Heirs’ Property Relending Program

As specified in 7 U.S.C. 1936c(c), HPRP provides loan funds to intermediaries who will re-lend loan funds to individuals and entities with undivided ownership interests in order to resolve ownership and succession issues relating to a farm owned in common by multiple owners.

(a) Eligible entity types. The types of entities eligible to serve as intermediaries for HPRP are cooperatives, credit unions, and nonprofit organizations.
(b) Certification. The intermediary must be certified as a community development financial institution under 12 CFR 1805.201 (or successor regulations) to operate as a lender.
(c) Citizenship. The applicant and the member of the intermediary must be U.S. citizens.
(d) Experience. The intermediary must have:
(1) At least 5 years of experience assisting socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (as defined in subsection (a) of section 2501 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279)) or limited resource or new and beginning farmers and ranchers, rural businesses, cooperatives, or credit unions;
(2) The requisite experience and capability in making and servicing agricultural and commercial loans that are similar in nature to HPRP. If consultants will be used, the agency will assess the intermediary’s experience in choosing and supervising consultants;
(3) The legal authority necessary to carry out the proposed loan purposes and to obtain, provide security for, and repay the proposed loan; and
(4) Demonstrated ability and willingness to repay the loan based on the intermediary’s financial condition, managerial capabilities, and other resources.

(a) The eligibility requirements for the ultimate recipient are:
(1) Ultimate recipients may be individuals or legal entities, with authority to incur the debt and to resolve ownership and succession of a farm owned by multiple owners; and
(2) As a condition of receiving a loan from the intermediary, the ultimate recipient must agree to complete a succession plan.
(b) The intermediary will determine the eligibility of the applicant to become the ultimate recipient in accordance with the rules provided in this subpart and in accordance with the intermediary’s relending plan as approved by the agency in the HPRP loan agreement.

Processing loan applications: (a) The application period opened on August 30, 2022, and will continue indefinitely until a closing date is announced in a notice in the Federal Register. As per 769.159 a) Intermediary loan application review. The Agency will review submitted applications from intermediaries for compliance with the provisions of this subpart. (b) Loan approval. Loan approval is subject to the availability of funds. The loan will be considered approved for the intermediary on the date the Agency signs the obligation of funds confirmation. (c) Preferences for loan funding. When necessary to address funding constraints, the Agency will fund eligible applications from intermediaries in the order specified in paragraphs (c)(1) through (4) of this section: (1) First, to those with not less than 10 years of experience serving socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers that are located in states that have adopted a statute consisting of an enactment or adoption of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, as approved and recommended for enactment in all States by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2010, that relend to owners of heirs property (as defined by the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act); (2) Second, to those that have applications from ultimate recipients already in process, or that have a history of successfully relending previous HPRP funds; (3) Multiple applications in the same priority tier, will be processed based by date of application received; and (4) Any remaining applications, after priority tiers 1 and 2 have been funded as specified in paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) of this section, will be funded in order of the date the application was received. (d) Current information required. Information supplied by the intermediary in the loan application must be updated by the intermediary if the information is more than 90 days old at the time of loan closing.