The Secretary may make commitments to guarantee eligible loans for the development costs of eligible housing and related facilities, and may guarantee such eligible loans, in accordance with this section.
A guarantee made under this section shall guarantee repayment of an amount not exceeding the total of the amount of the unpaid principal and interest of the loan for which the guarantee is made. The liability of the United States under any guarantee under this section shall decrease or increase pro rata with any decrease or increase of the amount of the unpaid portion of the obligation.
A loan guaranteed under this section may be made to a nonprofit organization, an agency or body of any State government or political subdivision thereof, an Indian tribe, or a private entity.
The Secretary shall establish a list of eligible lenders and shall annually conduct an audit of each lender included in the list for purposes of determining whether such lender continues to be an eligible lender.
At the time of issuance of a loan guaranteed under this section, the Secretary may collect from the lender a fee equal to not more than 1 percent of the principal obligation of the loan.
The Secretary may authorize certain eligible lenders to determine whether a loan meets the requirements for guarantee under this section and, subject to the availability of authority to enter into guarantees under this section, execute a firm commitment for a guarantee binding upon the Secretary and issue a certificate of guarantee evidencing a guarantee, without review and approval by the Secretary of the specific loan. The Secretary may establish standards for approving eligible lenders for a delegation of authority under this subsection.
In the event of default by the borrower on a loan guaranteed under this section, the holder of the guarantee certificate for the loan shall provide written notice of the default to the Secretary.
After receiving notice under paragraph (1) and providing written notice of action under this paragraph to the Secretary, the holder of the guarantee certificate for the loan may initiate foreclosure proceedings for the loan in a court of competent jurisdiction, in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary, to obtain possession of the security property. After the court issues a final order authorizing foreclosure on the property, the holder of the certificate shall be entitled to payment by the Secretary under the guarantee (in the amount provided under subsection (b)) upon (A) submission to the Secretary of a claim for payment under the guarantee, and (B) assignment to the Secretary of all the claims of the holder of the guarantee against the borrower or others arising out of the loan transaction or foreclosure proceedings, except claims released with the consent of the Secretary.
After receiving notice under paragraph (1), the Secretary may accept assignment of the loan if the Secretary determines that the assignment is in the best interests of the United States. Assignment of a loan under this paragraph shall include conveyance to the Secretary of title to the security property, assignment to the Secretary of all rights and interests arising under the loan, and assignment to the Secretary of all claims against the borrower or others arising out of the loan transaction. Upon assignment of a loan under this paragraph, the holder of a guarantee certificate for the loan shall be entitled to payment by the Secretary under the guarantee (in the amount provided under subsection (b)).
Before any payment under a guarantee is made under paragraph (2) or (3), the holder of the guarantee certificate shall exhaust all reasonable possibilities of collection on the loan guaranteed. Upon payment, in whole or in part, to the holder, the note or judgment evidencing the debt shall be assigned to the United States and the holder shall have no further claim against the borrower or the United States. The Secretary shall then take such action to collect as the Secretary determines appropriate.
The Secretary may cancel a delegation of authority under subsection (h) to an eligible lender if the Secretary determines that the lender has violated the requirements and procedures for guaranteed loans under this section or for other good cause. Any such cancellation shall be made by giving notice to the eligible lender and shall take effect upon receipt of the notice by the mortgagee or at a later date, as the Secretary may provide. A decision by the Secretary to cancel a delegation shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial review.
Any loan guaranteed under this section may be refinanced and extended in accordance with terms and conditions that the Secretary shall prescribe, but in no event for an additional amount or term that exceeds the limitations under subsection (f).
The Secretary shall provide for an independent entity to conduct a study to determine the extent to which borrowers in the United States will utilize loan guarantees under this section, the rural areas in the United States in which borrowers can best utilize and most need loans guaranteed under this section, and the rural areas in the United States in which housing of the type eligible for a loan guarantee under this section is most needed by low- and moderate-income families. The Secretary shall require the independent entity conducting the study to submit a report to the Secretary and to the Congress describing the results of the study not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on March 28, 1996.
In providing loan guarantees under this section, the Secretary shall establish standards to target and give priority to rural areas in which borrowers can best utilize and most need loans guaranteed under this section, as determined by the Secretary based on the results of the study under paragraph (1) and any other information the Secretary considers appropriate.
Section 1471(c) of this title shall not apply to guarantees, or loans guaranteed, under this section.
The Secretary shall establish standards for the treatment of tenants of housing developed using amounts from a loan guaranteed under this section, which shall incorporate, to the extent applicable, existing standards applicable to tenants of housing developed with loans made under section 1485 of this title. Such standards shall include standards for fair housing and equal opportunity, lease and grievance procedures, and tenant appeals of adverse actions.
The standards established under section 1485(m) of this title for housing and related facilities assisted under section 1485 of this title shall apply to housing and related facilities the development costs of which are financed in whole or in part with a loan guaranteed under this section.
The authority of the Secretary to enter into commitments to guarantee loans under this section, and to guarantee loans, shall be effective for each fiscal year only to the extent that appropriations of budget authority to cover the costs (as such term is defined in section 661a of title 2) of the guarantees are made in advance for such fiscal year.
In each fiscal year, the Secretary may enter into commitments to guarantee loans under this section only to the extent that the costs of the guarantees entered into in such fiscal year do not exceed such amount as may be provided in appropriation Acts for such fiscal year.
The Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress, not later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on March 28, 1996, describing the program under this section for guaranteeing loans.
There are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year for costs (as such term is defined in section 661a of title 2) of loan guarantees made under this section such sums as may be necessary for such fiscal year to provide guarantees under this section for eligible loans having an aggregate principal amount of $500,000,000.
Any amounts collected by the Secretary pursuant to the fees charged to lenders for loan guarantees issued under this section shall be used to offset costs (as defined by section 661a of title 2) of loan guarantees made under this section.
In the event of a default involving a loan to an Indian tribe or tribal corporation made under this section which is secured by an interest in land within such tribe’s reservation (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), including a community in Alaska incorporated by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.),2 the lender shall only pursue liquidation after offering to transfer the account to an eligible tribal member, the tribe, or the Indian housing authority serving the tribe. If the lender subsequently proceeds to liquidate the account, the lender shall not sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of or alienate the property except to one of the entities described in the preceding sentence.