The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service now requires appraisals for all guaranteed single-family rural mortgages to be submitted with color photographs of the property to avoid delays in loan processing. The requirement is part of the agency’s effort to fully automate the RHS single-family housing guaranteed loan program. The program’s transition from a paper-based to a paperless documentation system began on March 28. Under the new system, lenders can upload all required origination documents electronically into the RHS Guaranteed Underwriting System and store them in the agency’s imaging repository. Black-and-white photos or copies of rural housing appraisals do not register clearly when uploaded and indexed into the system. This makes it difficult for agency reviewers to evaluate the condition and appearance of the property, causing delays in the ...