Author: paul

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Rural Housing Coalition Celebrates 50 Years of Improving Housing Conditions Across America

Over 40 rural organizations gathered in Washington, DC to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the National Rural Housing Coalition

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Board of Directors of the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) held a two-day meeting on December 3-4, 2019, in Washington D.C., marking the coalition’s 50th Anniversary. A commemorative pin and poster was released by the coalition this week and a page documenting NRHC’s 5 decades of advocacy is featured on the organization’s website. In addition, a reception to honor NRHC’s anniversary and accomplishments was also held on December 3rd on Capitol Hill, with Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) providing a keynote.

For 50 years, the National Rural Housing Coalition has worked diligently to promote and defend the principle that rural people have the right — regardless of income — to a decent, affordable place to live, clean drinking water, and basic community services.

“NRHC, a national membership organization that advocates for improved housing and community facilities in America’s small town and farming communities, has 120 members located in rural and farming communities across the country,” said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of the National Rural Housing Coalition. “For 50 years, our members have worked diligently to promote and defend the principle that rural people have the right — regardless of income — to a decent, affordable place to live, clean drinking water, and basic community services.”

Rep. Costa, during his remarks at the reception, noted the significant contributions that federal rural housing programs have made to improving housing conditions in his rural, Central Valley District. The Congressman also noted the importance of a Mutual-Self Help Housing in helping low-income families build their own homes and gain equity.

The two-day meeting was designed to inform the board on federal housing and community development policy. The board heard from officials from the USDA Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service, staff from the Office of Comptroller of Currency and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. Bob Rapoza reported on the current status of rural housing appropriations in Congress.

The Board meets twice a year to discuss current federal policy and legislation. Beyond getting a status report on Congress and from federal agencies, the board mapped out its policy initiatives for the New Year.

“Throughout its history, NRHC has been at the forefront in pushing for better federal rural housing policy, and we will continue building on that success in the years ahead,” Rapoza said.

About the National Rural Housing Coalition

NRHC is a national membership organization comprised of nonprofit housing organizations, housing developers, state and local officials, and housing advocates. Since 1969, has NRHC worked to focus policy makers on the needs of rural areas through direct advocacy and by coordinating a network of rural housing advocates around the nation. NRHC regularly sponsors conferences to develop specific policies and legislative proposals with direct input from housing experts in the field.

Contact: Bob Rapoza
National Rural Housing Coalition
1155 15th St NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 393-5225
Fax (202) 393-3034

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Blog

House FY 2020 Appropriations Requests

The deadline for requests to the House Agriculture subcommittee of Appropriations is April 4th. If you have not done so, we urge you to contact your Representative now. Members are inundated with requests, so the sooner your rural housing request are in, the more time staff will have to process and include them in their Boss’s request to the Committee.

Below you will also find templates for House Appropriations Ag Subcommittee requests for rural housing programs.

FY 2020 Approps Request Form 502

FY 2020 Approps Request Form_Section 515 Rural Rental Housing Loans

FY 2020 RCDI Request

FY 2020 Self-Help Request Form

FY 2020 Approps Request Form_Section 516-514

 

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Budget Uncategorized

Shutdown Impacts Rural Housing

Click to enlarge

As the budget stalemate in Washington drags on the consequences and impacts are becoming clearer and increasingly disturbing. Without any justification, the Administration has closed 25 percent of the federal government and among the casualties are agencies with the responsibility for financing affordable housing, clean drinking water, and community opportunity.

NRHC members have reported about one small but important agency – the Rural Housing Service – and the recent absence of its housing assistance. Families waiting to close their home mortgages are hung out to dry, families building their homes are stymied, and hundreds of thousands of families receiving rental subsidies may soon lose that assistance if the government shutdown goes on for “months or years.”

Below is a compilation of information supplied by NRHC members on the impact of the shutdown on rural housing efforts in their states and communities.

