News Release

NATIVE AMERICAN HOMEOWNERSHIP TO INCREASE IN SOUTH DAKOTA
HUD Native American loan program now available throughout the state

SIOUX FALLS, SD--The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota has received approval from HUD for expansion of the Section 184 Program throughout South Dakota. South Dakota's new designation as an Indian Area for the purposes of the Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee program opens the door not only for Oglala Sioux tribal members, but for qualified enrolled members of all federally recognized tribes wanting to purchase a home in the state of South Dakota.

HUD's Section 184 Loan Guarantee program created in 1992 was established to address the lack of mortgage lending for Native Americans and give Native American families the opportunity to purchase their own homes. Since 1995, when HUD guaranteed its first loan, there have been over 6,160 loans guaranteed with a dollar-value in excess of $862 million. In South Dakota, there have been 294 Section 184 loans approved on Native American lands.

The Section 184 program provides a 100 percent guarantee for mortgages on Indian lands, enabling private sector lenders to make mortgage loans to eligible Native American families, tribes and tribal housing entities. The program can also be used to rehabilitate existing homes, build new homes and refinance higher interest rate loans. Allowing the expansion of this program to all areas in the state, both on and off the reservations, provides greater opportunity for banks and other lenders to make mortgage loans to Native Americans.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota joins tribes in Colorado, North Dakota and Montana that are using HUD's recent expansion of the Section 184 program to increase the number of Native American homeowners outside reservation boundaries. The HUD Section 184 has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years. For the fourth consecutive year, the Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Program has set record numbers for loans guaranteed and dollar volume in loan activity. In the most recent 12-month period, the Section 184 program guaranteed 1,668 loans nationwide for a total of $290.9 million; $3.43 million in South Dakota.

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