September 08, 2016

Homeownership Through Education

Suzanne Isaacs

Office of Housing Counseling

1

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

2

“

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

3 September 8, 2016

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

4

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

5

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!

17

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

18

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

Slide Number <#>

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

20 9/13/2016

Counselor Certification • Final Rule is close to completion

–Publish date is not known

• Training available at http://www.hudhousingcounselors.com/

21 9/13/2016

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

22 9/13/2016

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

23

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

Slide Number <#>

Discussion/Questions

25