Section 502 Direct

  • Fahe – working in Appalachia — reports that they are currently holding on 424 loans, across 18 states, in the 502 Direct pipeline that either cannot be submitted to USDA or are sitting idle at USDA.
  • Fahe reports that 15 second mortgages that are operating on a funding timeline tied to 502 Direct loans that are held up now as well.
  • Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) reports that the organization has already accumulated 15-20 Section 502 home ownership loan applications from the packaging program in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington that are awaiting submission.
  • In California, Self-Help Enterprises reports 18 families have been impacted and a total loan obligation of $3.3 million.
  • In Oregon, NeighborWorks Umpqua reports that 7 families are waiting for a loan specialist to issue a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) so they can go shopping.
  • In Oregon, NeighborWorks Umpqua reports that 4 families in contract cannot close their section 502 loans, have their inspections reviewed, or appraisal ordered.
  • In Delaware, Milford Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) reports that the organization has 3 Direct clients under construction that may be paused.
  • In Delaware, MHDC reports on home ownership loans:
    • 1 client at USDA ready to close on their construction loan;
    • 1 client at USDA with contract and leveraged money waiting to be reviewed so they can be approved and close; and
    • 2 clients will have plans and specs submitted soon so they can go to closing.
  • PathStone reports that 2 first time homebuyers, from New York and Pennsylvania respectively, were scheduled to close of 502 mortgages in early January and both deals are now in jeopardy.
  • In Washington, Catholic Charities Housing Services (CCHS) reports a halt to 502 loan underwriting resulting in 2 week delay and counting for a group of 7 families (523 program/502 loans) which impacts CCHS performance measurements on the 523 program.
  • In Utah, Self Help Homes reports 20 Section 502 loan closings are delayed and by the end of January 29 inspections will be needed
  • In Indiana, Pathfinder Homeownership Center reports:
    • 12 homes that are ready to close in January;
    • 6 files that need appraisals and all but one of those are existing;
    • 13 files that are either at the USDA or FAHE
  • In Kentucky, Frontier Housing reports that the organization has 7 Section 502 Direct homebuyers whose loans are on hold because of the shutdown.
    • One homebuyer has a house under contract, and is waiting for RD’s sign-off. If the shutdown drags on too much longer, the buyer runs the risk of the seller walking away from the deal.
  • In New Mexico, Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation reports that 16 families have been delayed in receiving or getting approval for their 502 Loans.
  • In New Mexico, Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation reports construction delays due to lack of mortgage funds for 9 projects with 502 funding.
  • In Missouri, Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation reports that that 3 Section 502 borrowers received letters from Centralized Services Center (CSC) in St. Louis that show their insurance has not been paid and CSC will provide forced insurance coverage if not paid by a specific date to prevent any lapse of coverage on the home financed by RD.
  • In California, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition has heard from 12 families that have had difficulty dealing with Centralized Services Center (CSC) in regards to their insurance that has not been paid, inability to make payments, and reporting tax information.
  • In California, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition has heard from 5 families that were unable to make USDA loan house payments through automated system.
  • In Oklahoma, Deep Fork Community Action Foundation, Inc. reports that 3 applicants are delayed in receiving 502 loans.
  • In Oklahoma, Deep Fork Community Action Foundation, Inc. reports that 5 applicants have construction delays due to lack of funds and 2 from lack of inspectors.
  • NeighborWorks America reports no RHS staff available to discuss coordinating 502 Direct loan packaging trainings, as an example, nor available to design pilots for rural housing rehab.

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program

  • In Oregon, NeighborWorks Umpqua reports 1 family can’t get the guaranteed commitment issue because USDA is closed
  • Fahe reports that they have 12 Section 502 Guaranteed loans in a holding pattern.

