Government Praises Wells Fargo on Rural Housing

It is not every day that the federal government goes out of its way to say something nice about a major financial institution—let alone give it an award—but Wells Fargo has received the "Champion of Rural Housing Award" from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

"USDA is fortunate to work with many outstanding lenders, but none stood out for special recognition as prominently as Wells Fargo," said USDA Rural Development Under-Secretary Lisa Mensah, who honored the San Francisco-based lender as part of her Department’s National Homeownership Month observance. "Since 1992, Wells Fargo has worked with us to help more than 131,000 rural families obtain loans to finance their piece of the American Dream."

Last year, the USDA and Wells Fargo partnered to enable nearly 2,800 low-and moderate-income families and individuals purchase homes in rural America through USDA's Guaranteed Loan Program, which requires no down payment from the borrower and offers lenders a 90 percent loan guarantee to offset their risk in the event a borrower defaults.