usda income and property eligibility user guide · welcome to income & property eligibility 1.0...

USDA Income and Property Eligibility

User Guide

Updated September 5, 2018

Version 1.3

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents Updated September 5, 2018 ......................................................................................................................................... 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................... 2

WELCOME TO INCOME & PROPERTY ELIGIBILITY ......................................................................................................... 3

2.0 WHO CAN USE THE SYSTEM? .......................................................................................................................... 3

3.0 WHO CAN I CONTACT FOR HELP? ................................................................................................................... 3

DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY ............................................................................................................................................ 4

4.0 HOME ............................................................................................................................................................... 4

5.0 USING THE ELIGIBILITY MAPS ........................................................................................................................... 4

6.0 SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING GUARANTEED ......................................................................................................... 6

7.0 SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING DIRECT .................................................................................................................... 8

8.0 MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING ............................................................................................................................... 11

9.0 RURAL BUSINESS ............................................................................................................................................ 11

10.0 WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL ...................................................................................................................... 12


WELCOME TO INCOME & PROPERTY ELIGIBILITY

1.0 WHAT IS THE SYSTEM FOR?

This site is used to determine eligibility for certain USDA home loan programs. In order to be eligible for many USDA loans, household income must meet certain guidelines. Also, the home to be purchased or served must be located in an eligible rural area as defined by USDA.

The site also allows you to determine whether or not you are eligible for a Water & Environmental loan.

2.0 WHO CAN USE THE SYSTEM?

The Eligibility site is a tool for anyone to use when trying to determine if they are eligible for a USDA loan, be it a property loan or a program loan. If you are eligible, the program’s website will direct you on how to apply.

3.0 WHO CAN I CONTACT FOR HELP?

If you have questions about a loan or a program, click the “Contact Us” link in the upper right hand corner of the Eligibility site to see a dropdown with the different programs available. Click on a program name to be directed to their contact information.


DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY

4.0 HOME

When you first access the Eligibility site, you will land on the Home page. To learn more about a program and whether or not you are eligible to apply, click one of the program links at the top of the screen. If this is your first time using the system, you must accept the property eligibility disclaimer, in order to access the eligibility map. If you do not accept the disclaimer, you will be returned to the Home page.

5.0 USING THE ELIGIBILITY MAPS

You have several options when trying to find an eligible property. If you enter in an address and click the “Go!” button, the map will zoom to that location and display a message, saying whether or not that address is located in an eligible area.

You can also zoom into a location by double-clicking on the map, using the scroll bar located on the left side of the screen, or scrolling in and out with your mouse. Once you have zoomed in close enough, click on the pushpin icon and click on the map. You will see a green push pin with a pop-up that displays the latitude and longitude of that location, as well as whether or not it is located in an eligible area. Addresses located in the tan areas of the map are ineligible for applications.

Note: To remove a pinned location, click the pushpin button again. To refresh a map and remove all addresses, you will need to click away from the screen and then back.


If you want to move a pinned location across the map, move your mouse cursor over the green pin and left click. This will change the mouse cursor from an arrow to a pointing hand.

Once you have the hand cursor, left click and drag the pin to a new spot on the map. When you let go of the mouse, a new pop-up will appear with the information about your new pinned location.

Once you have found your property’s location, you will be able to print a copy of the map. Click the printer icon; a pop-up will appear on the screen. After entering your comments, click the “Print” button. You should see a message, saying that your map PDF is being generated. When the PDF is ready, you will see the following pop-up:

Note: If you manually selected a location, you will only see the latitude and longitude; the matched address will only display an address if you searched for one.

If you would like to view areas that were previously eligible for funding, click on the “Previous Eligibility Areas.” This will bring up a map that is similar to the Property Eligibility map. The main difference between Property Eligibility and Previous Eligibility is that you cannot print or pin a location.

5 . 1 M O V I N G A P I N N E D L O C A T I O N

5 . 2 P R I N T I N G A M A P

5 . 3 P R E V I O U S E L I G I B I L I T Y A R E A S


6.0 SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING GUARANTEED

The Single-Family Housing Guaranteed tab consists of the following sub-tabs:

1. Property Eligibility (Refer to Section 5) 2. Previous Eligibility Areas (Refer to Section 5) 3. Income Eligibility (Refer to Section 6.1) 4. Income Limits 5. Loan Basics

If you click on “Income Limits” the following pop-up will appear:

If you click “OK,” a PDF file with Income Limits will be downloaded. If you click “Cancel,” you will stay on your current screen. If you click on “Loan Basics,” the following pop-up will appear:

If you click “OK,” you will be taken to the Programs and Services for Businesses website. If you click “Cancel,” you will stay on your current screen.