Section 514/516 – Farmlabor Housing

  • In California, Peoples’ Self Help Housing (PSHHC) reports that the first construction billing for one new construction USDA Section 514 project will likely occur in January. If the USDA inspector cannot approve the payment request, then PSHH will be forced to advance payments to the subcontractors to remain on schedule.  The subs payments will be due on February 18, 2019, so it is likely PSHHC could obtain approval prior to that date.
  • In California, PSHHC reports that the organization has 10 new constructions slated to start in February that are now delayed.
  • In California, PSHHC reports that the organization is about to begin working with USDA on a newly completed USDA Section 514 project, to convert the construction loan to permanent financing. If the shutdown continues PSHHC could find itself having to extend the construction loan and paying more fees and interest, simply because USDA cannot finalize 514 loan documents.
  • In Oregon, NeighborWorks Umpqua reports that 1 family is going to return their loan docs to USDA but no one will be there to receive it and there will no funds to start construction.
  • In Washington, Office of Rural Farmworker Housing (ORFH) reports that the organization is awaiting final approval of a relatively minor architectural change on new farm worker housing.

Section 515

  • In Washington, Office of Rural Farmworker Housing (ORFH) reports that the organization cannot close two construction contracts covering the rehabilitation of 515 units because RD staff are not available to sign off on it. Among other impacts is a delay of payment to the contractor.

Self Help Housing

  • In California, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition (CVHC) reports that the organization took a draw before the shutdown for the 80+ houses CVHC has in various stages of construction. However, if the shutdown goes on longer, CVHC may not have the funds to buy the next round of materials and will have to shut down construction for those families.
    • Assuming that USDA will continue to accrue interest on their 502 construction loans so their costs will go up.
  • In California, CVHC reports that the organization has in escrow for 64 lots in the town of Imperial and had families ready to be submitted to USDA for the first group to begin building on those lots. With the closure, CVHC will not be able to qualify those families and close their loans to begin construction.
  • In California, PSHHC reports that the construction starts for 10 families slated to start in February will be delayed.
  • In California, PSHHC will have to advance funds to pay contractors to remain on schedule for completion of 29 self-help homes. The advance could be in excess of $300,000 per the December costs. The advance will likely be extended for at least 30 days if the shutdown ends as scheduled.
  • In Hawaii, Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii (SHHCH) reports that the organization is unable to get 13 loans closed, and start construction with the Pokai Bay Team 4 Project.
  • In Delaware, Milford Housing Development Corporation (MHDC) reports that the organization has 17 homes under construction.
    • 4 of those families are running low on their SH Construction loan funds. MHDC will need to pause their construction.
    • The other families have some money but those funds will dwindle as we then concentrate on those homes with the others paused.
  • In Delaware, MHDC reports that the organization has 3 files at USDA preparing to close but can’t and 6 files at USDA that can’t be reviewed for eligibility if no one is there.
  • In Utah, Mountainlands Community Housing Trust reports that Section 523 Mutual Self Help Housing Grants are not being processed.
  • In Washington, Catholic Charities Housing Services (CCHS) reports that projects involving 5 families have no availability of funding to pay subcontractors for current construction – forcing CCHS to go out of pocket to pay these invoices to help small business owners make payroll.
  • In Washington, CCHS reports no availability of funding for quarterly 523 grant reimbursement which further constrains agency cash flows as CCHS is waiting on reimbursement of expenditures.
  • In Alaska, Rural Alaska Community Action Program reports 10 impacted families.
  • In Kentucky, Frontier Housing reports that the organization has its first self-help build group that is about to start construction, and only 2 of the 5 homebuyers will have USDA financing.  Frontier Housing is weighing whether or not to start construction and retain ownership of all the lots, or wait for USDA to be available to close their loans.  If construction start, and then subsequently In Arkansas, financing, which may include Frontier carrying some of the mortgages ourselves.
  • Little Dixie Community Action Agency reports:
    • In Arkansas, 43 families have been impacted with homes are under construction but payments to contractors and vendors are delayed, USDA certifications are on hold, and certified cannot have surveys ordered due to USDA employees not being available to sign checks or order surveys.
    • In New Mexico, Grantee is waiting on final inspection for 3 participants.
    • In Oklahoma, 10 families have been impacted. Grantee has one family ready for a final inspection, one waiting on loan certification, and four waiting on loan processing in order to close the loan. Grantee has four homes under construction but contractors and vendors payments are delayed due to no USDA employees available to sign checks. Another five certified families are looking for land but surveys cannot be ordered due to no USDA employees available to order them and one application for certification at USDA that cannot move forward.

