Blog: Lending Laws

The USDA guaranteed rural housing program is the least understood of the three government loan programs, and the reason is mostly nomenclature. "Rural" suggests remote agricultural land, and lenders decline to consider the program for properties that are in fact eligible — including many in established suburban communities on the edge of metropolitan areas.

It is also the only major program with a no down payment structure and a monthly guarantee cost that has ...

IRAs sit awkwardly in a bank. They are deposit products, so branch staff open and service them — but they are governed by tax law rather than by banking regulation, and the consequences of an error land on the customer's tax return rather than on the bank's compliance report.

That mismatch is why IRA errors persist. Nobody in the branch sees the outcome.

The Four Types

Traditional IRA

An individual account funded with contributions that may be deductible