USDA Rural Development Celebrates Private-Public Partnership Resulting in Thousands of Rural Georgians Realizing Dreams of Homeownership
USDA Rural Development Georgia State Director Jill Stuckey today presented Homestar Financial Corporation with an Exceptional Lender award as part of USDA’s observance of National Homeownership Month.
“USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing program began in 1991 to help expand access to mortgage financing in rural areas. USDA Rural Development has field staff throughout the country who complement the work of lenders by servicing residents of small communities. This program gives rural residents the chance to qualify for a no-down payment loan through the lender of their choice,” Stuckey said. “Since 1991, more people have chosen Homestar than any other lender in Georgia. As with all our Guaranteed lenders, we highly value our partnership”.
Stuckey presented the award to Wes Hunt, head of Homestar Financial Corporation, for helping qualified rural residents obtain affordable mortgage financing. In the last year and a half, USDA and Homestar worked together to help over 650 low- and moderate-income families and individuals purchase homes in rural Georgia through USDA’s Guaranteed Loan Program.
“The Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee is a landmark USDA program that greatly expanded the availability of home loan financing for rural residents.” Stuckey said, "The Exceptional Lender award honors the collaboration of the private and public sectors that can make the dream of homeownership a reality for families all across rural Georgia." Since the program’s inception, of the nearly 45,000 loans made in Georgia by 475 lending partners under the USDA Rural Development’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program, more than 6,000 are financed with Homestar Financial Corporation.
If you are interested in buying a home in rural Georgia, contact your nearest USDA Rural Development Service Center.
USDA has invested more than $137 billion since 2009 to support rural homeownership across the country. In 2015 alone, the Department invested $19.5 billion to help more than 148,500 rural families buy or make repairs and safety upgrades to their homes. USDA created more homeownership opportunities through seven years of the Obama Administration than during any previous seven-year period in the single-family housing program's history.