Rental Assistance

Provides a rental housing subsidy to very low income households, elderly households, and persons with disabilities.  Over 270,000 families receive this assistance from USDA. The last rental assistance payments were made in December 2018.  There is not any information available for January payments.  Without those payments, housing for these families will be in jeopardy.

  • In New York, PathStone reports that rental assistance for farm labor housing will be a major problem later in January if USDA doesn’t come up with a stop gap measure for getting that paid out.
  • In Washington, CCHS reports that if rental assistance is not available, then it will significantly impact the organization’s ability to pay vendors in a timely manner.
  • In California, Self-Help Enterprises reports the organization has 315 units of 514 housing that have rental assistance. A conservative estimate is that the 521 RA payments each month are at least $100,000 in aggregate are at risk.

Home Safety and Maintenance Repair Grants

  • In Kentucky, Housing Development Alliance reports 1 home repair delay for an elderly lady who is line to get a 504 grant because she has no functioning heat system. Her application is on hold so she goes without heat.
  • In Kentucky, Frontier Housing reports that the organization is working with 1 elderly and disabled homeowner whose 504 grant/loan deal is on hold. Her roof leaks, and that has damaged the attic insulation, drywall on the ceiling, and her floors. Frontier is currently looking at what they can do to help at least make her home dry, while she waits for USDA to fund the whole project.
  • In New Mexico, Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation reports that 11 families face delays in receiving or approving Section 504 Loans/Grants

Operation Issues

  • In Hawaii, Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii (SHHCH) reports that if the shutdown lasts more than a month, SHHCH will have to take out an operating loan to make payroll since no Section 523 grant draws will be forthcoming. An extended delay would also impact their ability to attain construction draws; thereby affecting future deliveries of material.
  • In Kentucky, Housing Development Alliance reports the organization was supposed to sell two houses next week. That will not happen now.  That mean two families not only have to wait on their home, but also either convince their landlords to let the stay in the current home a little longer or find temporary housing.
  • In California, Peoples’ Self Help Housing (PSHHC) reports that the organization will not receive 523 grant funds which run about $60,000 per month.
  • In Kentucky, Frontier Housing reports that the organization closed on its 523 grant in mid-December and now has to decide whether to press forward with the self-help program, or wait until Frontier can draw 523 funds. If they go ahead, Frontier risks incurring staff and admin costs without being able to draw on the 523 grant.
  • In California, Self-Help Enterprises is depending on a 523 Grant draw of approximately $200,000 for February.
  • In Oklahoma, Deep Fork Community Action Foundation, Inc. reports they are not able to get checks signed to pay contractors or to order draws for the Homeowners before the Gov’t shut down.
Categories
Blog

Congress Deals Rural Housing Organizations a Mixed Hand

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Bob Rapoza
National Rural Housing Coalition
1331 G St NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC  20005
Phone: (202) 393-5225
Fax (202) 393-3034

Congress holds on passing rural housing funding, despite strong indications for the need and history of strong bipartisan support

Washington, D.C. -- October 1, 2018 -- On Friday, the House of Representatives adjourned to focus on the midterm elections, while the Senate stays behind to continue working on nominations. The National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) lamented Congress’ inability to work out issues in H.R. 6147, which includes U.S. Department of Agriculture funding, as well as Interior, Treasury, Transportation and HUD. While the unresolved issues did not involve USDA Rural Housing appropriations, it still leaves funding up in the air for these important programs until at least mid-November. However, the Coalition was pleased with a new Senate bill proposing the single largest investment in rural housing programs, which was introduced last week by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

“We are in the middle of a rural housing crisis with only about 10 percent of new homes being built in rural areas, leaving unaffordable, aged and increasingly decrepit housing as the only options for rural Americans,” said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of the National Rural Housing Coalition. “Congress needs to make more investments and ensure that USDA rural housing are secure and fully funded.”

