September 08, 2016
Homeownership Through Education
Suzanne Isaacs
Office of Housing Counseling
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The mission of the Office of Housing Counseling 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.”
HUD Office of Housing Counseling
Network of approximately 2,000 housing counseling agencies
Monitors compliance with HUD regulations and oversees independence, conflicts of interest, content and process standards, administers grant awards
Promotes housing education by connecting clients with appropriate housing counseling agencies
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“
363,113
17,358
119,352
234,339 57,995
98,188
446,575
Group Education
Homeless
Rental
Pre-purchase
Post-purchase
Reverse Mortgage
Mortgage Delinquency
All Agencies HUD-9902 Data Fiscal Year 2015
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Total Counseling Activity – 1,336,920
Housing Counseling Works
Borrowers receiving pre-purchase counseling
and education…are one-third less likely to
become 90+ days delinquent over the two years
after receiving their loan. 2013 Neil Mayer & Associates study
Borrowers receiving counseling through
individual programs experience a 34 percent
reduction in delinquency rates, all things equal,
while borrowers receiving classroom and home
study counseling obtain 26 percent and 21
percent reductions, respectively. 2001 Joint Center for Housing Studies
Counseled homeowners were at least 67% more
likely to remain current on their mortgage nine
months after receiving a loan modification cure .
2011 Urban Institute
Homeowners in default who received counseling
were twice as likely to avoid foreclosure as those
who did not. Roberto Quercia and Spencer M.
Cowan 2008
The monthly payments of households that received
counseling were, on average, $267 less than those
who did not participate in counseling. Counseling
also made it 45 percent more likely that the
homeowner would sustain those payments after
modification. 2011 Urban Institute
Counseling reduces the delinquency rate by 29%
for first time homebuyers and by 15% overall.
2013 Freddie Mac study
Counseled homeowners were 2.83 times more
likely to receive a modification, and at least 1.78
times more likely to cure a default, than similar
non-counseled borrowers. 2014 Urban Institute
After four years, counseled borrowers had
improved credit scores, less debt and fewer
delinquencies. 2014 Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia
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Recent Research – HUD Study
• More than 5,800 study participants randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: – Online pre-purchase education plus telephone counseling
– Choice of in-person or remote education plus counseling
– Control group that receives no services
• Early Insights: • Improved mortgage literacy
• Greater appreciation for communication with lenders
• Improved underwriting qualifications
• No evidence of improved budgeting practices
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Visibility and Outreach Goals
• Implement a successful, measurable outreach campaign
• Rebrand HUD housing counseling as a positive tool/ change any consumer negative perceptions
• Communicate value of housing counseling to stakeholders and consumers
• Create positive partnerships between the lending community and housing counseling agencies in order to increase funding for housing counseling
Target Audiences
• Homeless individuals and families
• Seniors
• First-time Homebuyers
• Homeowners
• Renters
• Families and individuals
• Minority communities and at-risk demographic groups
Campaign Elements
Apps
Office of Housing Counseling Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity
Fannie Mae’s HOME
Banner Ads
• The banner ads link to the Office of Housing Counseling’s “find a HUD approved housing counseling agency” page
• Media buys in target markets include:
Outreach Campaign Toolkit
Accessible and downloadable at HUDExchange.info
Awareness & Visibility Campaign
• New contract with Creative Marketing Resources
• Performing focus groups across the country with stakeholders
• Hope to launch initial messaging phase in FY 2017
Awareness & Visibility Campaign Creative Marketing Resources
Completed 25 focus group meetings with Stakeholders
Conducted interviews on perception of housing counseling
Created a toolkit for homeownership month White House Event Items from the toolkit can be used by housing counseling agencies
• Toolkit includes: – a letter from President Obama
– a note from Sarah Gerecke
– talking points about homeownership and housing counseling
– press contact information
– bios on thirteen homeowners that beat the odds
– “beat the odds” flyer
Other toolkits in the making
15 9/13/2016
16 9/13/2016
Online Resources OHC’s new website
www.hudexchange.info/housingcounseling
• Toolkits for Counselors
• Toolkits for Partners
• Training Archives
• Best Practice Guides
• FAQs
• Visibility Campaigns
• Infographic
• And more!
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Online Resources Find Housing Counseling Agencies in Your Area
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm
• Interactive map
• Displays: – All Approved Agencies
– Contact Information
– Services Provided
– Languages
– Parent Organizations
• Separate Search for HECM Counselors
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The Bridge Newsletter
• Features the good work of housing counseling agencies across the country
• Provides great training and best practices
• More than 16,400 subscribers
• Open to ideas for new articles and issue topics
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Counselor Certification • All housing counseling provided under or in
connection with all HUD programs must be performed by a HUD certified Housing Counselor
• 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
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Counselor Certification • Final Rule is close to completion
–Publish date is not known
• Training available at http://www.hudhousingcounselors.com/
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Federal Advisory Committee
Congressionally mandated committee to provide advice regarding the Office of Housing Counseling
• Representatives include 3 mortgage experts, 3 real estate experts, 3 housing counseling agencies, and 3 consumers
• First met in June 21st, 2016
• Committee will establish agenda based on their experience with housing counseling
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HUD Housing Counseling Grants
• $47 million for grants, training and administrative contracts
• Fiscal Years 16 and 17 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) announced on February 18
• Over $42 million awarded on June 21, 2016
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Education and Training • Training Grant: $2,000,000 in HUD training Funds in FY2016
– HUD funding is used for scholarships and training
• FY2016 Grantees: – NeighborWorks
– National Council of La Raza
– National Community Reinvestment Coalition
– Rural Community Assistance Corporation
• HUD free webinar training – developing YouTube based training videos
• Third party training from other Federal Agencies and partners
• All HUD training is archived on HUD Exchange
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Discussion/Questions
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