RHS Provides $2.5B in New Loan Commitments

The Agriculture Department has reopened the Rural Housing Service single-family program by offering lenders $2.5 billion of conditional loan commitments, according to Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Tex. Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack informed Rep. Hinojosa, D-Tex, about the decision on May 26, the day the additional loan commitments became available. The Texas lawmaker who chairs the Congressional Rural Housing Caucus said the loan commitments would be available until they are exhausted. "The decision to increase the commitment authority even conditionally will provide the guarantees needed to assist rural families, local housing markets, create jobs and general new tax revenues," Rep. Hinojosa said. The RHS exhausted its $13.1 billion of loan commitment authority for fiscal 2010 on May 17. Instead of providing additional loan commitments, Congress wants to increase RHS' 2% upfront premium to 3.5%, which will cover the costs of new loan guarantees, making the program self-funding. The Senate included the RHS premium increase in an emergency supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 4899) that provides funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and natural disasters. The Senate passed the bill Thursday evening. The House is not expected to vote on final passage of H.R. 4899 until it returns from the Memorial Day recess on June 7.