Housing Counseling: New Certification Requirements
SUMMARY: HUD’s housing counseling program provides housing counseling
to consumers seeking information about financing, maintaining, renting, or owning a home. The housing counseling statute was amended to improve the effectiveness of housing counseling in HUD programs by, among other things: establishing the Office of Housing Counseling and giving this office the authority over the establishment, coordination, and administration of all regulations, requirements, standards, and performance measures under programs and laws administered by HUD that relate tohousing counseling;
requiring that organizations providing housing counseling required under or about HUD programs be approved to participate in the Housing Counseling Program (Housing Counseling Agencies, or HCAs) and have all individuals providing such housing counseling certified byHUD as competent to provide such services;
prohibiting the distribution of housing counseling grant funds awarded to agencies participating in HUD’s Housing Counseling Program that are found in violation of Federal election laws or that have employees found in violation of Federal election laws; and requiring the reimbursement to HUD of housing counseling grant fundsthat HUD finds were misused.
HUD issued a proposed rule on September 13, 2013, to establish in
regulation the statutory changes made to the housing counseling program and solicited public comment. This final rule revises HUD’s Housing Counseling Program regulations to
adopt the new requirements established in the housing counseling statute. Additionally, this rule amends HUD’s general and other program regulations to clarify for grantees the requirement that housing counseling under Other HUD Programs must be provided by HCAs.
HUD will issue a separate Federal Register notice to announce the start of the testing and certification process, and entities and individuals providing housing counseling will have 36 months to be approved or certified by the Office of Housing Counseling.
DATES: Effective Date: January 13, 2017
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William McKee, Office of Housing Counseling, at housing.counseling@hud.gov. Please include “Housing Counseling Program: New Certification Requirements” in the subject line of the email. Requests can also be sent by mail to William McKee at Office of Housing Counseling, Office of Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Santa Ana Federal Building, 34 Civic Center Plaza, Room 7015, Santa Ana, CA 92701; telephone number 702-366-2126 (this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech challenges may access this number through TTY by calling the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (this is not a toll-free number).