7 C.F.R. § 1740.44 – Security.

(a) Loans and loan/grant combinations. The loan portion of the award must be adequately secured, as determined by RUS.
1. (1) For Corporations and limited liability entities, the loan and loan/grant combinations must be secured by all assets of the Awardee.
  1. (i) RUS must be given an exclusive first lien, in form and substance satisfactory to RUS, on all assets of the Awardee, including all revenues.
  2. (ii) RUS may share its first lien position with one or more lenders on a pari passu basis, except with respect to grant funds, if security arrangements are acceptable to RUS.
  3. (iii) Applicants must submit a certification that their prior lender or lienholder on any Awardee assets has already agreed to sign the RUS' standard intercreditor agreement or co-mortgage found on the Agency's web page.
  4. (iv) RUS will not share a lien position on assets with any related party or affiliate of the Awardee.
2. (2) For Tribal entities and municipalities, RUS will develop appropriate security arrangements.
3. (3) Unless otherwise approved by RUS in writing, all property and facilities purchased with award funds must be owned by the Awardee.
(b) Grant security. The grant portion of the award must also be adequately secured, as determined by RUS.
1. (1) The government must be provided an exclusive first lien on all grant funded assets during the service obligation of the grant, and thereafter any sale or disposition of grant assets must comply with the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, codified in 2 CFR part 200. Note that this part will apply to ALL grant funds of an Awardee, regardless of the entity status or type of organization.
2. (2) All Awardees must repay the grant if the project is sold or transferred without receiving written approval from RUS during the service obligation of the grant.
(c) Substitution of Collateral and Irrevocable Letter of Credit—(1) Loans and combination loan and grant. The Agency's standard loan/grant documents require that applicants pledge all assets and revenues of their operations as collateral. Applicants may propose other forms of collateral as long as the amount of the collateral is equal to the full amount of the loan. The collateral must be pledged to the Agency. Acceptable forms of substitute collateral are limited to following: Certificates of Deposit, with the Agency named as the beneficiary on the certificate, or Bonds with a AAA rating from an accredited rating agency. All other conditions of the standard loan documents will apply. A copy of the Substitution Documents can be found on the Agency's web page.
(2) Grants. For grant-only applications, applicants may request that standard grant security arrangements be replaced with an Irrevocable Letter of Credit (ILOC), to ensure that the project is completed. The ILOC must be for the full amount of funding requested and must remain in place until project completion. If an ILOC is offered as security, applicants will not be required to provide financial projections, meet any financial ratios requirements as part of the application process, or submit the maps for their NFSAs. Although the ILOC will replace security for the grant security arrangements, all other requirements of the standard grant agreement will remain the same. A copy of the ILOC award documents can be found on the Agency's web page.