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The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services (FSC): Housing and Insurance Subcommittee held a hearing today called “The Future of Housing in America: Oversight of the Rural Housing Service,” according to a memorandum written by the FSC majority staff. The hearing was intended to provide members with the chance to receive information from the Rural Housing Service (RHS) on its budget priorities for fiscal year 2016, the agency’s overall performance, and its future goals and challenges.
This was a one-panel hearing with witnesses, Tony Hernandez, RHS administrator, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Mathew Scire, RHS director, financial markets and community investment, U.S. Government Accountability Office, the memo says.
The RHS is a federal agency housed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is responsible for providing affordable housing for low-to moderate-income rural families. The agency was established by Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (P.L.81-171). RHS is requesting a total budget authority of $1.39 billion for its FY 2016 budget proposal that will support a program level of approximately $28.73 billion in loans, loan guarantees, grants, and technical assistance.
“RHS programs are intended to facilitate homeownership, develop rental housing, and promote community development through loan and grant programs in rural communities plagued by poverty, substandard homes, housing shortages, costly development, and inadequate access to mortgage loans,” the FSC staff wrote.
A community must meet the statutory definition of “rural area” in order to qualify for the RHS programs. The most recent decennial census data says that as of September 30, 2014, a community’s populations must not exceed 35,000, the area must be rural in character, and the area must have a serious lack of mortgage credit for lower-and moderate-income families. If an area meets these requirements it can continue to remain eligible until new decennial census data emerges in 2020.
Single-Family RHS Programs:
- Housing Direct Loan Program
- Housing Guaranteed Loans
- Rural Housing Repair and Rehabilitation Loans
- Rural Housing Repair and Rehabilitation Grants
- Mutual Self-Help Housing Loans
- Rural Housing Site Loans
- Self-Help Technical Assistance Grant
To view complete memo: FinancialServices.House.gov
