Rural Housing Service May 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural Housing Service (RHS), an agency within the USDA Rural Development mission area herein referred to as the Agency announces the availability of funding 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 lists the information needed to submit an application for these funds. This Notice contains revised evaluation criteria that are streamlined, in order to enhance program efficiency and delivery.

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 ``Section 515 Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) Demonstration Program for Fiscal Year 2006''.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency) is amending the current regulation for the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) on the subject of liquidation value appraisals. In order to reduce overall processing time, reduce cost, and expedite claim submission, lenders will order the liquidation value appraisal used to estimate a loss claim against the SFHGLP instead of the Agency. Currently, if a Real Estate Owned (REO) property remains unsold by the lender at the end of the permissible marketing period, the Agency orders a liquidation value appraisal and applies an acquisition and management resale factor to estimate holding and disposition cost. This amendment requires the servicing lender to order the liquidation value appraisal. The costs associated with obtaining the liquidation value appraisal can then be included in the liquidation costs paid under the guarantee.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the Rural Housing Service's (RHS) intention to request an extension for the currently approved information collection in support of our program for Complaints and Compensation for Construction Defects.

This document corrects errors in the final rule that appeared in the Federal Register of March 2, 2016, entitled ``Environmental Policies and Procedures.'' The rule replaced two existing rules relating to the Agency's procedures for implementing NEPA.

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or Agency) is amending the current regulation for the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) on the subjects of lender indemnification, refinancing, and qualified mortgage requirements. The Agency is expanding its lender indemnification authority for loss claims in the case of fraud, misrepresentation, or noncompliance with applicable loan origination requirements. This action is taken to continue the Agency's efforts to improve and expand the risk management of the SFHGLP. The Agency is amending its refinancing provisions to simply require that the new interest rate not exceed the interest rate on the original loan and to add a new refinance option, ``streamlined-assist.'' Finally, the agency is amending its regulation to indicate that a loan guaranteed by RHS is a Qualified Mortgage if it meets certain requirements set forth by the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau (CFPB).