Housing Counseling Resources

• Recording: Saving Homes Through Bankruptcy 
• Presentation: Saving Homes Through Bankruptcy 

 

• 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.

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.

• View our webinar for FPP-4 grantees that provides a detailed overview of the required steps and documentation needed to complete the FPP-4 Quarterly Disbursement Statement.
• Coming soon: we will also be doing a webinar specifically for FPP-G grantees that helps you navigate the reporting process.

In-Depth Focus on Fair Housing Rights for People with Disabilities
We 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.

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 »

Studies show that people receiving financial education beyond housing counseling make more informed financial choices. At our 2013 annual Housing Matters! conference, presented on how to introduce comprehensive financial education to a housing counseling agency and strategies for helping an agency and counselors emphasize lifelong financial education.

Presentation by Cheryll Boswell, Executive Director of METEC

Presentation by Megan Kursik, Coordinator of Michigan Communities for Financial Empowerment

• Recording: Protections for Rent to Own Homebuyers in Illinois
• Presentation: Protections for Rent to Own Homebuyers in Illinois

• Recording: Illinois Anti-Predatory Lending Database
• Presentation: Illinois Anti-Predatory Lending Database 

• Recording: Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Process
• Presentation: Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Process

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. 

• Financial Management: slides and recording
• Foreclosure: slides and recording
• Homeownership: slides and recording 
• Affordability and Fair Housing: slides and recording 
• Tenancy: slides and recording

Guide to HUD-approved CMSs

HCO Training (coming soon)

• 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.

In November 2017, the Urban Institute released a report titled Barriers to Accessing Homeownership that provides data and commentary on three significant barriers to homeownership: saving for a down payment, accessing mortgage credit and housing affordability. The report also offers information about down payment assistance programs which can help borrowers overcome the first barrier to homeownership.