USDA Obligations FY 2021 Featured Image

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 21 – December

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USDA Rural Development Obligations Report Cover - FY 2021

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

As of the end of December, USDA obligated 35,111 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $5,972,304,527. This is nearly $1 billion higher than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 32,361 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $4,973,305,990.

The agency operated under several short-term continuing resolutions during the month of December. 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 $5,746,294,375 (32,823 loan guarantees) up from $4,759,272,406 (29,808 loan guarantees) this time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $179,758,120 (975 loans), similar to last year’s obligation level of $151,845,219 (899 loans.) Over 41 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 498 loans representing $2,838,485 compared to 586 loans representing $3,462,472 at this time last year.) There were also about $4,863,579 (788 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $6,336,917 (1,029 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 5 grants and contracts totaling $3,449,175 up from last year’s 2 grants and contracts totaling $1,870,512.

No credit sales have been funded yet this year, similar to last year at this time.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 17 loan guarantees totaling $35,082,487 compared to last year’s 23 loan guarantees ($34,064,126.) There have not yet been obligations this year in the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing, the Farm Labor Housing, or MPR programs yet this year. It should be noted that funding in these programs is more prominent later in the fiscal year for most MFH loan and grant programs.

USDA obligated funds for 38,592 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $219,583,640 compared to 46,336 units ($272,857,393) obligated same time last year. There were also 1,277 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $6,508,033 compared to 913 vouchers representing $4,664,688 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.

Policy News from Congress

Final Funding Levels Set for FY 2021

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On December 27, 2020 President Trump signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2021, keeping most USDA rural housing programs at their FY20 dollar levels. The bill was rolled into a package that included a coronavirus relief measure to protect U.S. residents and the economy in the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases and the expiration of provisions adopted in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March. The final amounts are shown in the table below for USDA’s housing programs and here for HUD. Early information on the coronavirus relief portion of the bill package is posted here.

 

USDA Rural Dev. Prog.
(dollars in millions)		 FY19 Final Approp. FY20 Final Approp. FY21 Admin. Budget FY21 House Bill
 FY21 Senate Bill FY21 Final Approp.
502 Single Fam. Direct
Self-Help setaside*		 $1,000
5*		  $1,000
5*		 0
0		  $1,000
5*		 $1,000
5*		 $1,000
5*
502 Single Family Guar.  24,000  24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans  28 28  0 28 28 28
504 VLI Repair Grants  30 30  30 30 30 30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.  40 40 0 40 40 40
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.  27.5 28 0 28 28 28
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.  10 10 0 10 10 10
521 Rental Assistance 1,331.4  1,375  1,410**  1,410** 1,410 1,410
523 Self-Help TA  30 31  0 31 31 31
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants  15 15  15 15 15 15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar. 230 230  230  230 230 230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)  24.5 28  40  30 28  28
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers  27 32  40**  40** 34  40
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init. 6 6 0 6 6 6
Rental Prsrv. TA 1 1 0 0 2  2

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The budget and the FY21 House bill would separate vouchers from MPR and move them into the Rental Assistance account. The Senate bill, and the final version, do not.

USDA Obligations FY 2021 Featured Image

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 21 – November

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USDA Rural Development Obligations Report Cover - FY 2021

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.

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 20 – September

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

As of the end of September, USDA obligated 151,874 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $24,528,082,505. This is $8,149,932,673 higher than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were112,764 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $16,378,149,832.

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. 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 $23,074,581,633 (137,970 loan guarantees) up from $14,865,886,386 ( 99,322 loan guarantees) last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $1,001,414,954 (5,821 loans), similar to last year’s obligation level of $1,001,607,718 (6,194 loans.) About 40 percent of the loan dollars went to Very Low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented nearly 45 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 2,739 loans representing $16,640,730. Loan volume was up from this time last year (2,735 loans representing $17,364,032.) There were also about $31,541,672 (4,842 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $24,796,734 (3,908 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 55 grants and contracts totaling $32,783,534 up from last year’s 37 grants and contracts totaling $29,001,946.

