RCAC Home Page > News and Publications >

New Report Shows How Federal Programs Help Low-Income Rural Families Become Homeowners

Section 502 Direct Loans and Self-Help Housing top list of cost-effective federal housing programs

January 10, 2013

ByNational Rural Housing Coalition

 

 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- A new report issued by the National Rural Housing Coalition details how two USDA programs have expanded homeownership opportunities to the nation's poorest rural families – at little expense to the federal government.

Over the past 60 years, more than 2.1 million low-income rural families have accessed affordable mortgages under the Section 502 Direct Loan program, which is credited with building more than $40 billion in wealth for the nation's rural poor. The Section 523 Mutual Self-Help Housing program is the only federal homeownership program of its kind; small groups of six to twelve rural families join together on nights and weekends to build each other's homes, reducing construction costs, earning equity, and making lasting investments in their communities.

Read more here at sacbee.com  >> 

Back