The National Association of REALTOR® (NAR) applauded the comprehensive farm legislation passed Wednesday by the U.S. House and Senate because it preserves federal Rural Housing Services programs for some communities of 35,000 or less for the next 12 years.

The legislation continues to define affected rural communities the same way through the year 2030, according to NAR. That definition enables residents in communities of 35,000 or less that are not part of a larger metropolitan statistical area, to remain eligible for federal mortgage financing and other programs from the Rural Housing Services (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture). Those programs consider factors unique to borrowers and the properties available to them in rural areas.

“We are pleased to see the House and Senate this week take action to extend the Rural Housing Service definition through 2030,” said NAR President John Smaby. “We applaud Congress for providing this critical certainty to REALTORS® and homeowners across rural America.”

President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill, and NAR says it includes several improvements. One enhancement is that the population of rural areas would no longer include prisoners in a local prison. Another enhancement will be to only count a portion of active military personnel  temporarily living in an area.

Find out more about rural housing and other NAR federal policy issues.

Read about Mortgage Loan Resources offered to REALTORS®.