Becoming a Housing Counselor

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Take our Housing Counseling Career Path Training

Learn the fundamentals of counseling and prepare to pass the HUD certification exam.

Register

Do you want to help people meet their home goals?

Housing counselors help individuals and families as they:

  • Buy a home
  • Rent a home
  • Avoid foreclosure or eviction
  • Rebuild credit
  • Improve financial stability

 

Help individuals and communities

Housing counselors play an important role in stabilizing communities and supporting families and individuals by offering guidance on how to reach their home goals. Housing counseling services are free or low-cost, typically provided through community-based nonprofits that connect clients with a variety of resources and programs. Housing counselors lead group workshops or offer individual advice on critical topics such as qualifying for down payment assistance programs to purchase a home, being a responsible renter, and avoiding discriminatory or predatory lending practices.

In addition to helping would-be homebuyers realize their dreams, housing counselors also support people experiencing housing instability. They help clients who are facing foreclosure, eviction, or homelessness by equipping them with information and helping them understand their options.

Through this important work, housing counselors play a part in addressing systemic inequities such as the racial gap in homeownership and help our communities thrive.

How to Become a HUD-Certified Housing Counselor

In order to become a housing counselor, you must learn the basics of housing counseling and pass a HUD Individual Certification Exam. Later, you can expand your knowledge to help your clients on as they face different situations.

Housing Action has designed a training series to help newcomers who are interested in a career as a housing counselor. Our Housing Counseling Career Path is a comprehensive program designed to help you understand the six core principles of housing counseling and prepare to pass the HUD Individual Certification Exam, which makes you eligible for hire by a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.

Register for the Housing Counseling Career Path

Our next Housing Counseling Career Path trainings will be:

  • Housing Counseling Career Path (English) – Virtual
    January 14–16 and 21-23 (Six Sessions) | 1:00 pm–5:00 pm CT
    Registration: $300 | Register »
  • Housing Counseling Career Path (English) – Virtual
    In Partnership with Joliet Junior College & Moraine Valley Community College
    Save the Date | March 18–27

Reach out to Housing Action’s Wanda Collins if you have questions about building the pipeline of new talent for the housing counseling field and sign up for our email list to learn about upcoming training opportunities.

Find a Housing Counseling Position

Housing Action collaborates regularly with the National Housing Resource Center (NHRC) to expand the field of housing counseling. NHRC has launched a jobs board to match HUD-certified housing counselors to agencies with open positions.

Find or post a housing counseling position at HousingCounselingCareer.org.

College Partnerships

Housing Action has started to partner with colleges to bring our Housing Counseling Career Path as an opportunity for students interested in taking our training and beginning a career in the field.  In 2023, we were excited to launch our first collaboration with an institution of higher education when we brought the career path training with Moraine Valley Community College.

Interested in partnering with us? Contact Wanda Collins at wanda@housingactionil.org.