Can I glean anything from the commitment given by the lender, and am I right to assume that the same standards are used to evaluate the lender commitment that the USDA underwriter will be using? Also, is there any negative impact on a lender sending in "lender approved commitments" to the USDA that are not ultimately USDA approved or can it be assumed that the lender feels strongly that the USDA will provide approval? Thanks

Unfortunately, it does sound right. The thing with USDA loans is that every one of them has to be signed off by USDA. So the lender can underwrite it and review it according to the guidelines that come out but in the end the final approval comes from rural housing. Your lender and loan officer can only go so far to give you information pertaining to your ability to obtain final approval but in the end it rests in USDA's hands. I'm sorry if it feels stressful but hold tight. It sounds like everything has been done and now ou just need final approval. My only suggestion is that on these types of loans, it can be difficult at times to commit to a closing date because you never know how backed up rural files will be. Good Luck!