HYDE-SMITH, COLLEAGUES INTRODUCE RURAL HOUSING AFFORDABILITY LEGISLATION
Bipartisan FARM Home Loan Act Would Expand Access to Farm Credit System Home Loan Assistance in Mississippi, Nationwide
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), along with four fellow members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation to boost rural economic growth by helping more homebuyers qualify for housing assistance through the Farm Credit System.
The FARM (Fostering the Availability of Rural Markets) Home Loans Act (S.4182) would modernize a 55-year-old authority given to the Farm Credit System to provide credit for rural homes by increasing the population eligibility limits from 2,500 to 10,000. If enacted, more than 300,000 more Mississippians would become eligible for rural housing assistance.
“It is too hard for too many people to land a home mortgage by coming up with traditional down payments, especially in rural communities. The FARM Home Loans Act would change that by allowing the Farm Credit System to broaden the use of its flexible lending assistance to help qualify tens of thousands of rural families and individuals in Mississippi for homeownership,” Senator Hyde-Smith said. “I support this bipartisan effort to bring outdated population eligibility limits into the 21st century.”
Under the Farm Credit Act of 1971, farm credit institutions can only lend to homebuyers in areas with a population of 2,500 or less. If this bill were to be enacted, 29.9 million homebuyers across the country, including more than 1.8 million in Mississippi, would be newly eligible to apply for flexible home loan assistance.
The reforms in the FARM Home Loans Act, which also extend to accessory dwellings, would more closely align the Farm Credit System population limits with U.S. Department of Agriculture rural housing program lending eligibility requirements.
S.4182 was introduced by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Hyde-Smith, all of whom serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Hyde-Smith also chairs the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee.
U.S. Representatives Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) have introduced the legislation (HR. 6720) in the House.
The legislation has been endorsed by First South Farm Credit, SouthernAg Credit, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Farm Credit Council, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, the National Cooperative Business Association, and the Housing Assistance Council.
The FARM Home Loans Act was highlighted in an NBC News story on March 31.
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