Housing Counseling Resources
Housing Action Webinars
Fair Housing Legal Rights and Responsibilities: Tools for Housing Counselors
Bankruptcy: What Housing Counselors Need to Know
- Recording: Bankruptcy: What Housing Counselors Need to Know
- Presentation Slides: Bankruptcy for Homeowners
- Presenter James A. Brady joined from Legal Aid Chicago
Rentals, Foreclosures, and Bankruptcy Court in the Time of COVID-19
- Recording: Rentals, Foreclosures, and Bankruptcy Court in the Time of COVID-19
- Presentation Slides: Resources for Homeowners
- Presentation Slides: Resources for Renters
- Handouts
- Presenters joined from Legal Aid Chicago and Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing
Keeping the ‘Community’ in the Community Reinvestment Act
- Recording: Keeping the ‘Community’ in the Community Reinvestment Act
- Presentation: Keeping the ‘Community’ in the Community Reinvestment Act
- More information: Woodstock Institute
Dealing with Property of Elderly and Deceased Mortgagors
Saving Homes Through Bankruptcy
- Recording: Saving Homes Through Bankruptcy
- Presentation: Saving Homes Through Bankruptcy
Grant Writing: Best Practices
- Check out our introductory webinar on best practices for grant writing. This advice is relevant not only when you’re applying for funding from IHDA but also when applying for funding from other sources.
- Another good resource for advice on grant writing is Forefront, a statewide membership association for nonprofits, grantmakers, public agencies, and advisors. Forefront hosts webinars and trainings throughout Illinois, some of which are free.
HELOCs and Foreclosure
Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) can be a convenient, flexible and low-cost way to borrow money, but in situations of financial trouble could lead to foreclosure. In August 2016, we hosted a webinar with Ainat Margalit, a Senior Attorney in the Consumer Practice Group at LAF, to teach the basics of HELOC, foreclosure, and loss mitigation, and how to help clients navigate them.For Foreclosure Prevention Program Grantee Agencies
- Coming soon: we will also be doing a webinar specifically for FPP-G grantees that helps you navigate the reporting process.
Fair Housing Resources
In-Depth Focus on Fair Housing Rights for People with DisabilitiesWe hosted this webinar on the fair housing rights of people with disabilities in July 2016. The presentation covered reasonable accommodations, reasonable modifications, service animals, illegal inquiries about a person’s disability, effective communication, and other legal issues. It relied on hypothetical scenarios as the main teaching tools.
Fair Housing Legal Rights and Responsibilities: Tools for Housing Counselors
In May 2016, we hosted this webinar with expert presenter Jessica Schneider, Staff Attorney in the Educational Equity and Fair Housing Projects of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The presentation included information on fair housing laws, legal rights and responsibilities for housing seekers and housing providers, and resources for filing complaints for fair housing violations.
Best Practices for Housing Counselors
In December 2014, Housing Action Illinois and the Illinois Development Housing Authority (IHDA) presented on best practices for housing counselors, covering topics such as understanding counseling services, HUD and IHDA expectations, record keeping, and reporting. See the presentation slides »Developing a Financial Education Program
Presentation by Cheryll Boswell, Executive Director of METEC
Presentation by Megan Kursik, Coordinator of Michigan Communities for Financial Empowerment
Rent to Own
- Recording: Protections for Rent to Own Homebuyers in Illinois
- Presentation: Protections for Rent to Own Homebuyers in Illinois
Anti-Predatory Lending Database
- Recording: Illinois Anti-Predatory Lending Database
- Presentation: Illinois Anti-Predatory Lending Database
Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Process
- Recording: Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Process
- Presentation: Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Process
Housing Action Initiatives
HUD Certification Exam
Beginning August 1, 2020, housing counselors will be required to become certified via a HUD-administered exam. We break down what you need to know in our FAQ and have created an Online Study Group to help housing counselors prepare for the exam. See all presentations from the Online Study Group below.
Fighting Housing Discrimination
Find our brochure on fair lending, info about the Community Reinvestment Act, contact info for fair housing enforcement agencies, and more at our page on fair housing.HUD-Approved Client Management Systems
Housing counseling agencies rely on Client Management Systems (CMSs) to track clients and outcomes. Trying to compare these complicated systems can be daunting so we created profiles of each CMS to help housing counselors assess their options. See the CMS Guide 2.0.
