Rural Housing Preservation Grants

 

To assist very low- and low-income rural residents individual homeowners, rental property owners (single/multi-unit) or by providing the consumer cooperative housing projects (co-ops) the necessary assistance to repair or rehabilitate their dwellings. These objectives will be accomplished through the establishment of repair/rehabilitation, projects run by eligible applicants. This program is intended to make use of and leverage any other available housing programs which provide resources to very low and low-income rural residents to bring their dwellings up to development standards.

Active 10.433 Rural Housing Service, Department of Agriculture B - Project Grants Not applicable. Housing Act of 1949, as amended, Section 533, Public Law 98-181, 42 U.S.C. 1480. Must be a State or political subdivision, public nonprofit corporation, Indian tribal corporations, authorized to receive and administer housing preservation grants, private nonprofit corporation, or a consortium of such eligible entities. Applicants must provide assistance under this program to persons residing in open country and communities with a population of 10,000 that are rural in character and places with a population of up to 20,000 under certain conditions. Applicants in towns with population of 10,000 to 20,000 should check with local Rural Development office to determine if the Agency can serve them. Assistance is authorized for eligible applicants in the United States, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and the territories and possessions of the United States. Very low and low-income rural individuals and families who are homeowners and need resources to bring their housing up to code standards, rental property owners, or co-ops. Applicants must have the financial, legal, administrative, and operational capacity to carry out the objectives of the program by having experience in rural housing rehabilitation. Preapplication coordination is required. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. An environmental impact assessment is required for this listing. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/housing-preservation-grants 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. The Section 533 program is awarded through a Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) announced in the Federal Register. Award is made by the Rural Development State Director. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Notice of action taken on preapplications will be generally within 60 days of final date of acceptance of preapplication. Applicants may request reconsideration on the basis of pertinent facts concerning their application within 30 days of notification of action taken on the preapplication or application. Not applicable. Projects must provide a feasible repair rehabilitation program and serve areas with a concentration of substandard housing and very low and low-income persons. In addition, the following criteria will be considered in the selection of grant recipients. Each preapplication and its accompanying statement of activities will be evaluated on: (1) The percentage of very low-income persons assisted; (2) the percentage of use of HPG funds to total cost of housing preservation; (3) the applicant's administrative capacity and experience in (i) housing rehabilitation or weatherization, (ii) assisting very low and low-income persons attain housing assistance and (iii) prior programs no outstanding audits findings; (4) the proposed program will be undertaken in non-Metropolitan Statistical Areas identified by Rural Development as having populations below 10,000 or in remote parts of other rural areas, (i.e., rural areas contained in Metropolitan Statistical Areas with less than 5,000 population); (5) the program will minimize the use of grant funds for administrative purposes, i.e., less than 20 percent of grant funds; (6) the program will alleviate overcrowding in rural residences inhabited by very low and low-income families; and (7) if an existing grantee has met the objectives of its current grant. Organizations may use less than 20 percent of the Housing Preservation Grant funds for program administration purposes, such as to hire the personnel to carry out a project of housing rehabilitation to meet the needs of very low and low- income persons in rural areas; to pay necessary and reasonable office and administrative expenses; and to pay reasonable fees for training of organization personnel. Eighty percent or more of funds must be used for loans, grants or other assistance on individual homes, homeowners, rental properties or co-ops to pay any part of the cost for repair or rehabilitation of structures; funds may not be used to hire personnel to perform construction or to pay any debts, expenses or costs other than previously outlined and approved in the project application. Not applicable. Periodic audits should be made as part of the recipient's system of financial management and internal control to meet terms and conditions of grants and other agreements. Grantees shall maintain adequate records and accounts to assure that grant funds are used for authorized purposes. Statutory Formula: Title 7 CFR 1940-L Methhodology and Formulas for Allocation of Loan and Grant Funds

Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Grants are made for a 12-month period. Agency consent is required for grants that exceed 1 year. The highest-ranking applicant(s) will be selected based on allocation of funds available to the state. Points are awarded based on; (1) percentage of very low-income persons that the applicant proposes to assist (2) percentage of HPG funds (excluding administrative costs) to total fund (3) demonstration of administrative capacity in assisting very low- and low-income persons to obtain adequate housing based on the organization or a member of its staff having at least one or more years experience successfully managing and operating; (a) a rehabilitation or weatherization type program, (b)a program assisting very low and low-income persons obtain housing assistance, (c) grant programs, there are no outstanding or unresolved audit or investigative findings which might impair carrying out the proposal. (4) The proposed program will be undertaken entirely in rural areas outside Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), as defined in 7 CFR 1944.656. (5) The program will use less than 20 percent of HPG funds for administration purposes. (6) The proposed program contains a component for alleviating overcrowding as defined in 7 CFR 1944.656, (7) In the event more than one preapplication receives the same amount of points, those pre-applications will then be ranked based on the actual percentage figure used for determining the points as described in the NOSA published in the Federal Register. Consult your local telephone directory under U.S. Department of Agriculture for Rural Development county or district office numbers or visit the website http://www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices for a State Office listing. Multi-Family Housing, Preservation and Direct Loan Division, Rural Development
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20250-0788 US
Bonnie.Edwards@wdc.usda.gov
Phone: 202-720-1604 https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/housing-preservation-grants 12-1953-0-1-604 (Project Grants) FY 18$10,742,667.00; FY 19 est $15,888,420.00; FY 20 FY 17$4,890,755.00; FY 16$3,800,000.00; - For fiscal year 2019, approximately 130 plus grants were awarded to provide assistance to 2,200 plus units. 7 CFR 1944-N, Section 1944.651 through 1944.700, RD Instruction 1944-N. Regulations are available from Rural Development State offices. Not applicable.