In an attempt to streamline services of the U. S. Rural Housing Service (RHS), administrator Tony Hernandez says the agency is automating the loan approval process and lenders are willing to pay $50 for each loan to cover the cost, reducing the RHS need to seek financial support from Congress. “They will pay a fee so it is easier for them to close more loans, and get more people into homeownership,” Hernandez told a House appropriations subcommittee April 4, according to nationalmortgagenews.com. The approval is done manually, often using back and forth faxing, since the government shutdown disabled the automated system, resulting in many lenders and real estate agents shunning the United States Department of Agriculture program because of the long turnaround time, opting for FHA instead.
MHProNews.com has learned the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) support the modernization effort. Last year RHS lenders originated 163,000 federally guaranteed mortgages valued at $22.4 billion, up from $19.2 billion in 2012. ##
