Congress passed the FY13 Continuing Resolution (CR) this morning that had a specific provision that extends eligibility for all rural communities that are currently eligible for USDA Guaranteed and Direct Home loans until Sept. 30 of this year.
There had been quite a bit of discussion as to the re-drawing of eligibility lines after the last census but it had been put back several times. This will give the rural advocates more time to push for H.R. 858, the Rural Housing Preservation Act.
This bill will extend the current boundaries until 2020. The National Rural Housing Coalition has been an advocate of keeping the current boundaries. The low-income loans are available directly from USDA while the Guaranteed Home Loans are for low to moderate income borrowers and are available through participating banks and mortgage companies.
NRHC’s Impact Survey shows that in 2012, nonprofit rural housing organizations helped low-income rural families secure over $890 million in financing to build or purchase 8,392 units of housing, and helped 32,819 rural families gain access to clean and affordable water and sewer systems. This led to the creation 20,481 jobs, generated over $596.5 million in local income and $1.58 billion in tax revenue.
Currently, all of Island County is eligible for the USDA home loan programs. Income eligibility for the Guaranteed program for a family of up to four is limited to $89,550 and allows the borrower to purchase a home with no down payment and competitive interest rates.
To find out if a property qualifies for USDA financing, follow this link. As stated Island County is an easy place to find homes that qualify for USDA financing, however there are also areas around the major cities, like Seattle and Tacoma, that also qualify for no down payment loans.
USDA has also authorized Washington for one of the test areas for USDA Guaranteed Home Loan refinances. Contact a USDA qualified lender to assist in this or the purchase of a home.
About the author: Fred Chamberlin is a senior loan officer with Guild Mortgage Company in Oak Harbor. He has been in the mortgage origination business for over 20 years and in the lending business for over 30 and authors a number of mortgage related blogs.
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