(a) The department may provide itinerant loan information officers to serve persons who reside outside the major population centers of the state.

(b) The loan information officers shall be trained, to the extent that the department considers necessary, in a program administered by the department and approved by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, and the principal departments of the executive branch that administer loan programs.

(c) A majority of the loan information officers shall be persons who are conversant in Alaska Native languages that are spoken by a significant number of Alaska Natives. The department shall provide brochures and other printed materials, written in easily understandable English and in the Alaska Native languages that are spoken by a significant number of Alaska Natives, for distribution by the loan information officers. The brochures and printed materials must explain the purposes of the various state loan programs, the minimum qualifications under the programs, the method for obtaining assistance in the completion of applications for the programs, and other information the department determines will improve the access of persons in rural areas to the state's loan programs.

(d) The department shall coordinate its efforts under this section with local financial institutions and community groups to determine the proper itinerary and travel schedule of the loan information officers and to provide adequate notice to persons in rural areas of the itinerary and travel schedule of the loan information officers.

(e) The department shall assign the loan information officers to rural areas based on the current and potential future demands for loans in those areas and shall establish offices for the loan information officers in rural areas if the department determines it is necessary to provide familiarity with the area served by the loan information officers and to reduce travel costs.