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SFH Guaranteed Origination
March 28, 2023
Notice of Potential Changes to Eligible Area Maps for USDA Rural Development Housing Programs
 The Agency is currently reviewing potential changes to eligible area maps for all USDA Rural Development Housing Programs. The Rural Development State offices conduct reviews every five years to determine the designated areas of property eligibility for program lending. The last rural area reviews were performed in 2017-2018 using 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data. This review will utilize the 2020 United States decennial census data. The periodic review involves opportunities for public comment and review in three phases:
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90-Day Public Review Notices (access the full list here): Each State Office published a 90-day notice March 8th-10th of 2023 to inform the public of areas where eligibility designation is under review. These 90-day public notices identify the areas under review, invites public comments, and provides state contact information. All comments must be submitted to the applicable state contact as provided on the notice.
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30-Day Publish Inspection Notices: Prior to making the final rural area decision, the public will be provided an opportunity to review any comments received from the 90-Day Public Notice. The 30-Day Public Inspection Notice will include a description of any proposed boundary revisions and provide a link to a revised map eligibility site that will reflect all proposed revisions. A new GovDelivery notice will be sent at this time.
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30-Day Final Notices: If a determination is made that a rural area designation will change from rural to non-rural, a one-time 30-day notice will be published. The notice will describe the revised boundary lines, the effective date of the redesignation, and provide a link to the map eligibility site to reflect the change.
Implementation of new eligibility boundaries are tentatively planned to become effective October 2, 2023 (i.e., beginning of fiscal year 2024). Questions or public comments regarding specific areas should be directed to the applicable state, using the contact information provided on the 90-Day notice.
Additional Guidance can be found in Chapter 5, Section 5.3 of Handbook 3550-1.
Additional information on these reviews can be found in Chapter 12.3 of Handbook HB-1-3555. Final changes will not take effect until October 2, 2023.
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