USDA Puerto Rico invests $357.6M in housing program in Fiscal ’21
The USDA Rural Development Puerto Rico has invested $357.6 million to support 3,025 families and individuals to buying their first home on the island during Fiscal Year 2021, the agency’s Acting State Director for Puerto Rico, Luis R. García, confirmed.
The agency invested $349.2 million through its Loan Guarantee Program and $8.4 million in Direct Loans through its Rural Housing Program.
The release of the data comes as the agency wrapped up its “Homeownership Month,” during which it conducted several events and made several announcements, he said.
The agency helped rural families buy their first home or repair their existing one. To assist homeowners facing current hardships, USDA is offering payment moratoriums and modified application procedures.
Some of the people the agency helped include: an 80-year-old woman in Utuado who received a $10,000 grant to repair her home that was damaged during Hurricane María in 2017; a 24-year-old single mother with a 3-year-old child in Hatillo who work 23 hours a week in a fast-food restaurant was approved a $100,000 direct loan at 1% interest; a middle-aged couple in Camuy that tried unsuccessfully for many years to buy a house received a $105,000 direct loan at 1% interest to become homeowners; and a 46-year-old single man from Caguas, with a heart condition, who had to retire and whose only income was from Social Security. He qualified for an $85,000 direct loan to go from renting to home ownership.
