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Office Of Housing Counselingand Certification Rule

Robin PenickUS Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of Housing Counseling

March 7, 2019

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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

• 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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• Housing Counselor Certification

• Resources and Other Information

Agenda

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Housing Counselor Certification

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Housing Counselor Certification

KEY PROVISIONS

Housing 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 Governments

2. Public Housing Authorities

3. State Housing Finance Agencies

4. Community Housing Development Organizations

5. 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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• 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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Tennessee Agencies with Certified Counselors

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

• 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

• Exam Updated August 28,2018• Training, practice exam, study guide and the

certification exam updated

• Access to a virtual pen and paper screen

• One update a year is intended

Housing Counselor Certification Tips

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• Create an account on www.hudhousingcounselors.com

• Online proctored exam costs $60 and an in-person proctored exam costs $100

• Review options

Online proctored exams

Onsite proctored exams at a test center

• Review the Test Taker Guide and the System Requirements Guide for online testing

Housing Counselor Certification Tips

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Housing Counselor Certfication Exam Process

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• Result: PASS

• Congratulations! You achieved a passing score on the HUD Housing Counselor Certification written examination.

• To continue the process to become certified, you must take the following steps:

• 1. Sign in to your account on www.HUDHousingCounselors.com to provide additional information and authorize the transfer your testing results to FHA Connection. Note that you will receive a Counselor Exam ID during this step. Then,

• 2. Begin your HUD Certified Housing Counselor Application in FHA Connection. You will need to enter your Counselor Exam ID that you received in the previous step.

E mail Notification of Passing Score

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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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FHAC Application Coordinator Process

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FHAC Application Coordinator Process

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Counselor Application Instructions

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Counselor Application Instructions

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HUD Certified Counselor Progress

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Update: www.hudexchange.info/programs/housing-counseling/

• Existing Web Pages:

• Final Rule and Exam

• Apply for Certification

• FAQs

• New Web Pages:

• HUD Programs Covered

• Tracking Progress

• Success Stories

Website Updates February 6, 2019

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• Updating FAQs specifically on Certification Exam

• Publishing additional Bridge articles on tips and agency best practices

• Modifying the Housing Counseling Agency Eligibility Tool – include certified housing counselor

• Developing a second type of practice exam that measures knowledge and provides question specific feedback

In Progress

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Success Stories

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• Improve the quality and increase the visibility of housing counseling

• Create a body of knowledgeable housing counselors which will lead to better identification of housing issues, more knowledgeable referrals and resolution of barriers, and a greater ability to recognize and avoid scams and discrimination

• Reduce the fraud such as scams and predatory lending

Certfication and the Housing Counseling Industry

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Resources and Other Information

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• Certification Rulehttps://www.hudexchange.info/programs/housing-counseling/certification/

• Certification FAQs – updated!

https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/5194/housing-counseling-new-certification-requirements-faqs/

• Counselor Certification Application Process

https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/housing-counseling/housing-counselor-certification-application/#hud-certified-housing-counselor-eligibility-requirements

• The Bridge – January, February, and April 2018

https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/housing-counseling/the-bridge/

HUD Exchange Resources

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• Counselor Training and Testing www.hudhousingcounselors.com• Exam Center (log-in required) – Registration in Person,

Take Online, and Transfer Results to FHAC https://www.hudhousingcounselors.com/exam-center

• Online Testing Proctoring Support

https://www.kryteriononline.com/test-taker/online-proctoring-support

• Online Test Taking Guide

https://www.kryteriononline.com/sites/default/files/docs/PreparingForYourExam.pdf

Housing Counselors Training and Testing Resources

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• Agency Public Search• uphttps://entp.hud.gov/id

app/html/hecm_agency_look.cfm

• Certified Counselor Search• https://entp.hud.gov/idap

p/html/counsel-srch.cfm

HUD.gov Resources

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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