USDA funded 4 credit sales representing $471,052.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

 

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 150 loan guarantees totaling $228,486,473, higher than last year’s 90 loan guarantees ($160,390,167.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 40 loans totaling $40,000,001 (including disaster assistance) obligated compared to 86 loans totaling $102,022,213 last year. There have been 80 loans and 5 grants obligated in the MPR program totaling $57,084,997 and $251,778 this year compared to 205 loans and 3 grants representing $130,308,556 and $988,734, respectively last year.

The Farm Labor Housing programs funded 15 loans and 7 grants totaling $20,094,577 and $8,935,855 respectively. Last year at this time, 17 loans and 7 grants were obligated ($19,985,387 and $8,707,162, respectively.)

There were 126 Section 533 Housing Preservation grants obligated this year totaling $15,626,425.

USDA obligated funds for 241,208 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $1,375,000,000. This compares to about 252,319 units ($1,331,400,000) obligated same time last year. There were also 7,489 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $34,544,766 compared to 6,559 vouchers representing $28,623,289 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.

USDA Rural Development Housing Funding Activity: Fiscal Year 2019 Year-End Report

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HAC presents an overview of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 USDA Rural Housing program obligation activity in this publication, USDA Rural Development Housing Funding Activity: Fiscal Year 2019 Year-End Report.

Since the 1950s, USDA has provided financial assistance for the construction, repair, and affordability of millions of homes for low- and moderate-income rural Americans. USDA accomplishes this activity through its Rural Development (RD) agency. In FY 2019, USDA obligated 112,556 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $16.2 billion not including Multi-family Preservation and Revitalization program loan and grant funding. Since the first USDA housing loan was made (around 1950), the agency has funded the construction, purchase or repair of over 5.2 million rural housing units representing $335.7 billion.

Beginning in 1978, USDA also provided funding for rental assistance to help tenants better afford to rent housing in agency-financed multi-family housing units. In FY 2019, USDA obligated 258,878 annual units of tenant assistance representing about $1.36 billion through the combined total of the Section 521 Rental Assistance and the Section 542 Rural Housing Voucher programs. Since the late 1970s, USDA funded nearly $24.6 billion for rental assistance and tenant vouchers representing 3.57 million annual units.

USDA Program Obligation Final Report - FY 2019
Apartments in rural America

Tax Considerations for Rural Housing Preservation

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Tax Relief Rural Research Brief coverA crisis is building for many federally supported rental properties, which are an important source of affordable housing for low-income rural residents. Particularly, USDA Section 515 mortgages are nearing the ends of their terms, and property owners may wish to convert their properties to other uses (for example, market-rate housing) or sell them to others who will convert them. If owners sell to entities that will continue to use them as affordable rentals, rural tenants benefit and the existing federal investment in these properties is protected. Yet many owners are reluctant to sell their properties for preservation because they will experience adverse tax consequences at sale. This paper explores those tax consequences, indicates where they may have the greatest impact, and suggests ways they might be mitigated in order to encourage preservation.

Tax consequences arise as a result of depreciation over the lifetime of a rental property. Federal tax law allows a rental property owner to reduce their annual tax liability by claiming depreciation in the property’s value every year. When the property is sold, however, tax law requires that a portion of the taxes deferred by depreciation must be recaptured. If a property’s market value has appreciated over time, a higher sales price can cover the depreciation recapture and also provide the seller with a profit. If the value has not appreciated, however – as is the case in many rural areas – or when a purchaser needs to buy at less than market value in order to preserve affordability, the tax liability can use up most or all of the sales receipts.

The paper presents several technical, market and legislative strategies that could help mitigate the identified tax-related barriers and enhance preservation efforts.

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 20 – January

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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.

Administration Budget Recognizes Rural Preservation Needs but Proposes Many Housing Cuts

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Feb. 10, 2020 – Housing aid and other safety net programs are again targeted for reduction in the Trump Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2021, which begins October 1, 2020. The budget request, released today, is the first step in the annual appropriations process.

For the third year in a row, the Administration proposes to eliminate most USDA rural housing programs and many HUD programs – though there are not quite as many zeroes this year as in the past. Also for the third year in a row, Congress is expected to develop its own funding proposals. As the tables below indicate, Congress has not been inclined to accept cuts to housing aid.

To follow the funding process as it develops, sign up for the biweekly HAC News newsletter.

