On October 03, 2022, HUD Office of Housing Counseling marked its tenth anniversary since being created as a distinct office reporting to HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Housing. Throughout October, the Office will celebrate the many contributions of HUD’s housing counseling program in helping individuals and families obtain and maintain safe, sustainable, and affordable home-ownership and rental housing.
“Whether it was helping homeowners through the foreclosure challenges of the 2012 housing crisis, responding to the housing needs of victims of disasters, or the continuing housing relief and recovery resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, housing counselors have been there over the last decade to support families in making critical housing choices and equipping themselves for the future,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling David Berenbaum. “This month, we recognize not only our role in helping people stay in their homes during times of crisis, but also in supporting a network of HUD Certified Housing Counselors who serve some 3,000 clients a day.”
HUD created the Office of Housing Counseling as a new office reporting directly to the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner on October 01, 2012. Previously, the Office was part of the Office of Single-Family Housing. From 2012 to present, the Office of Housing Counseling:
- Supported 12.2 million households who sought housing counseling assistance through a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.
- Provided more than $450 million in grant funding to HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and intermediary organizations.
- Developed and implemented an intensive certification process for housing counselors, resulting in 4,000 counselors currently certified by HUD.
- Implemented new online and telephonic search tools used by more than 4,800 consumers each day to easily connect with local housing counseling agencies.
- Launched an innovative new partnership and grant funding program to match HUD-approved housing counseling agencies with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions. Within one year, this program has generated 50 participants partnering with 16 housing counseling intermediary organizations, Housing Finance Agencies, and local housing counseling organizations.
About HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agencies
HUD-approved housing counseling agencies provide services to address a full range of housing counseling needs. These services include assisting homebuyers in evaluating their readiness for a home purchase and navigating the homebuying process, helping clients find affordable rental housing, offering financial literacy training to individuals and families, and providing foreclosure prevention counseling. In addition to providing counseling to homeowners and renters, HUD-approved housing counseling agencies support emergency preparedness and disaster recovery efforts, assist homeless persons in finding transitional housing, and help seniors determine whether a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage or other reverse mortgage product is appropriate for their needs.
To locate a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, visit HUD’s online locator or call (800) 569-4287 to use our interactive telephone locator service, including translation services in more than 200 languages.
Learn more about the history of HUD’s OHC. Please read the entire press release. Please visit HUD’s Pressroom for the latest HUD news and information.
FHA Published Guidance on Consideration of Positive Rental Payment History for First-Time Homebuyers in Forward Mortgage Purchase Transactions
On September 27, 2022, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2022-17, “Consideration of Positive Rental Payment History for First-Time Homebuyers in Forward Mortgage Purchase Transactions”. This ML updates FHA’s Technology Open To Approved Lenders (TOTAL) Mortgage Scorecard to include a borrower’s positive rental payment history as part of the credit risk analysis when applying for FHA-insured financing. Using rental payment history promotes a more complete credit evaluation, which in turn can expand homeownership opportunities to first-time homebuyers who could have an improved credit score if such information were included in the credit reporting data. ML 2022-17 allows lenders to assess a first-time homebuyer’s rental payment history and indicate a positive rental payment history in the TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard. HUD certified housing counselors can learn more by reading ML 2022-17.
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