Rural Housing Service 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's (RHS) intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the program for ``Self-Help Technical Assistance Grants'' (7 CFR part 1944, subpart I).

The Agencies are revising their disbursement of funds regulations. This action is necessary since existing regulations do not accurately reflect the current disbursement methodologies employed by the Agencies. The intended effect is to simplify and update the regulations; to eliminate reference to the obsolete Loan Disbursement System; clarify Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) insurance coverage; and eliminate reference to the now defunct Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). These amended regulations are to ensure the Agencies' field offices have current guidance on the disbursement methods available and supervised bank accounts.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the program for 7 CFR Part 3550, Direct Single Family Housing Loans and Grants and its accompanying Handbooks.

This Notice announces the availability of approximately $6 million of grant funds for the RCDI program through the Rural Housing Service (RHS), herein referred to as the Agency. Applicants must provide matching funds in an amount at least equal to the Federal grant. These grants will be made to qualified intermediary organizations that will provide financial and technical assistance to recipients to develop their capacity and ability to undertake projects related to housing, community facilities, or community and economic development. This Notice lists the information needed to submit an application for these funds.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is amending its regulations to update the list of designated counties for Housing Application Packaging Grants (HAPG). Under section 509 of the Housing Act of 1949, grants are provided to package housing applications for loans under sections 502, 504, 514, 515, and 524 and grants under section 533 in colonias and designated underserved counties. The intended effect is to make eligible applicants, including public and private nonprofit organizations and State and local governments, aware of the new list of designated counties, which was based on the 2000 census data.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's intention to request an extension for a currently approved information collection in support of the program for the Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) announces the availability of funds and the timeframe to submit applications for loans to private non-profit organizations, or such non-profit organizations' affiliate loan funds and State housing finance agencies, to carry out a housing demonstration program to provide revolving loans for the preservation and revitalization of low-income multi-family housing. Housing that is assisted by this demonstration program must be financed by RHS through its multi-family housing loan program under Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949. This demonstration program will be achieved through loans made to intermediaries that establish programs for the purpose of providing loans to ultimate recipients for the preservation and revitalization of Section 515 multi-family housing as affordable housing.

The Agency is revising its disbursement of funds regulations. This action is necessary since existing regulations do not accurately reflect the current disbursement methodologies employed by the Agency. The intended effect is to simplify and update the regulations. These amended regulations are to ensure the Agencies' field offices have current guidance on the disbursement methods available.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) announces that it is soliciting competitive applications under its Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) program. The HPG program is a grant program which provides qualified public agencies, private nonprofit organizations, and other eligible entities grant funds to assist very low- and low-income homeowners in repairing and rehabilitating their homes in rural areas. In addition, the HPG program assists rental property owners and cooperative housing complexes in repairing and rehabilitating their units if they agree to make such units available to low- and very low- income persons. This action is taken to comply with Agency regulations found in 7 CFR part 1944, subpart N, which require the Agency to announce the opening and closing dates for receipt of pre-applications for HPG funds from eligible applicants. The intended effect of this Notice is to provide eligible organizations notice of these dates.

This NOFA announces the timeframe to submit applications for section 515 Rural Rental Housing (RRH) loan funds, including applications for the nonprofit set-aside for eligible nonprofit entities, the set-aside for the most Underserved Counties and Colonias (Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act), and the set-aside for Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/ECs) and Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) zones. This document describes the methodology that will be used to distribute funds, the application process, submission requirements, and areas of special emphasis or consideration.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is withdrawing the direct final rule to change the threshold for surety requirements, published on January 7, 2005 (70 FR 1325-26). RHS stated in the direct final rule that if it received adverse comments by March 8, 2005, the agency would publish a timely notice of withdrawal in the Federal Register. RHS subsequently received adverse comments and, therefore, is withdrawing the direct final rule.

The Rural Housing Service is delaying implementation of selected sections of the interim final rule published on November 26, 2004 (69 FR 69032-69176). The interim final rule contains requirements regarding citizenship eligibility about which the Agency received several comments. The comments suggested that Agency procedures unnecessarily imposed more requirements than those required under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) procedures for similar programs. As a result the Agency has decided to delay implementation of the sections listed below in order to harmonize its procedures with HUD under 42 U.S.C. 1436a.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is correcting a notice published October 27, 2004 (69 FR 62639-62648). This action is taken to correct the program requirement and eligibility criteria for the location of the low-income rural community office that will be receiving the financial and technical assistance. This correction provides clarification to applicants on how to determine 80 percent of the median household income for a low-income community location. This correction also extends the application deadline date from January 25, 2005, to February 25, 2005. Accordingly, the notice published October 27, 2004 (69 FR 62639- 62648), is corrected as follows: On page 62640, in the second column, under the heading Program Requirements, number 1 should read: ``1. The recipient and beneficiary, but not the intermediary must be located in an eligible rural area. The location of the low-income rural community office that will be receiving the financial and technical assistance must be in a community with a median household income at or below, 80 percent of the State or national median household income. The applicable Rural Development State Office can assist in determining the eligibility of an area. A listing of Rural Development State Offices is included in this Notice.'' On page 62640, in the third column, under the heading Program Requirements, number 3 should read: ``3. Documentation must be submitted to verify recipient eligibility. Acceptable documentation varies depending on the type of recipient: Private nonprofit community- based housing and development organizations must provide a letter confirming its tax-exempt status from the IRS, a certificate of incorporation and good standing from the Secretary of State, or other similar and valid documentation of nonprofit status; for low-income rural community recipients, the Agency requires: (a) evidence the entity is a public body, and (b) census data verifying that the median household income of the community where the office receiving the financial and technical assistance is located is at, or below, 80 percent of the State or national median household income; for federally recognized tribes, the Agency needs the page listing their name from the current Federal Register list of tribal entities recognized and eligible for funding services (see the definition of federally recognized tribes for details on this list).'' On page 62639, in the second column, under the heading Dates paragraph should read: ``The deadline for receipt of an application is 4 p.m. eastern time February 25, 2005. The application date and time are firm. The Agency will not consider any application received after the deadline.'' On page 62642, in the third column, under the heading Submission Dates and Times the second paragraph should read: ``The deadline for receipt of an application is 4 p.m. eastern time on February 25, 2005. The application deadline date and hour are firm and apply to submission of the original application to the National Office in Washington, DC. The Agency will not consider any application received after the deadline. A listing of Rural Development State Offices, their addresses, telephone numbers, and person to contact is provided elsewhere in this Notice.''

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is amending its regulations for the Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program (GRRHP). Under the GRRHP, RHS guarantees loans for the development of housing and related facilities for low or moderate-income families in rural areas. RHS administers the GRRHP under the authority of the Housing Act of 1949. The GRRHP regulations are being amended to allow RHS, in the case of a default, to buy back guaranteed loans from investors, lower the minimum level of rehabilitation work when guaranteed loans are used for acquisition and rehabilitation, and clarify certain matters involving Ginnie Mae. These regulatory changes are made to increase participation by the secondary mortgage market in the GRRHP.