Farm and rural mortgages

The latest plans include details on promoting housing development in underserved areas and increasing secondary market access to rural institutions.

The push comes amid what one expert highlighted as lax funding efforts for two Department of Housing and Urban Development grant programs.

The agency now sees applications for mortgage-recovery advances approaching 3,000 per month.

In a new report, the Government Accountability Office issued a list of recommendations for the department’s Native American Direct Loan program, which has benefited less than a tenth of one percent of eligible U.S. borrowers in 10 years.

But both fell short under the Duty to Serve goals in rural housing.

The legislation takes aim at third-party bank service vendors, the backlog of FHA appraisals, rural housing assistance and other issues where there is broad agreement.

Seeking to expand financial services access, tribal officials and some firms want regulators to award Community Reinvestment Act credit to any bank that funds projects in Native American communities.

The current debate around changes to the Community Reinvestment Act should include discussions about how the law can be used to better support low-income communities in remote areas.

Across rural America, the government shutdown has eliminated one of the best options for low-to-middle income homebuyers, a zero down payment mortgage from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The banking industry has long been critical of the government-sponsored enterprise, but the system could provide valuable banking services to large swaths of the country currently lacking access to them.

Freddie Mac is expanding its Home Possible loan program to allow borrowers in rural locations to use "sweat equity" for down payments and closing expenses.

Bankers complain that the quasi-governmental system's new program designed to make more residential loans in four states goes well beyond its original mission.

The dominant player in manufactured housing lauded the Trump administration's review of construction standards, but other commenters worry the plan will undermine housing quality.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. reported significant gains in new business volume, but also realized a big jump in 90-day delinquencies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service is piloting a new construction-to-permanent loan program after a previous venture in 2016 to spur construction lending in rural areas failed to attract many participants.

Housing finance reform proposals could make it challenging for community banks and credit unions to serve rural mortgage markets, according to a report issued Wednesday by Brookings and the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's Duty to Serve program must increase manufactured housing lending in rural communities.

Farmer Mac's second-quarter net earnings increased 46% year-over-year, driven by a boost in net interest income that was enhanced by its growing loan and securities portfolio.

New home purchase loan application activity reached its highest point in March as builders looked to fill the growing demand for housing.

The lender relationships resulted from a partnership the government-sponsored enterprise entered into with a non-profit housing group.