Additional Resources
Research on the Benefits of Housing Counseling
- 82% of clients who receive housing counseling think it was a helpful experience, according to the 2015 American Housing Survey, which looks at rates of housing counseling across the nation.
- Homebuyer education and counseling can “provide timely, powerful support for prospective and current homeowners as they assess their options and make decisions,” according to an overview of relevant research in Evidence Matters, published in 2016 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research.
- Neil Mayer and Associates, together with Experian, conducted a study published in 2012 on the effectiveness of NeighborWorks pre-purchase homeownership counseling and education. Overall, the study found clients receiving pre-purchase counseling and education from NeighborWorks organizations are one-third less likely to become 90+ days delinquent over the two years after receiving their loan than are borrowers who do not receive pre-purchase counseling from NeighborWorks organizations. In 2016, the Urban Institute continued the examination of NeighborWorks counseling in a report titled NeighborWorks America’s Homeownership Education and Counseling: Who Receives It and Is It Effective?
- A 2016 study by a doctoral student at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development, The Influence of Homebuyer Education on Default and Foreclosure Risk, found that first-time homebuyers who attended homebuyer education course were much less likely to lose their home to foreclosure.
Research on the Barriers to Homeownership
Latest News for Housing Counselors
Spotlight: Virtual Housing Counseling and Accessibility during COVID-19
When Wanda met Michael, he was staying at the Pacific Garden Mission shelter. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic meant he was doing an apartment search virtually, which was a challenge compounded by his disability. He wasn’t sure if he could trust that photos would line up...
Housing Action Illinois to Create New Data Standard for Housing Counseling Industry
Initiative will help quantify & qualify program impacts, position agencies to better serve consumers For Immediate Release: August 3, 2020 Contact: Kristin Ginger, Communications Manager, Housing Action Illinois, kristin@housingactionil.org or 312-854-3333 CHICAGO...
Housing Action Awarded $1 Million in Housing Counseling Funds
CHICAGO – HUD has awarded $1,000,206 to Housing Action Illinois to distribute funds to local nonprofits whose housing counseling programs help families rent or buy safe, affordable homes and prevent foreclosures. This year’s network of 33 housing counseling agencies, listed below, serve communities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri.
HUD Certified Housing Counselor Exam FAQ
In December 2016, HUD issued a Final Rule for the Housing Counseling program that requires that all individuals who provide housing counseling in connection with a HUD program must take and pass a HUD-administered certification exam. HUD Certification Exam Online...
Housing Action Awarded $1.2 Million in Housing Counseling Funds
33 Agencies to Receive Sub-Grants to Help Families Rent or Buy Affordable Homes For Immediate Release: October 8, 2019 Contact: Kristin Ginger, Communications Manager, Housing Action Illinois, kristin@housingactionil.org or 312-854-3333 CHICAGO – HUD has awarded...
CMS Guide 2.0 Released to Help Housing Counseling Agencies Replace HCO
Housing Action Illinois has just published an updated version of its Guide to HUD-approved Client Management Systems (CMSs). The digital resource, which is available for free online, helps users assess their options through an at-a-glance comparison chart and detailed...
Diversifying Revenue through Social Enterprise
A social enterprise is a publicly responsible and innovative venture, driven by unmet community needs, that exists as a hybrid of the traditional nonprofit and business models. Broadly, these ventures can be classified into three categories defined by the Social...
8 Reasons We’re Proud of 2018
1. We were awarded $1.26 million by HUD to support housing counseling programs in the Midwest The funds will be distributed across our growing Intermediary network of 33 agencies in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri to support programs that help...
Housing Action Illinois Awarded $1.2 Million in Housing Counseling Funds
33 Agencies to Receive Sub-Grants to Help Families Rent or Buy Affordable Homes CHICAGO – HUD has awarded $1,259,176 to Housing Action Illinois to distribute funds to local nonprofits whose housing counseling programs help families rent or buy safe,...
Launching a Housing Counseling Program
“Information is power,” says Guadalupe Gasca. As a housing counselor at Centro Romero, the information that Lupe gives families on the northeast side of Chicago helps them find and keep good apartments and homes. “Too many people don’t know their rights,...