The rental housing financed by USDA, mostly through its Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, is often the only affordable housing in small towns and farming communities. According to a 2016 USDA report, the cost to preserve and maintain this portfolio of some 450,000 units over 20 years totals $5.6 billion. The majority of residents at these developments are low income and most are elderly households.

“Rural Americans were some of those hardest hit by the Great Recession and with a lack of decent, safe, and affordable rural housing they are now being left behind from its recovery,” said Rapoza. “The lack of decent housing is increasingly an obstacle to economic growth for rural communities, causing businesses to locate elsewhere and perpetuating high out-migration from communities already struggling to attract a high-skilled workforce.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on this very issue in May. In an article titled, “Rural America Has Jobs. Now It Just Needs Housing,” the author noted that due to a lack of housing in rural areas, employers with available jobs could not find workers because they had no suitable place to live. Analysis from the Housing Assistance Council of 2010 Census data further validates this assertion. That data revealed that only 25 million housing units are located in rural and small communities of the approximately 116 million occupied housing units available in the United States. In addition, 1.5 million of these homes are considered either moderately or severely substandard. Although most Americans take indoor plumbing and potable water at the tap for granted, it is unavailable to the 4 percent of rural occupied units.

On the matter of housing affordability in rural communities, a recent report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies found that 5 million households of rural renters are cost-burdened, meaning that renters pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing costs. In fact, 21 percent (2.1 million households) of rural households that rent pay more than 50 percent of income for housing.

NRHC notes that rural housing is not without its advocates in Congress. Republican-passed Appropriations bills have largely ignored the Administration’s proposals to decrease rural housing funding. Further, this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2018. The legislation responds to the lack of affordable housing in America and includes provisions to increase funding for the rural housing programs administered USDA. Reps. Sean Duffy (R-WI), Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Jim Costa (D-CA) have argued to support these federal rural housing programs through the annual appropriations process.

“The bill is a historic investment that would improve the quality of rural housing and decrease housing costs for rural families,” says Rapoza. ”It would double section 502 loans to $2 billion, provide $500 million to rehabilitate and preserve rural rental housing, finance an estimated 6,000 units of farm-labor housing, and more than double section 523 Self-Help Housing grants to $75 million. This investment in rural housing attacks the problem head-on and saves money by accelerating the timetable for preservation and repair.”

For more information about rural housing and community development, please visit the National Rural Housing Coalition’s webpage.

About the National Rural Housing Coalition

NRHC is a national membership organization of non-profit housing organizations, housing developers, state and local officials, and housing advocates. Since 1969, NRHC has promoted and defended the principle that rural people have the right—regardless of income—to a decent, affordable place to live, clean drinking water, and basic community services.

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Blog

Greystone Leads Effort to Upgrade Rural Housing

Greystone Leads Effort to Upgrade Rural Housing for the Poor

Shortages of affordable, low-income housing are reaching crisis proportions in some parts of the U.S.

Plantation Apartments in Richmond Hill, Ga. New York finance firm Greystone & Co. has teamed up with federal and state agencies in Georgia to preserve 1,310 low-income rental apartments built in the 1970s and 1980s by the Agriculture Department for rural households.

 

New York housing-finance firm Greystone & Co. has teamed up with federal and state agencies in a $168.6 million effort to preserve and recapitalize 1,310 low-income rental apartments in Georgia.

The units, developed and managed by Atlanta-based Hallmark Cos., were built in the 1970s and 1980s through a U.S. Agriculture Department program targeting rural households. Tenants, who are required to meet income-eligibility requirements, pay about $400 to $500 a month in rent.

The portfolio includes 26 properties in 17 counties. Like tens of thousands of other properties developed under federal housing programs, the Georgia homes are badly in need of repair.

The deal, known as a recapitalization, provided funds for upgrades worth an average of $37,000 per unit, including such improvements as new appliances, counters, cabinets and electrical systems. The recapitalization also involved a sale of the properties and a refinancing of the debt on the portfolio. Through those actions, enough surplus capital is being raised to pay for the improvements.

