Issuers are still tapping the consumer loan-backed bond market ahead of the eighth loan application deadline for a Federal Reserve program on Friday.

Deals worth $6.5 billion have surfaced ahead of the deadline for the central bank's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF. This is lower than the issuance seen in the last round of such applications, when issuance stood at about $15 billion.

This time round, John Deere Owner Trust has a $726.86 million deal, Mercedes-Benz Financial has a $1.08 billion bond, Citi Financial Auto has a $1.40 billion auto-sector deal and Ford Motor Co. (F) has a $1.5 billion deal.

Among other issuers are BMW AG (BMW.XE) with a $550 million bond, American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. with a $600 million deal and Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) with a $700 million bond.

The emergence of such deals just before the loan deadline has become a pattern since the Fed set up the facility in March this year. The program has helped prop up this market, with more than $100 billion in asset-backed securities sold so far this year. Most of these were eligible for cheap funding for investors through the program.

The attractive terms of non recourse TALF loans, where investors can walk away from the loans if anything goes awry, has drawn them to the securitization market. The ABS market virtually shut down after the collapse of Lehman Bros.

The Fed's program has rejuvenated this portion of the credit market and the central bank has extended the program past its initially scheduled expiration at the end of this year to ensure its vitality.

TALF was also extended to include existing and new commercial mortgage bonds. The loan application deadline for that portion of the program differs from the asset-backed securities part. The next loan application for CMBS is Oct. 21.

For the consumer loan-backed deals, the ninth deadline is Nov. 3.

-By Anusha Shrivastava, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2227; anusha.shrivastava@dowjones.com