The Rural Housing Service late last week re-opened its single-family loan program and it is guaranteeing new mortgages once again.
"Funding for the single-family housing guaranteed loan program is now available for fiscal year 2011 under the Continuing Resolution," RHS said in a notice to lenders.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture shut down the RHS program on Oct. 1 when funding issues cropped up about the continuing resolution that Congress passed to fund government operations through Dec. 3.
Congress may have to pass another CR if the lawmakers don't pass the USDA appropriations bill during the lame duck session that starts later this month. But lenders are hoping the CR won't cause a stoppage this time around.
Meanwhile, the RHS program has gone through a transformative year. RHS could not guarantee loans for most of the summer while Congress passed legislation to raise RHS premiums and make the program self-funding.
RHS is now charging homebuyers a 3.5% upfront premium and 1% upfront premium on refinancings. Previously, the upfront premium for homebuyers was 2% and 0.5% for refinancings.
