Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack today kicked off National Homeownership Month by highlighting USDA’s ongoing role to help people buy homes in rural areas.
“Owning a home helps promote stable communities and is one of the best ways American families can build wealth,” Vilsack said. “During the Obama Administration, USDA has helped more than 1 million rural families and individuals realize their dream of homeownership. This year, our celebration of National Homeownership Month will focus on some of the many organizations that have worked with us to make this achievement possible.”
José Otero-García, USDA Rural Development State Director for Puerto Rico indicated that USDA has invested $2,618,949,518 since 2009 to support rural homeownership. In 2015 alone, the Department invested $277,156,277 million to help 2,464 rural families buy or make repairs and safety upgrades to their homes.
USDA builds strong relationships with lenders, home builders, realtors, community developments organizations, non-profits, and housing finance authorities to provide homeownership opportunities to very-low, low and moderate income individual in rural areas.
USDA recently announced a series of changes that will make faster and cheaper for rural homeowners with USDA backed mortgages to refinance their loans and save money with a lower interest rate. The changes take effect June 2, 2016. Interested homeowners with USDA loan guarantees should contact their lender about refinance procedures. Homeowners with mortgages through USDA’s Direct Loan program should contact a USDA housing specialist.
In addition to mortgage financing, USDA provides grants and loans to help rural homeowners make improvements or repairs, such as removing health and safety hazards or making accessibility modification for people with disabilities. Since USDA’s single family housing programs were created in 1949, USDA has helped more than 3 million rural residents become homeowners.
Since 2009, USDA Rural Development has invested $11 billion to start or expand 103,000 rural business; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes, funded nearly 7,000 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; financed 180, 000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses.
For additional information, please, contact Miguel Ramírez, Public Affairs Coordinator at (787) 766-5708 or visit www.usda.gov/pr.