The Basics
CounselorMax is offered by NeighborWorks America and is designed for organizations operating housing counseling programs focused on homeownership counseling. CounselorMax focuses on the development and maintenance of tools that allow organizations to assist clients with sustainable homeownership.
Costs
One-Time Costs: There is no charge for onboarding to CounselorMax. Currently, CounselorMax does not have data migration features available and all client data needs to be entered manually.
Annual Fee: Pricing starts at $595/year. The base pricing includes licenses for 5 users; each additional user costs an additional $150/year per user.
Contact NeighborWorks America at CounselorMax@nw.org for a demo of the product and pricing based upon your agency’s needs.
Training & Technical Support
In addition to the technical support features listed below, NeighborWorks America also offers live training at their national training institute.
IT Hours: 9:00AM – 5:00PM ET
| Live Help Desk Support | |
| Support Ticket System | |
| Webinars | |
| Forums |
Platform & Setup
CounselorMax is a web-based system. Setup of the system is conducted remotely and can take one week or less.
Counseling & Group Education Features
| Track hours spent counseling | |
| Capture all fields required by HUD | |
| Distinguish between potential/prospective clients and actual clients | |
| Track case funding | |
| Track various fees charged by agency | |
| Link to credit reporting agencies | |
| Soft credit pull | |
| Track changes in credit score | |
| Document storage for client files | |
| Track changes in budgeting habits | |
| Follow up reminders | |
| Automated reminders of upcoming appointment/workshops | |
| Client/Case summary form | |
| Populate debts off the credit report | |
| Track real estate owned, either primary residence or rental property | |
| Track First-Generation Homebuyer | |
| Email/text communications with clients and/or lenders/creditors |
One-on-One Tools
| Loan comparison | |
| Financial calculators | |
| Budgeting tools | |
| Credit improvement tools |
Group Education Features
| Track all fields required by HUD | |
| Registration/rosters | |
| Course logistics (including instructors and locations) | |
| Track funding | |
| Track fees charged by agency | |
| Mail merge to create Certificates of Completion |
Output Documents
| RMA | |
| UBA | |
| Budget | |
| Hardship letter | |
| Action plan | |
| Signed intake | |
| Signed disclosures/authorizations |
Program/Tool Interactions
| eHome America | |
| Framework | |
| Other homebuyer education platform/materials | |
| Any other education/webinar platform | |
| Hope LoanPortal | |
| HomeCoach or AUS | |
| Lender communications | |
| Online consumer authorization | |
| Any consumer permissioned data functionality or other API |
Administration Management Features
| Separate staff can be assigned to same client | |
| Staff training records tracking | |
| Staff certifications tracking | |
| HUD individual certification tracking | |
| FHA Connection | |
| Counselor (user) time sheets can be created (including tie client/time to grants) | |
| Internal calendar/appointment functionality | |
| External calendar/appointment functionality | |
| Admins able to add or remove staff/counselors |
Workflow Features
| Dashboards | |
| Ability to sort and filter cases | |
| Ability to export records | |
| Ability to export records to Hope LoanPortal | |
| Ability to import client cases |
Client Interface
| Portal for Client to input data | |
| Client can register for group education or one-on-one appointments | |
| Can send client satisfaction surveys | |
| Can email clients or lenders and other stakeholders | |
| Can chat with counselor/staff in real time |
Reports and Customization
CounselorMax’s other pre-packaged reports include HSCP reporting and financial capability reports.
| HUD-9902 | |
| Other pre-packaged reports | |
| Customizable reports | |
| Client satisfaction survey results |
9902 Reporting
| Error messages identify specific error and location | |
| Edits can be made from 9902 preview | |
| Submitted as single or multiple packages | MULTIPLE |
Customizable Fields
| Counseling outcomes | |
| Counseling type | |
| Counseling status | |
| Referral source | |
| Funding organization/source |