Rural Housing Service 2020 – 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 a revision of a currently approved information collection in support of the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) grant program.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency) proposes to amend the current regulation for the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) to mandate the use of the Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS) and the Lender Loan Closing System (LLC) by approved lenders. The Agency's proposal to mandate the use of GUS in loan originations and the LLC for loan closings will allow the Agency to decrease time-consuming and expensive manual file reviews, improve performance monitoring and reduce program risk of the guaranteed loan portfolio.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency) is proposing to amend its regulation to implement changes related to the development of a sustainable plan for the Rental Assistance (RA) program, including new Agency flexibilities in the managing of the RA distribution and integrate new asset management policies. The regulation changes are designed to provide flexibility, more economically utilize the RA, and to improve the efficiency in managing the assets in the Direct Loan portfolio.

The Rural Utilities Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Housing Service, agencies that comprise the Rural Development Mission Area within the United States Department of Agriculture, are issuing this final rule to establish the authority authorized by Section 6210 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which will assist rural families and small businesses in gaining access to broadband service by permitting recipients of a loan, grant, or loan guarantee from RD to use up to 10 percent of the amount provided to construct broadband infrastructure in areas not served by minimum acceptable level of broadband service. This rule describes the procedures by which these agencies will consider projects eligible for special broadband authority.

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

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Housing Service, and the Rural Utilities Service, agencies of the Rural Development mission area within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Agency, are proposing a unified guaranteed loan platform for enhanced delivery of four of its existing guaranteed loan programs: Community Facilities (CF) administered by the Rural Housing Service; Water and Waste Disposal (WWD) administered by the Rural Utilities Service; and, Business and Industry (B&I) and Rural Energy for America (REAP) administered by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Collectively, these four Rural Development's guaranteed loan programs work to assist in building and maintaining sustainable rural communities. This rule incorporates new and revised provisions intended to simplify, improve, expand and enhance the delivery of the four guaranteed loan programs. These provisions include, among others, clearly defining specific project eligibility criteria, revising the requirements for lenders to participate in the programs, and streamlining the documentation requirements for submission of guaranteed loan applications.

The general debt management regulations of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide that individual USDA agencies may issue regulations for their own specific debt collection activities principally in recognition that the agencies conducted debt collection activities prior to the enactment of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA). Many of the provisions of individual agencies are redundant to part 3. This rule will eliminate the debt collection regulations of the following USDA agencies, and part 3 will be revised to include specific provisions used by these agencies: the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC); the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), and the Farm Service Agency (FSA). In addition, as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Civil Penalties Act), this rule updates the size of civil monetary penalties to reflect inflationary adjustments for 2020.

The Rural Housing Service, hereinafter referred to as the Agency, will temporarily allow borrowers with direct loans within the Community Facilities (CF) Program to request payment deferrals during the period specified in the DATES section of this notification. This temporary authorization applies to CF direct loan borrowers who are experiencing temporary cash flow issues due to the Coronavirus (COVID- 19) pandemic. The Agency will provide the option of principal and interest payment deferrals to borrowers impacted by COVID-19 for up to one year due to hardship on a case-by-case basis.

The Rural-Business Cooperative Service (RBCS), Rural Housing Service (RHS), and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) agencies of the Rural Development mission area, hereinafter referred to as Agency, issued a notification in the Federal Register on March 31, 2020, that allows lenders with guaranteed loans with the Agency to unilaterally offer payment deferrals for the period specified in the notice to their customers who may be experiencing temporary cash flow issues due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This notification supplements the prior notification and includes additional servicing flexibilities regarding Agency guaranteed loan requirements as they relate to the new loans that are covered by Section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the above-named agency to request Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a revision of a currently approved information collection in support of the Single- Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the above-named Agencies to request Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a revision of a currently approved information collection in support of the servicing of Community and Direct Business Programs Loans and Grants.

The Rural Housing Service (Agency), an Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the acceptance of applications under the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) program. 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 that will support the community. This Notice announces that the Agency is accepting fiscal year (FY) 2020 applications for the RCDI program. Successful applications will be selected by the Agency for funding and subsequently awarded from funds appropriated for the RCDI program. The Agency will publish the amount of funding on its website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/notices- solicitation-applications-nosas.

As part of the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, 2019, dated June 6, 2019, the Rural Housing Service's Community Facilities (CF) Technical Assistance and Training (TAT) Grant Program is making available $7,500,000 in supplemental grant funding for eligible expenses related to the consequences of Hurricanes Michael and Florence and wildfires occurring in calendar year 2018, tornadoes and floods occurring in calendar year 2019, and other natural disasters. Any funds not awarded under this funding notice will be transferred to the CF Disaster Grant Program. The authority for the Agency to administer the CF TAT Grant Program is provided in Section 6006 of the Agriculture Act of 2014. The grant funds will be administered in accordance with this notice of funds availability.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Rural Housing Service (RHS) invites comments on this information collection for which approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be requested. The intention is to request a revision for a currently approved information collection in support of the program for Community Facility Loans.