National Mortgage News reports that the Rural Housing Service will stop accepting new mortgage applications for one week starting Nov. 21.
The break is to help the agency while it attempts to deal with a huge backlog at 13 of its state offices. “We must eliminate as much of the conditional commitment backlog nationwide as possible,” the agency said in a message to lenders. According to National Mortgage News, the system appears to be stretched thin at the moment. For example, the agency’s office in Kansas has a 70-day backlog in issuing conditional commitments.