“Unless you do something creative, they really have no chance of being preserved,” said Tanya Eastwood, president of Greystone’s affordable-housing redevelopment unit.

The sellers of the properties were the limited partners who decades ago provided equity financing to Hallmark for their development, mostly in exchange for tax credits. The new owner is a venture of Hallmark and new equity investors who also are getting returns primarily in the form of low-income-housing tax credits.

The units are being preserved at a time when shortages of affordable and low-income housing are reaching crisis proportions in some parts of the country. According to a recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the U.S. has a shortage of more than 7.2 million units for “extremely low income” renter households.

Hundreds of thousands of units are at risk of becoming unusable, housing advocates say. “There’s obviously a great need for more affordable housing, but we also can’t afford to lose any of the existing,” Ms. Eastwood said. The program in Georgia “allows us to prevent the crisis from getting worse.”

Much of the financing for the Georgia effort is coming from a combination of government housing and low-income assistance programs including the sale of $54.3 million in “private activity” bonds. The tax exemption on those bonds wound up on the chopping block during the debate over tax overhaul last year, but housing advocates and others were able to save them.

Meantime, about $28 million of debt financing is being provided through programs run by the Rural Housing Service, an arm of the Agriculture Department that dates back to the Farmers Home Administration, which has its roots in the Great Depression.

The Georgia units now being recapitalized were developed under the Section 515 rural-housing program, which was launched in 1962 originally to create low-rent housing for people over 62 years old.

Today, Section 515 properties are available for low-income families and individuals as well as people with disabilities, according to an Agriculture Department spokeswoman.

Since the program launched, 18,426 properties with 563,936 units were created. As of March 31, there were 13,357 properties with 407,826 units in the department’s portfolio, the spokeswoman said.

No new properties were created in 2017, and no new properties are scheduled to be created this year, she said.

Founded in 1988, Greystone is a real-estate lending, investment and advisory firm that is involved with a wide range of housing. The company originated $9.5 billion in commercial real-estate loans in 2017 and has a loan-servicing portfolio of $30 billion.

Greystone has done about 20 deals that have recapitalized and upgraded more than 12,000 low-income-housing units with the same basic structure as the Georgia deal.

“We kind of built a factory,” said Ms. Eastwood.

Hallmark is an owner and manager of about 11,000 affordable-housing units, mostly in the southeast U.S.

Write to Peter Grant at peter.grant@wsj.com

Appeared in the April 18, 2018, print edition as ‘Greystone to Finance Low-Income Housing.’

Categories
Blog Self-Help

Neighbors build each other’s homes in Wasco

Edgar and Naomi Bermudez shuffle rock that will be used for the foundation of their new home in Wasco.

ABOVE: Edgar and Naomi Bermudez shuffle rock that will be used for the foundation of their new home in Wasco.

Dozens of families in Wasco are building new homes for each other, taking part in a program funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and guided by the nonprofit, Self Help Enterprises.

The new homeowners don’t need a dollar for a down payment. Instead, they are required to do 40 hours of work on the home every week. The development in Wasco consists of 33 homes, with 10-12 in each of three waves.

Categories
Blog Self-Help

Self-Help Homes groundbreaking in Provo, UT

Construction begins for seven families in Provo, Utah. Project supported by Self-Help Homes.

FULL STORY: Seven families in Southern Utah are anxious to get started on what will be their new homes. A groundbreaking ceremony in LaVerkin last Wednesday turned over shovels of dirt, that will soon become a foundation. Four of the new homes will be built in LaVerkin and the other three in Toquerville.

The families are part of Self-Help Homes. They all received low interest loans from the government to build each others homes. The program is growing in Southern Utah as word continues to get out.

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Blog Budget

Dear Colleague: Support Adequate Funding for USDA Rural Housing Service in the FY19 Budget

Congressmen Sean Duffy (R-WI) and Jim Costa (D-CA) are leading a Dear Colleague in support of USDA Rural Housing programs. Below, find the letter.

