USDA SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook HB-1-3555 ¶15.4 — Electronic Signatures
USDA SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook HB-1-3555 ¶15.4 — Electronic Signatures.
Verbatim regulatory text
Verbatim provisions from USDA SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook HB-1-3555 ¶15.4 — Electronic Signatures — each quote is a verified substring of the regulator-published source snapshot, not retyped. Quoted for reference; this is not legal advice. The operational layer (P&P updates, prompts) lives in the regulation update kits.
USDA HB-1-3555, Chapter 15, § 15.4 — Electronic Signatures
Rural Development will accept electronic signatures for origination, loan closing, and servicing documents unless otherwise prohibited by law or program. This guidance is limited to lenders. Agency staff will continue to follow internal policy. 7 CFR 3555 does not prohibit or consent to electronic signatures. Lenders may use electronic signatures when the lender perfects and maintains a first lien position, an enforceable promissory note, and meets all other agency requirements. This includes electronic promissory notes (eNotes), deed of trust, and other documents relevant to the loan transaction. Lenders should be familiar with the securitization requirements of government sponsored enterprises (GSE), such as Ginnie Mae, regarding the transferability of eNotes. Lenders who choose to accept electronic signatures must meet the standards and requirements set forth in the E-Sign Act, as well as all other applicable federal and state regulations and guidelines. Lenders are charged with the same responsibility of due diligence with electronically signed documents as they are with paper documents. If any electronically signed document is deemed unenforceable (e.g. the promissory note, mortgage, or deed of trust) and is connected to any fraud, misrepresentation, or negligent servicing, the lender bears the risk that any loss claim submitted in relation to the unenforceable document will be denied or reduced in accordance with applicable regulations. The lender’s failure to collect on the promissory note or enforce the security instrument because of its electronic signature will be treated as negligent servicing under SFHGLP regulations. Failure to comply with any Federal statute or regulation could result in the denial of a loan guarantee or claim, withdrawal of lending authority, and/or debarment from Federal programs. Guidance documents lack the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract. USDA may not cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not available through their guidance portal, except to establish historical facts.
Get this regulation in your AI window
A Procedure Notice replaces chapter text silently. An assistant quoting HB-1-3555 cannot tell you which notice it is working from, or whether a later one moved the rule.Put the verbatim text and its effective date in front of your assistant, instead of whatever it remembers.
Open in Claude Open in ChatGPT
Open in Claude shows the one-time setup: paste one address, no account with us. Open in ChatGPT asks ChatGPT about this page, with no setup. Either way it’s free.
Next step: the USDA loan QC playbook. Run it in your AI window →
Get notified if this rule changes
One email when USDA SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook HB-1-3555 ¶15.4 — Electronic Signatures changes: what changed, the new verbatim text, and the effective date. Nothing else.
Double opt-in: we send a confirmation link first. Following one section does not subscribe you to anything else. Privacy.
Source of record: https://claudeforcompliance.com/regs/usda-hb-3555-15-4/
· register usda-hb-3555-15-4 · verbatim, source-snapshotted regulator text from the
Claude for Compliance corpus. To work from every register at once, download the corpus
and follow the methodology.