Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 101 Part 3.djvu/370

 101 STAT. 1668

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7 USC 1983c.

PUBLIC LAW 100-233—JAN. 6, 1988

State of residence of the appellant. The decisions of hearing officers shall, (m the request and election of the borrower, be reviewed by the State director of the State of residence of the appellant or shall be referred directly to the director of the national appeals division. If the borrower elects review by the State director, the decisions of the State director shall, on request of the borrower, be subject to further review by the director of the national appeals division. "(2) Each hearing before a hearing officer in the appeals division shall be recorded verbatim by voice recorder, stenographer, or other method, and a transcript of the hearing, together with all documents and evidence submitted, shall be made available to the appellant, on request, if the decision of the hearing officer is appealed. The record of the hearing shall consist of copies of all documents and other evidence presented to the hearing officer and the transcript of the hearing. "(3) If a decision of a hearing officer is appealed, the hearing officer shall certify the record and deliver or otherwise provide the certified record to the director of the national appeals division and the Secretary. The national appeals division shall base its review of the hearing on the transcript of the hearing and the evidence presented to the hearing officer. "(f) All hearing officers within the national appeals division shall report to the principal officers of the division, and shall not be under the direction or control of, or receive administrative support (except on a reimbursable basis) from, offices other than the national appeals division. "(g) The Secretary shall ensure that the national appeals division has resources and personnel adequate to hear and determine all initial appeals in the State of residence of the appellant on a timely basis, and that hearing officers receive training and retraining adequate for their duties on initial employment and at regular intervals thereafter. The Secretary may expend sums available in the Farmers Home Administration's various revolving insurance funds for the purposes of this subsection in the event that necessary appropriations sufficient to fund the division are not available.". SEC. 609. BORROWERS* RIGHT TO INFORMATION.

Subtitle D (7 U.S.C. 1981 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 333B the following new section: "SEC. 333C. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO BORROWERS. "(a) IN GENERAL.—On request of a farm borrower of a farmer program loan, the Secretary shall make available to the borrower the following: "(1) One copy of each document signed by the borrower. "(2) One copy of each appraisal performed with respect to the loan. "(3) All documents that the Secretary otherwise is required to provide to the borrower under any law or rule of law in effect on the date of such request. "(b) (DoNSTRUCTiON OF SECTION.—Subsoction (a) shall not be construed to supersede any duty imposed on the Secretary by any law or rule of law in effect immediately before the date of the enactment of this section, unless such duty is in direct conflict with any duty imposed by subsection (a).".,, ^^^^ ^,„,^.,^ ^.„, ^..*...... v.«5is..?^^

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