Kentucky Rural Housing USDA Loans will increase the annual guarantee fee from 0.4% to 0.5% of the unpaid principal balance for loans obligated on or after October 1, 2014. The upfront fee will remain at 2.0%.
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Kentucky USDA Rural Housing Guidelines for Student Loans:
Kentucky Student loans that are currently in repayment must have documentation to verify the current payment due (e.g. letter from a loan servicer, online account verifications, or other official written documentation). The credit report alone is not acceptable documentation. Verifications are valid for 120 days, 180 days for new construction. A fixed loan payment will not adjust over the repayment term. The payment listed on the documentation may be used for debt ratios.
Graduated repayment plans typically start with low payments and then adjust every 12 months or more. Regardless of when payment adjustments occur, lenders must utilize the highest payment documented on the repayment plan agreement in debt ratios.
Deferred student loans that are not in repayment status may use an estimated payment of 1% of the loan balance reflected on the credit report, or a verified fixed payment provided by the loan servicer to document the payment that will be due once deferment ends.
Kentucky Student loans with Income Based Repayment (IBR) plans of $0 are not eligible to be used in the debt ratio. The borrower must provide documentation of the IBR payment plan from the loan servicer. The following apply:
Groups Oppose Rural Development Cuts.
Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), have voiced similar concerns about the president’s budget. At a committee hearing earlier this month, Rogers claimed the proposed reductions demonstrate USDA’s “lack of respect for our rural communities and the constituents who have made these programs successful.”
Rogers cited NRHC members Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, Frontier Housing and the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE) as effective and successful organizations that have used USDA’s Self-Help Housing and Section 502 Direct Loan programs to help low-income, working families become homeowners.
Chairman Rogers voiced concern about how the president’s proposed cuts would affect families who benefit from these programs. For example, Rogers highlighted the story of a woman who had been the victim of extreme domestic abuse who called Kentucky Highlands hoping to find a home for herself and her young daughter. With some financial counseling and guidance from Kentucky Highlands, she was approved for a $66,000 Section 502 Direct Loan. And with the Self-Help Housing program, she was able to build her own home for about $35,000 less than it would have cost to hire a contractor. That means that today, she is living in a home that she can afford that she built with her own hands.
USDA has reported that this program has helped the agency save $1.5 million to date. “Because of this demonstration program, one of my constituents and his family were able to secure a 502 Direct Loan in half the time it normally takes for USDA to process the loans themselves. And because of that loan, he now lives in a new, energy-efficient, green home in Rowan County (Kentucky),” commented Rogers.
Section 502 Direct Homeownership Loans provide fixed-rate mortgages – with up to 38-year terms and subsidized interest rates as low as just one percent – to help low-income rural families gain access to clean, decent and affordable housing.
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An Introduction to Rural Housing Development Guaranteed Rural
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Housing Program
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RHD has several online resources to assist you with learning the eligibility rules and the calculations for the guarantee fees.
· Income and property eligibility: http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?NavKey=…
· USDA Lender Interactive Network Connection (LINC) website for training and job aids: https://usdalinc.sc.egov.usda.gov/USDALincTrainingResourceLib.do
· The Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS): https://www.eauth.usda.gov/MainPages/index.aspx
· Underwriting and Loan Closing Documentation Matrix: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/SupportDocuments/PR_UW_Loan_Closing_Matrix_Do…
· Rural Development Administrative Notices (ANs), which are RHD’s updates to their guidelines: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd-an_list.html
The GRH program is similar to a mortgage insurance program. The borrower may purchase a home at 100% LTV based on the appraised value on a 30 year fixed rate loan. The one time, upfront guarantee fee can be added to the loan as well. As a result, the total LTV on GRH loans is often between 100% – 103%. In addition to this upfront fee, the borrower will have monthly insurance premiums that are added to their qualifying housing expenses.
Kentucky USDA Mortgage Lender for Rural Housing Loans 