An administrative division within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that manages programs that focus on rural housing and community service facilities and are designed to improve the quality of life in U.S. rural communities. Perhaps one of the RHS's most well-known programs is its subsidized home loan program for people with low-to-moderate incomes who want to purchase, construct or rehabilitate a single-family rural home. |||The RHS also loans money to rural homeowners at an effective annual interest rate of 1%. Low-income rural residents age 62 and older may be eligible to receive home-repair grants of up to $7,500. The RHS also makes long-term subsidized loans for the construction of affordable rental or cooperative housing for underserved rural populations, such as those with low incomes, families, the elderly and the disabled.