The Agency will establish and maintain a “list of approved lenders”. To be an approved lender, eligible lenders must meet the following requirements and maintain them on a continuing basis at a level consistent with the nature and size of their portfolio of guaranteed loans.

Commitment. A lender must have a commitment for a guaranteed loan or an agreement to purchase a guaranteed loan.

Audited statement. A lender must provide the Agency with an annual audited financial statement conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Previous participation. A lender may not be delinquent on a federal debt or have an outstanding finding of deficiency in a federal housing program.

Ongoing requirements. A lender must meet the following requirements at initial application and on a continuing basis thereafter:

Overall financial strength, including capital, liquidity, and loan loss reserves, to have an acceptable level of financial soundness as determined by a lender rating service (such as Sheshunoff, Inc.); or to be an approved Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or HUD Federal Housing Administration multifamily lender; or, if a state housing finance agency, to have a top tier rating by a rating agency (such as Standard and Poor's Corporation);

Bonding and insurance to cover business related losses, including directors and officers insurance, business income loss insurance, and bonding to secure cash management operations;

A minimum of two years experience in originating and servicing multifamily loans;

A positive record of past performance when participating in RHS or other federal loan programs;

Adequate staffing and training to perform the program obligations; the head underwriter must have 3 years of experience and all staff must receive annual multifamily training;

Demonstrated overall financial stability of the business over the past five years;

Evidence of reasonable and prudent business practices for management of the program; and

No negative information on Dunn & Bradstreet or similar type report.