The Rural Housing Service delegation of this loan approval authority to preferred lenders, i.e., those whose loans have performed well and demonstrated strong underwriting capability, would benefit the program and its stakeholders.  Preferred lenders would be responsible for certifying that both the applicant and property meet all program eligibility and underwriting requirements and thus are eligible for the guarantee, without the prior review by agency staff which takes place today. This would speed up approval processing times, benefiting applicants, preferred lenders, and the Agency. The change to delegated authority would alter the risk management dynamics of the program, and the agency should move forward in a manner that assures its risk profile for the program does not increase.