Opening Doors to Rural Homeownership

The purpose of this report is to document successful federal strategies for providing affordable housing to low-income rural families. Because homeownership is the predominate form of housing in rural America, this report focuses on homeownership programs administered by the u.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its Rural Housing Service (RHS).in particular, this report analyzes the impact of the Section 502 Direct Loan program and the Section 523 Mutual Self-Help Housing program. By examining the successful track records of these programs, and by adopting practical measures to expand and improve their performance, our nation can better address the unique housing challenges in rural America.