What does this program do?
This program provides payments to owners of USDA-financed Rural Rental Housing or Farm Labor Housing projects on behalf of low-income tenants unable to pay their full rent.
Who may apply for this program?
- Project owners as part of their Rural Rental Housing or Farm Labor Housing new construction financing applications
- Rural Rental Housing and Farm Labor Housing projects must be established on a nonprofit or limited profit basis
What is an eligible area?
Rental Assistance can only be provided for apartments in new or existing Rural Rental Housing and Farm Labor Housing financed properties.
How may funds be used?
Payments are made on behalf of the tenants and become part of the property’s income, which pays operational expenses.
Who may receive assistance?
Properties with low- or very low-income (1) tenants qualify to receive assistance. Properties with very low-income tenants receive first priority.
How do we get started?
Rental Assistance is coupled with an application for new construction financing under the Rural Rental Housing or Farm Labor Housing programs.
Current Rural Rental Housing or Farm Labor Housing owners may contact your designated regional coordinator listed on the Contact tab for more information on the availability of Rental Assistance.
Who can answer questions?
Find a regional contact on the Contact tab, or you can find local contact information at Rural Rental Properties.
What governs this program?
- Code of Federal Regulation, 7 CFR 3560-Subpart F
- This program is authorized by Title V of the Housing Act of 1949
NOTE: Because citations and other information may be subject to change please always consult the program instructions listed in the section above titled "What Law Governs this Program?" For questions, contact your designated regional director listed on the Contact tab.
(1) Very-low- and low-income: Very-low-income is below 50% of area median income; low-income is 50-80% of area median income.
Information on how to apply can be provided by a Rural Development specialist in your area. Contact information can be found on the contact tab.
There are no other additional requirements.
On October 11, 2020 Rural Development’s Multifamily Housing Program finalized its structural realignment which, in some cases, redistributed the existing portfolio to a servicing Specialist within our new Field Operations Division. If you are looking for the servicing Specialist for a specific property, you will find a complete and sortable list here: https://www.sc.egov.usda.gov/data/MFH.html
Our Field Operations Division maintains local relationships through regionally organized servicing teams and handles all day-today servicing of Multifamily housing properties to ensure that tenants have safe and affordable housing. The four regions and the contact information for each Regional Director follows:
Western Region: Becki Meyer, Regional Director, MFHFODWest@usda.gov
(AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)
Southern Region: Byron Waters, Regional Director, MFHFODSouth@usda.gov
(AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, PR, SC, TN, TX, VI)
Midwest Region: Eric Siebens, Regional Director, MFHFODMidwest@usda.gov
(IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)
Northeast Region: Donna O'Brien, Regional Director, MFHFODNortheast@usda.gov
(CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV)
If you need information on a loan transaction currently in process, or have questions on a new transaction, our Production & Preservation Division (PPD) processes, underwrites, and closes all multifamily direct, preservation, and guaranteed loan transactions. PPD will support all the Multifamily Housing Programs, including 515, 538, Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR), prepayments, and preservation efforts. This division will also oversee Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) drafting and administration efforts for Farm Labor Housing, Housing Preservation Grants, MPR, technical assistance, and 515. The email contact information for the Production & Preservation Division follows:
Processing and Report Review Branch 1 MFHprocessing1@usda.gov
(CT, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, VA, VT, WI, WV)
Processing and Report Review Branch 2
MFHprocessing2@usda.gov
(AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, KY, LA, MS, MT, NC, NM, NV, OK, OR, PR, SC, TN, TX, UT, VI, WA, WY)
For upcoming stakeholder listening sessions and other event announcements, please subscribe for emailed updates here.