USDA

The FY21 budget departs from this Administration’s previous proposals in recognizing a need for repair and preservation of existing properties, both rental and owner-occupied. It proposes to fund the Multifamily Rental Preservation demonstration (MPR) at $40 million, considerably higher than the $28 million appropriated for FY20, and much needed because late in 2019 USDA had a backlog of MPR commitments amounting to around $70 million. It also suggests level funding of $30 million for Section 504 repair grants for very low-income elderly homeowners (but nothing for Section 504 loans) and $10 million for Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants, which can be used for either rental or owner-occupied homes. The budget narrative does not explain this apparent shift in approach.

Like this Administration’s past budgets, this one would charge tenants in Section 515 or Section 514/516 rentals a minimum of $50 per month. The budget also proposes to delete language that was adopted in the final FY20 funding agreement and allows renewals of Section 521 Rental Assistance contracts for 20 years, subject to annual appropriations.

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

 

USDA Rural Dev. Prog.
(dollars in millions)		 FY19 Admin. Budget FY19 Final Approp. FY20 Admin. Budget FY20 Final Approp. FY21 Admin. Budget
502 Single Fam. Direct
Self-Help setaside*		 0
0		 $1,000
5*		 0
0		 $1,000
5*		 0
0
502 Single Family Guar. 24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans 0 28 0 28 0
504 VLI Repair Grants 0 30 0 30 30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns. 0 40 0 40 0
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns. 0 27.5 0 28 0
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts. 0 10 0 10 0
521 Rental Assistance 1,331.4 1,331.4 1,335** 1,375 1,410**
523 Self-Help TA 0 30 0 31 0
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants 0 15 0 15 15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar. 250 230 250 230 230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR) 0 24.5 0 28 40
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers 20 27 32** 32 40**
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init. 0 6 0 6 0
Rental Prsrv. TA 0 1 0 1 0

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The budget would move vouchers into the Rental Assistance account.

HUD

As it has before, the Administration proposes to cut support for public housing, CDBG, HOME, Native American housing and SHOP, as well as the relatively new veterans home modification and rehabilitation program. It does propose increases above FY20 levels for project-based Section 8, Section 202 housing for the elderly, Section 811 housing for people with disabilities, and the healthy homes/lead hazard control account.

The Administration also includes a proposal to eliminate funding for the National Housing Trust Fund, although that funding comes from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and does not need to be included in this budget.

HUD Appropriations

HUD Program
(dollars in millions)

FY19 Admin. Budget

FY19 Final Approp.

FY20 Admin. Budget

FY20 Final Approp.

FY21 Admin. Budget
CDBG

0

 $3,300 0 $3,425 0
HOME

0

 1,250 0 1,350 0
Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP)

0

 10 0 10 0
Veterans Home Rehab

0

 4 0 4 0
Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce.
VASH setaside
Tribal VASH

20,550
0
4

 22,598
40
4		 22,244
0
0		 23,874
40
1		 18,833
0
4
Project-Based Rental Asstnce.

10,952

 11,747 12,021 12,570 12,642
Public Hsg. Capital Fund

0

 2,775 0 2,869 0
Public Hsg. Operating Fund

3,279

 4,653 2,863 4,549 3,572
Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative

0

 150 0 175 0
Native Amer. Hsg. Block Grt.

600

 655 600 646 600
Homeless Assistance Grants

2,383

 2,636 2,599 2,777 2,773
Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS

330

 393 330 410 330
202 Hsg. for Elderly

563

 678 644 793 853
811 Hsg. for Disabled

132

 184 157 202 252
Fair Housing

62.3

 65.3 62 70 65.3
Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Cntl.

145

 279 290 290 360
Housing Counseling

45

 50 45 53 45
US Capital building

Congress Set to Pass FY20 Funding Bills Before Dec. 20 Deadline

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On December 16, 2019 congressional negotiators released the text of two massive spending bills that are expected to fund the entire federal government for the rest of fiscal year 2020, which started on October 1, 2019 and ends on September 30, 2020.

The House is expected to pass both “minibus” bills on Tuesday, December 17. Then the Senate will pass them and President Trump will sign them by Friday, when the continuing resolution currently keeping the government open ends.

Most of USDA’s rural housing programs will receive the same amount of funding as in FY19. Section 514 farm labor housing loans and Section 523 self-help housing grants receive small increases. The most significant increases are for the MPR rental preservation program and for Section 542 vouchers, which are for tenants in properties where USDA-financed mortgages are prepaid.