Support Adequate Funding for USDA Rural Housing Service in the FY19 Budget
DEADLINE: March 12, 2018

Dear Colleague,
Please join Representatives Sean Duffy and Jim Costa in sending the following letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies to respectfully request adequate funding for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing and water sewer programs.

USDA Rural Housing programs provide a critical lifeline to low-income, rural families. Through low-cost loans, grants, and other assistance, USDA programs improve housing conditions and quality of life in rural America.

For example Section 502 Direct Loan Program, which has helped more than 2.1 million families realize the American Dream and build their wealth by more than $40 billion, is the only federal homeownership program that exclusively targets low- and very-low income rural families. The program provides essential funding to fill in the gap in the private market, allowing families who would otherwise be unable to access affordable mortgage credit achieve homeownership.

The Section 523 Mutual Self-Help Housing program is another critical component of USDA’s Rural Housing initiatives. Self-Help Housing, which celebrated its 50 year anniversary and 50,000th family served in 2015, is the only federal program that combines “sweat equity” homeownership opportunities with technical assistance and affordable loans for some of America’s neediest rural families.

Rural water –sewer loans and grants are essential for building communities.

Our rural communities are in dire need of affordable, livable housing. Please join us in supporting rural districts all over the country by signing this letter.
Please contact Ryan McCormack in Rep. Duffy’s office (Ryan.McCormack@mail.house.gov) or Ben Goldeen in Rep. Costa’s office (Ben.Goldeen@mail.house.gov) if you would like to sign or have further questions.

Support Adequate Funding for USDA Rural Housing Service in the FY19 Budget
Sending Office: Honorable Sean P. Duffy
Sent By: Ryan.McCormack@mail.house.gov

Support Adequate Funding for USDA Rural Housing Service in the FY19 Budget

DEADLINE: March 12, 2018

Dear Colleague,

Please join Representatives Sean Duffy and Jim Costa in sending the following letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies to respectfully request adequate funding for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing and water sewer programs.

USDA Rural Housing programs provide a critical lifeline to low-income, rural families. Through low-cost loans, grants, and other assistance, USDA programs improve housing conditions and quality of life in rural America.

For example Section 502 Direct Loan Program, which has helped more than 2.1 million families realize the American Dream and build their wealth by more than $40 billion, is the only federal homeownership program that exclusively targets low- and very-low income rural families. The program provides essential funding to fill in the gap in the private market, allowing families who would otherwise be unable to access affordable mortgage credit achieve homeownership.

The Section 523 Mutual Self-Help Housing program is another critical component of USDA’s Rural Housing initiatives. Self-Help Housing, which celebrated its 50 year anniversary and 50,000th family served in 2015, is the only federal program that combines “sweat equity” homeownership opportunities with technical assistance and affordable loans for some of America’s neediest rural families.

Rural water –sewer loans and grants are essential for building communities.

Our rural communities are in dire need of affordable, livable housing. Please join us in supporting rural districts all over the country by signing this letter.

Please contact Ryan McCormack in Rep. Duffy’s office (Ryan.McCormack@mail.house.gov) or Ben Goldeen in Rep. Costa’s office (Ben.Goldeen@mail.house.gov) if you would like to sign or have further questions.

_______________________________________________________________________
Dear Chairman Aderholt and Ranking Member Bishop:

As the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies considers the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 19) Appropriations Bill, we write to respectfully request adequate funding for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Programs and Rural Water-Sewer program.

Access to safe, decent, and affordable housing can transform lives. Yet, due to lower incomes and higher poverty rates, far too many rural families live in housing that is too expensive, in substandard condition, or both. According to U.S. Census data, approximately, 1.5 million rural homes—or about 5.9 percent—are in substandard condition. The poverty rate for rural areas, estimated at 18.1 percent according to the Economic Research Service, is both higher and more concentrated than the urban (15.1 percent) and national (15.5 percent) poverty rates. Overall, 82 percent of high-poverty counties—or 571 of the 703 counties with at least a 20 percent poverty rate—are rural. And, 86 percent of the nation’s “persistently poor” counties are rural, as well.

