final CR was signed into law on December 27, 2020 which will provide funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. Since March 20, 2020, USDA offices have been operating from remote locations due to the COVID-19 virus.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated nearly $7.8 billion (44,318 loan guarantees) an increase of nearly $4.8 billion (29,808 loan guarantees) over this time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $292 million (1,623 loans), nearly double last year’s obligation level of $151 million (899 loans.) About 39 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented almost 45 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 587 loans representing $3.4 million similar to last year’s 586 loans representing nearly $3.5 million. Section 504 grants were a bit lower than last year at $5.7 million (916 grants) compared to $6.3 million (1,029 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 5 grants and contracts totaling nearly $3.5 million up from last year’s 2 grants and contracts totaling $1.9 million.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 20 loan guarantees totaling $64.6 million compared to last year’s 23 loan guarantees totaling nearly $34.1 million. No Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program have been funded so far this year, similar to last year at this time. No loans or grants have been obligated in the MPR program so far this year compared to 3 grants representing $988,734 last year.

So far this year, there have been no Farm Labor Housing loans or grants funded. Last year at this time, 7 loans and 4 grants were obligated ($12. 6 million and $3.9 million, respectively.)

USDA obligated funds for 38,592 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $219.6 million, less than last year’s 46,336 units ($272.9 million) obligated same time last year. Section 542 Rural Housing Vouchers were up from last year at 1,675 vouchers totaling nearly $8.4 million compared to 913 vouchers representing nearly $4.7 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.

As of the end of November, USDA obligated 23,321 loans (direct and guaranteed) and grant representing $3,960,074,070. This is $622,009,470 higher than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 21,676 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $3,338,064,600.

The agency is operating under a continuing resolution providing funding through December 11, 2020 which provides limited funding. Since March 20, 2020, USDA offices have been operating from remote locations due to the COVID-19 virus.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $3,788,050,163 (21,758 loan guarantees) up from $3,216,244,331 (20,191 loan guarantees) this time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $142,394,439 ( 756 loans), similar to last year’s obligation level of $89,013,254 ( 520 loans.) About 42 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented over 47 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 317 loans representing $1,777,504, lower than obligations at the same time last year (349 loans representing $2,132,997.) The Section 504 grant program obligations totaled $2,955,589 (478 grants) compared to $3,678,139 (595 grants) at this time last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 5 grants and contracts totaling $3,449,175. There were no program obligations this time last year for the Section 523 program.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 7 loan guarantees totaling $21,447,200. Last year at this time, there were 14 loan guarantees ($21,354,379.)

In the Section 521 Rental Assistance program, funds for  30 rental assistance units under the totaling $150,564 compared to 16,278 units ($92,494,098) obligated same time last year. There were also  953 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $4,882,173 compared to 796 vouchers representing $4,035,675 this time last year.

There were no other obligations for Single or Multi-Family programs as of the end of 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.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2020 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

As of the end of January, USDA obligated 43,467 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $6,685,869,698. This is $3,029,686,464 more than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 27,902 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $3,656,183,234.

The agency operated under several continuing resolutions and a 35-day government shutdown last year and obligations have come back to a more normal level in FY 2020. The FY 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law on December 20, 2019 which provided funding for the rest of this fiscal year.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $6,327,431,982 (39,521 loan guarantees) down from $3,454,467,100 ( 24,212 loan guarantees) last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $284,675,985 (1,684 loans), down from $136,719,298 ( 884 loans) this time last year. About 41 percent of the loan dollars went to Very low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented nearly 46 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 785 loans representing $4,693,566. Loan volume was up from this time last year ( 513 loans representing $3,030,230.) There were also about $9,028,020 ( 785 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $3,929,482 ( 657 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 2 grants and contracts totaling $1,870,512 up from last year’s 2 grants and contracts totaling $975,000.

USDA funded 2 credit sales representing $247,120.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 26 loan guarantees totaling $39,448,658, down from last year’s 34 loan guarantees ($47,147,737.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 0 loans totaling $0 (including disaster assistance) obligated compared to 2 loans totaling $2,877,000 last year. Obligations in the MPR program include 0 MPR loans totaling $0 and 3 grants totaling $988,934 compared to 0 loans and 0 grants representing $0 and $0 last year.

The Farm Labor Housing programs funded 7 loans and 5 grants totaling $12,620,000 and $5,853,855 respectively. Last year, 0 loans and 0 grants were obligated ($0 and $0, respectively.)

There were 0 Section 533 Housing Preservation grants totaling $0 have been obligated so far this year, compared to 0 grants last year totaling $0.

USDA obligated funds for 46,402 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $273,194,031. This compares to about 21,914 units ($99,595,161) obligated same time last year. There were also 1,054 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $5,606,238 compared to 1,596 vouchers representing $6,879,602 this time last year.

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.