The bill includes several other provisions favorable for preservation of USDA-financed rental housing:

  • incentives to nonprofits and PHAs that purchase rental properties to preserve them;
  • optional 20-year terms for Section 521 Rental Assistance agreements; and
  • $1 million for technical assistance to facilitate acquisition of multifamily properties to preserve them.

The bill directs that, “to the maximum extent feasible” at least 10 percent of each program’s funding should go to persistent poverty counties. These are counties that have had 20 percent or more of the population under the poverty line for the past 30 years (beginning with the 1990 census).

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

 

USDA Rural Dev. Prog.
(dollars in millions)		 FY18 Approp. FY19 Final Approp. FY20 Admin. Budget FY20 House Bill
(H.R. 3055)		 FY20 Senate Bill (S. 2522) FY20 Final (H.R. 1865)
502 Single Fam. Direct
Self-Help setaside*		 $1,100
5*		 $1,000
5*		 0
0		 $1,000
0		 $1,000
5*		 $1,000
5*
502 Single Family Guar. 24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000 24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans 28 28 0 28 28 28
504 VLI Repair Grants 30 30 0 30 30 30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns. 40 40 0 45 40 40
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns. 23 27.5 0 30 27.5 **
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts. 8.4 10 0 10 10 10
521 Rental Assistance 1,345 1,331.4 1,375 1,375 1,375 1,375
523 Self-Help TA 30 30 0 32 30 31
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants 10 15 0 15 15 15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar. 230 230 250 250 230 230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR) 22 24.5 0 40 24.5 28
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers 25 27 35 35 32 32
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init. 4 6 0 8 6 6
Rental Prsrv. TA 1 1 0 0 1 1

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The bill provides $8.7 million in budget authority for Section 514 loans, which generates a program level somewhere between the House’s $30 million and the Senate’s 27.5 million.

USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 19 – September

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The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2019 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

As of the end of September, USDA obligated112,760 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $16,377,611,967. This is $2,042,040,512 less than obligation levels from this time last year. At that time, there were 131,487 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling $18,419,652,479.

The agency operated under several continuing resolutions and a 35-day government shutdown early in the fiscal year. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 was signed into law on February 15, 2019 which provided funding for the rest of the fiscal year.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights
The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $14,865,886,386 (99,322 loan guarantees) down from $16,826,420,078 (115,864 loan guarantees) last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, loan obligations totaled $1,001,607,718 (6,194 loans), down from $1,100,796,382 (7,199 loans) this time last year. About 37 percent of the loan dollars went to Very low-income (VLI) applicants. VLI loans represented nearly 42 percent of the total number of Section 502 Direct loans.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 2,735 loans representing $17,364,032. Loan volume was down from this time last year (3,225 loans representing $19,789,118.) There were also about $24,796,734 (2,735 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $28,193,015 (4,585 grants) last year.

USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 37 grants and contracts totaling $29,001,946 down from last year’s 47 grants and contracts totaling $34,804,803.

USDA has also funded 7 credit sales representing $617,021.

Multi-Family Housing Programs
USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 90 loan guarantees totaling $160,390,167, down from last year’s 132 loan guarantees ($185,639,985.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 85 loans totaling $101,484,348 (including disaster assistance) obligated compared to 35 loans totaling $42,609,649 last year. Obligations in the MPR program include 205 MPR loans totaling $130,308,556 and 3 grants totaling $988,934 compared to 186 loans and 2 grants representing $116,029,859 and $251,260 last year.

In the Farm Labor Housing programs, 17 loans and 7 grants have been funded totaling $19,985,387 and $8,707,162 respectively. Last year in September, 5 loans and 1 grant were obligated ($35,476,514 and $17,192,708, respectively.)

There were 130 Section 533 Housing Preservation grants totaling $14,478,530 have been obligated so far this year, compared to 143 grants last year totaling $10,764,080.

USDA obligated funds for 252,319 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $1,331,400,000. This compares to about 268,514 units ($1,345,293,000) obligated same time last year. There were also 6,559 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $28,623,289 compared to 6,353 vouchers representing $26,679,198 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.

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