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.
    
    
        
        (a) Commitment.
         A lender must have a commitment for a guaranteed loan or an agreement to purchase a guaranteed loan.
     
    
        
        (b) Audited statement.
         A lender must provide the Agency with an annual audited financial statement conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
     
    
        
        (c) Previous participation.
         A lender may not be delinquent on a federal debt or have an outstanding finding of deficiency in a federal housing program.
     
    
        
        (d) Ongoing requirements.
         A lender must meet the following requirements at initial application and on a continuing basis thereafter:
     
    
        
        (1) 
         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);
     
    
        
        (2) 
         Bonding and insurance to cover business related losses, including directors and officers insurance, business income loss insurance, and bonding to secure cash management operations;
     
    
        
        (3) 
         A minimum of two years experience in originating and servicing multifamily loans;
     
    
        
        (4) 
         A positive record of past performance when participating in RHS or other federal loan programs;
     
    
        
        (5) 
         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;
     
    
        
        (6) 
         Demonstrated overall financial stability of the business over the past five years;
     
    
        
        (7) 
         Evidence of reasonable and prudent business practices for management of the program; and
     
    
        
        (8) 
         No negative information on Dunn & Bradstreet or similar type report.
     
    
        
        (9) 
         The lender must certify that they have computer systems that comply with year 2000 technology.
     
    
        
            Code of Federal Regulations
        
        [63 FR 39458, July 22, 1998, as amended at 64 FR 32372, June 16, 1999; 70 FR 2931, Jan. 19, 2005]