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Office Of Housing Counselingand Certification Rule

Virginia HolmanUS Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of Housing Counseling

April 30, 2018

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• HUD Housing Counseling Program

• Housing Counselor Certification

• Resources and Other Information

Agenda

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HUD Housing Counseling Program

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• Network of approximately 1,900 housing counseling agencies

• HUD monitors compliance, conflicts of interest, and the quality of housing counseling

• HUD connects clients with participating housing counseling agencies through our website

• HUD provides grant funding for qualified applicants

HUD Office of Housing Counseling

“The mission of the Office of HousingCounseling is to help families to obtain,

sustain and retain their homes. We will accomplish this mission through a strong network of HUD-approved housing

counseling agencies and counselors.”

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VirginiaActivity FY 17

Total Counseling Activity – 13,399 Clients

56%

2%

12%

19%

2%

3% 6%Group Education

Homeless

Rental

Pre-purchase

Post-purchase

Reverse Mortgage

Mortgage Delinquency

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3,588• Worked with housing counselor to develop a

sustainable household budget

3,121• Received fair housing information

1,587• Received Group and one-on-one counseling

2,078• Gained access to resources to help improve

housing situation

VHDA Top 4 Impact of One-on-One Counseling FY 2017

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Housing Counselor Certification

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Housing Counselor Certification

KEY PROVISIONSHousing counseling required under or provided in connection with any program administered by HUD shall be provided only by organizations and counselors certified by the Secretary.A HUD Certified Housing Counselor is a housing counselor who has passed the HUD certification examination and works for a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.Effective date: August 1, 2020

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• Staff of entities whose roles are limited to funding, overseeing or administering a housing counseling program and who do not provide housing counseling services directly to clients are not required to become HUD-certified housing counselors

• Only use designation “HUD Certified Housing Counselor” if you have passed the exam and are activated by your agency in FHA Connection

Impact on Pass-Through Organizations and Management

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• Housing Counseling is independent, expert advice customized to the need of the consumer to address the consumer’s housing barriers and to help achieve their housing goals.

• And must include the elements on the next slide

What is Housing Counseling?

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• Intake• Client budget• Financial and housing affordability analysis• An Action Plan, except for reverse mortgage

counseling• Referrals• Reasonable effort on follow-up with client

Housing Counseling Elements

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• Services that provide housing information, or placement or referral services

• Routine administrative activities (e.g., program eligibility determinations, intake, case management)

• Case management that provides housing services as incidental to a larger case management (HOPWA, ESG, COC) and does not fund housing counseling

• Fair housing advice and advocacy (e.g. processing complaints and filing claims)

• Group education without individualized services

What is Not Housing Counseling

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• Provided for one or more people (classroom, online, conference call or other delivery method)

• Major differences from Housing Counseling:• Not customized for individual needs• Does not offer individual financial analysis or a client

action plan

• HUD approved Housing Counseling Agencies must offer counseling on the same topics as group education…

• … and a HUD certified housing counselor must oversee group education

What is Group Education?

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1. State and Local Governments2. Public Housing Authorities3. State Housing Finance Agencies4. Community Housing Development

Organizations5. Other nonprofits or government agencies

Organizations Possibly Affected

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• HOME• Down payment assistance• Purchasing units developed with HOME funds

• CDBG• Paying for Housing Counseling• When assistance requires housing counseling

• Family Self-Sufficiency• If homeownership counseling is performed with FSS

funds the coordinator must be certified

Examples

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• Apply to HUD for approval or join a HUD-approved Intermediary or State Housing Finance Agency as an affiliate

• Partner with other HUD approved Housing Counseling Agencies

• Informal or formal referral agreement • Funding agreements

• Modify the program to be compliant• Stop delivering Housing Counseling services

Options for Affected Agencies

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Housing Counselor Certification Exam and

Application Process

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Housing Counselor Certification Exam and Application Process

Housing Counselor loses HUD Certification when no longer employed by HUD participating agency

APPLICATION

Agency FHAC Application Coordinator

verifies Employment

Apply through FHA Connection (FHAC) for

certification

Register for FHAC ID

HUD Certified Housing Counselor

If Housing Counselor is hired by different agency, they only need to repeat these steps

EXAM

Pass Exam

Take Housing Counseling

Certification Exam

Register for examination and pay fee at

hudhousingcounselors.comTest taker does not pass the

exam

START HERE

Authorize test data sent to HUD

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• Pass the certification exam covering six major topics

• Only have to pass certification examination once

• Work for an agency approved to participate in HUD’s housing counseling – will be verified through a FHA Connection

• Certification Exam launched August 1st, 2017.• All agencies must comply by August 1, 2020

Counselor Certification Exam

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Six Major Topics of Testing

Financial management

Property maintenance

Responsibilities of homeownership and tenancy

Fair housing laws and requirements

Housing affordability

Avoiding eviction and foreclosure

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• HUD strongly recommends taking training and making use of the practice exam

• Low rates for exam expire September 30, 2018• HUD may change the fees after this date with a sixty-

day federal register notice

• Exam, study guide and practice exam available in English and Spanish

• FAQs on hudexchange website are continually updated

Housing Counselor Certification Tips

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• If taking exam online, test your equipment prior to scheduling the exam.

• Web camera• Check firewall• Visit www.hudhousingcounselors.com for tips

• Update of exam planned in April, 2018• Training, practice exam, study guide and the

certification exam will all be updated• Two updates a year are intended

Housing Counselor Certification Tips

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• Counselor must authorize transfer of exam results and begin the application process in FHA Connection

• Employment must be verified in FHA Connection by the agency application coordinator

• Agencies must designate an FHAC application coordinator to certify counselor’s employment

• Once a counselor’s employment is certified by the housing counseling agency, the HUD certified housing counselor certificate can be printed and/or downloaded

After Exam Steps to Become Certified

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• Every agency requires an FHA Connection Application Coordinator

• Activates counselors who pass exam• Multiple Application Coordinators must be used if also

counselors.• Counselors cannot self-verify their own employment status

or HECM Roster in FHA Connection

• HUD webinar for the role and responsibility of the FHA Connection application coordinator was held on December 11, 2017

• Training is archived and available on HUD Exchange

FHA Connection andHousing Counselor Certification

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HUD Certified Housing Counselor

Counselor Application

https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/housing-counseling/housing-counselor-certification-application/#hud-certified-housing-counselor-application-overview-and-process

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Resources and Other Information

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Agency Public Search Function

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Office of Housing Counseling

Find us at: www.hudexchange.info/counseling

Counselor Training and Testing website:www.hudhousingcounselors.com

Certification FAQs:www.hudexchange.info/housing-counseling/faqs/

Email us at: Housing.counseling@hud.gov

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Questions?