The Income Eligibility tab helps you determine whether or not you are eligible for one, or both, of the following loan programs:

• Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program • Section 502 Direct Rural Housing Loan Program

To determine your eligibility, first select your state and county. A questionnaire will appear, asking you about the people in your household.

When you have answered the questions, select the “Next” button to continue your survey. Once you have finished entering your data, click the “Finish” button to be taken to the results screen.

6 . 1 I N C O M E E L I G I B I L I T Y


Here, you will be told whether or not you are eligible for the Rural Housing Loan Programs, as well as a summary of your adjusted household income. If you would like to start the survey, simply click the “Reset” button. If you need to edit a single piece of data, click the “Prev” button. If you would like to print your results, click the “Print” button to print a copy of the screen.


7.0 SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING DIRECT

While there are two Single Family Housing tabs, one for Direct loans and the other for Guaranteed loans, they both consist of the same sub-tabs:

1. Eligibility Assessment (Refer to Section 7.1) 2. Income Limits 3. Loan Basics 4. Property Eligibility (Refer to Section 5) 5. Previous Eligibility Areas (Refer to Section 5)

If you click on “Income Limits” the following pop-up will appear:

If you click “OK,” a PDF file with Income Limits will be downloaded. If you click “Cancel,” you will stay on your current screen. If you click on “Loan Basics,” the following pop-up will appear:


The Eligibility Assessment tab helps you determine whether or not you are eligible for the following loan program:

• Section 502 Direct Rural Housing Loan Program

To determine your eligibility, first select your Assessment Type and click on the “Accept” button after reading and agreeing to the disclaimer.

7 . 1 E L I G I B I L I T Y ASSESSMENT


After accepting the disclaimer, you will be asked to select your state and county where the property is located, followed by a questionnaire, asking you for details regarding the people in your household, their incomes, their debts, and their credit history.

After you complete each page of the questionnaire, click on “Next” button to proceed to the next set of questions. When you have answered all the questions presented in the questionnaire the following summary page will display the results of your assessment.

Here, you will be told whether or not you are eligible for the Single Family Direct Housing Loan Program, as well as a summary of your adjusted household income and a summary of the estimated Maximum Loan Amount that you are eligible for. If you would like to restart the survey, simply click the “Start Over” button. If you need to edit a single piece of data, click the “Prev” button. If you would like to print your results, click the “Print” button to print a copy of the screen.


If you would like to save the assessment for future reference, enter your email address and click on the “Save” button. A copy of the assessment will be saved, and you will receive an email confirmation containing a link that can be entered on the Eligibility Assessment Disclaimer page to access your saved assessment.


8.0 MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING

The Multi-Family Housing consists of the following sub-tab:

• Property Eligibility (Refer to Section 5) • Previous Eligibility Areas (Refer to Section 5) • Loan Basics

If you click on “Loan Basics,” the following pop-up will appear:

If you click “OK,” you will be taken to the Multi-Family Housing Program website. If you click “Cancel,” you will stay on your current screen.

9.0 RURAL BUSINESS

The Rural Business tab consists of the following sub-tabs:

• Property Eligibility (Refer to Section 5) • Loan Basics • What Kind of Funding Am I Eligible For? (Refer to Section 9.1)

When you click on “Rural Business,” you will automatically land on the Property Eligibility screen. The Rural Business Property Eligibility maps have been split into two sections; you must select a section before you can view the maps.




The Rural Business Services (RBS) Program Discovery Tool helps you determine whether or not you are eligible to receive funding. Depending on how you answer the survey, you will be told what programs you are eligible for.

Note: Clicking on one of the program links will open their program website in a new tab.

If you need to change an answer in your survey, click the “Previous Question” button. If you need to redo your survey, click the “Restart Survey” button.

10.0 WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL

The Water and Environmental tab consists of the following sub-tabs:

• Property Eligibility (Refer to Section 5) • Loan Basics


If you click “OK,” you will be taken to the Water & Environmental Program website. If you click “Cancel,” you will stay on your current screen.

9 . 1 W H A T K I N D O F F U N D I N G A M I E L I G I B L E F O R ?

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