API Request: USDA Loan Eligibility

[BradKriss]

I'd like to see an API that would either provide the data needed (or do the lookup) of if an address is eligible for a USDA loan.

Basically I'm looking for a data set or an API that would allow me to build an application with similar functionality to these USDA resources:

http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do;jsessionid=73585E76A6C143BD0EFC092BCC0E5313

http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/addressVerificationAction.do

Sorry if there is already a data set or API that I'm missing.

[jerry135]

We currently have 5 datasets on data.gov related to eligibility. These files are distinguished by program area. They are zipped shapefiles. The shapefile format is a geospatial vector data format for geographic information system (GIS) software. The shapefiles actually define ineligible areas, this is how our GIS staff determines eligibility.

Water and Environmental Programs https://inventory.data.gov/dataset/usda-rural-development-property-eligibility-water-and-environmental-programs

Broadband http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/usda-rural-development-rd-property-eligibility-broadband

Single Family Housing and Multi –Family Housing http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/usda-rural-development-property-eligibility-sfh-mfh

Rural Business Service (B&I Guaranteed, RBEG, RBOG, REAP, RMAP, BAP and IRP) http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/usda-rural-development-property-eligibility-rural-business-service

Rural Business Service (RCDI, REDL, REDG) http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/usda-rural-development-property-eligibility-intermediary-relending-program

[BradKriss]

Ah, thanks! I did find the 'Single Family and Multi-Family' housing eligibility data but assumed it was depreciated because the "SHAPE_AREA" and "SHAPE_LEN" fields in the .dbf format were empty when I imported them.

I was able to open the .shp file in a program that displayed the data visually, so maybe I've made a mistake on my importing of the data:

These types of files and GIS are new to me, so I'll read up on how to work with these types of files in a database. Thanks for the links and pointing me in the right direction regarding the shape files.

[jerry135]

Hi Brad,

I am not sure why the files would be empty. We do not update these datasets very often; however, my records indicate we posted new files on March 18th. Let me know if you need the missing files and I will try to get them populated.

Suzie Castens Lead Information Technology Specialist Rural Development | Data Management Services Branch U.S. Department of Agriculture 4300 Goodfellow Blvd | St. Louis, MO 63120 Phone: 314.457.4925 | Fax: 314.457.4420 http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/

"Committed to the future of rural communities" "Estamos dedicados al futuro de las comunidades rurales"

From: Brad Kriss [mailto:notifications@github.com] Sent: Monday, June 01, 2015 9:52 AM To: USDA/USDA-APIs Cc: Castens, Suzanne - RD, St. Louis, MO Subject: Re: [USDA-APIs] API Request: USDA Loan Eligibility (#38)

Ah, thanks! I did find the 'Single Family and Multi-Family' housing eligibility data but assumed it was depreciated because the "SHAPE_AREA" and "SHAPE_LEN" fields in the .dbf format were empty when I imported them.

[Image removed by sender. image]https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/7452215/7915401/4394a6e2-084b-11e5-8e4c-bce56a425d6b.png

I was able to open the .shp file in a program that displayed the data visually, so maybe I've made a mistake on my importing of the data:

[Image removed by sender. image]https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/7452215/7915421/65a35206-084b-11e5-9a29-f10ac99ab598.png

These types of files and GIS are new to me, so I'll read up on how to work with these types of files in a database. Thanks for the links and pointing me in the right direction regarding the shape files.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/USDA/USDA-APIs/issues/38#issuecomment-107547001.

[BradKriss]

I'll do some research and make sure it's not just something I'm missing/overlooking first. If I find it's actually missing data, I'll let you know. Thanks again!

[mjspataro]

Hi Suzie, I am trying to solve the same problem. Is there a csv or txt file available for this data? Matt

[jerry135]

These are Shapefiles used for GIS. No csv or txt files are available.

[mjspataro]

Hi Jerry

We have the Shapefile and are attempting to account for each polygon by census tract groups. But the problem we are having is that the block delineation does work perfectly. We tried different census data vintages.

[mjspataro]

Jerry, I decided to use a Point In Polygon algorithm instead to solve this problem as your map does not have 100% correspondence to census data.

Matt