Some of the hundreds of rural Mainers who bought their homes through a government loan program soon could be hit by what state housing advocates have called a “tsunami” of foreclosures, the origins of which remain unclear.
For decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office has offered low-income, first-time homebuyers all over the country a chance at homeownership through Section 502 loans.
The program is relatively common throughout the state, from Aroostook County to southern Maine, with more than 530 loans (totaling nearly $300 million in investments) issued since 2012.
