I just received this update from Tom Thuss at Bank of Granite in Lenoir, NC about the current state of the USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Program:
As many of you are aware, the USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Program had been operating under a Congressional Continuing Funding Resolution that was approved in 10/08 and was supposed to provide sufficient funds for this program through the end of March. Due to unprecedented demand for USDA financing, the funding for this program was used up by early January. We have been forced to suspend the closing of any USDA loans until Congress gets additional funding approved. I am very confident that USDA will be funded soon but I do not know when that will occur. In the mean time, we are still able to handle your conventional, FHA and VA financing needs as usual. If one of your clients already has an application in process with me, their loans should close as expected.
If you have a client who wants to proceed with a USDA application, we can process and approve it so that it can close immediately after funding is approved. Obviously, this is going to require flexibility from your sellers.
Joseph Griffin