Additionally, 30 percent of rural families (more than 8 million) spend more than 30 percent of their monthly gross income on housing. These households are considered “cost burdened,” and are likely to struggle to pay for other basic needs, such as health care and child care.
USDA Rural Housing homeownership and rental housing programs have a proven track record of overcoming these barriers to affordable housing in rural America. By providing low-cost loans, grants, and other related assistance, these key programs have not only helped millions of rural families improve their quality of life, but have created thousands of jobs in rural America. In 2017, RHS assisted over 130,000 rural families in improving their housing conditions through home ownership loans, home repair loans and grants and rental and farmworker housing programs and provided over 468,000 units of affordable, safe rental housing.

The 2013 Drinking Water Needs Assessment indicated a national need of $64.5 billion for small systems[3] (systems that serve 3,300 or fewer persons) in the 50 states, Puerto Rico and other U.S. Territories. This represents 17.4 percent of total national need and comprises some 41,000 systems (82.8 percent of all systems) and 24 percent of the population. The need of water systems in American Indians and Alaska Native villages totals $3.3 billion.

USDA’s Water and Sewer loan and grant financing program is a key component of economic development in rural America. Every water and wastewater construction dollar generates nearly $15 of private investment and adds $14 to the local property tax base. The agency boasts a portfolio of more than 18,000 active water/sewer loans, more than 19 million rural residents served, and a delinquency rate of just 0.18 percent.[1] Fiscal Year 2017, USDA funded 736 projects serving 2.3 million people in small rural communities of 10,000 people or less.

We urge the Subcommittee to support the Mutual Self-Help Program, Section 502 Direct Loans homeownership loans, rental assistance, new multi-family construction and preservation, farmworker housing as well as water sewer financing. All provide critical support to rural populations, improve rural communities and create jobs.

Sincerely,

Sean Duffy and Jim Costa.

Categories
Blog Budget

FY 2019 Appropriations Request Forms

Below are appropriations request forms for FY 2019:

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New Census Report on 2015 Poverty and Income Highlights the Urban/Rural Divide

Over the past 8 years, rural and urban economies have generally exhibited similar economic trends. However, in 2015, there was a sharp divergence (click to enlarge).

Today, the US Census Bureau released their annual report on poverty and income. Economists predicted an increase of 1 to 2 percent in incomes in 2015, but the report showed a surprising 5.2 percent increase. A closer look at the data reveals a stark contrast between the economy in urban and rural communities.

Urban Areas on the Rise

Over the past 8 years, rural and urban economies have generally exhibited similar economic trends. However, in 2015, there was a sharp divergence (click to enlarge).
Over the past 8 years, rural and urban economies have generally exhibited similar economic trends. However, in 2015, there was a sharp divergence (click to enlarge).

Inside of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), median incomes grew by 6 percent. Much of that growth was confined to cities dwellers, whose incomes rose by 7.3 percent compared to suburban and exurban residents, whose incomes rose by a more modest 4 percent. This is the largest increase in median income since before the Great Recession.

The poverty rate declined in MSAs, dropping from 14.4 percent in 2014 to 13.0 in 2015. Inside MSA cities, poverty dropped sharply, from 18.9 percent in 2014 to 16.8 percent in 2015, and in the surrounding suburbs, it dropped from 11.8 percent in 2014 to 10.8 percent in 2015.

Rural Communities Continue to Stagnate

In 2015, rural* median incomes declined by 2 percent, which is just inside of the margin of error.  Poverty remained stagnant, increasing a statistically insignificant 0.2 percent in 2015 and settling at 16.7 percent.

Regardless of whether the decline in rural economic conditions was statistically significant in 2015, it is clear that rural communities were left behind last year as our economy continued to grow modestly. Rural mortality and out-migration continues to hinder growth in small towns and farming communities. In fact, the number of rural residents living in poverty actually declined by about 10 percent, from 8.2 million in 2014 to 7.4 million in 2015, but because of population loss, this decline was not reflected in an accompanying decline in the overall poverty rate.

*Includes both micropolitan statistical areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas

Crossposted at the National Rural Housing Coalition