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Show FdiQA to Pvido financial corniccling Farmers Home Administration Adminis-tration (FmHA) Is stepping up efforts to provide financial finan-cial counseling and super - vision to Its rural housing borrowers. The agency was created to provide supervised credit cred-it to both its farm and rural housing borrowers. FmHA loan programs are designed to provide budgeting, record keeping and other management manage-ment assistance along with loans to help families achieve achi-eve their farm or home . ownership objectives. But the tremendous demand for new loans has frequently detracted de-tracted from the supervisory supervis-ory aspects of our programs. As a result the combination of the general economic climate cli-mate and individual family financial problems arecaus. lng many borrowers to give up their low interest loans without first seeking informed inform-ed advice on how best to relieve their financial crises. cri-ses. For some, this could mean forfeiting their only opportunity to become homeowners. home-owners. Inflation and reduced em -ploynaent have placed a double doub-le burden on families living In small communities and rural areas. Higher costs for utilities and other services serv-ices and the added cost of transportation to and from work are problems that place a strain on household budgets for all rural people. Reduced Re-duced working hours, loss of overtime, and in some cases, loss of jobs often make the loan seem Impossible for new homeowners with young families. FmHA field office staffs are scheduling counseling Interviews with borrowers who are delinquent with thlr payments. Families will receive re-ceive assistance In analyzing analy-zing their situation and j working out realistic fi- j nancial plans to meet their needs. Next to food, shelter shel-ter costs must be at the top of the priority list and be paid first. In most cases, the monthly mortgate payment pay-ment is the largest monthly expense and If one Install-roent Install-roent Is missed, It is extremely difficult to make It up without sacrificing another an-other crucial budget item. If borrowers are unable-to unable-to meet their mortgate payments pay-ments in a timely manner and set aside savings to pay their real estate taxes when they are due, they will be assisted In liquidating their loan. Loan funds are solng to be extremely limited in the future. It Is imperative that we make our resources available to those eligible families and individuals who are willing- to give a high priority pri-ority to their housing needs and responsibilities. |