The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will make more than $5.1 million available in grants for housing counseling training.
The grants will be made available to applicants from public or nonprofit organizations that have tax exempt status under section 501(a) and have at least 2 years of national experience providing the majority of types of housing counseling training services, according to a statement.
"Every day, our HUD-approved counseling organizations help families to make more informed choices about buying or renting," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "Right now, these counseling programs are critical in helping thousands of families avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes. That’s why we’ve increased the funding for housing counseling by 36 percent in this year’s HUD budget."
HUD-approved counseling agencies provide homeownership counseling as well as financial literacy education to renters and homeless individuals and families, according to a statement. This year, HUD’s Housing Counseling Grant program is providing approximately $79 million for comprehensive counseling, reverse mortgage counseling and supplemental funding for mortgage modification and mortgage scam assistance.
The counseling training funds are available to provide training activities designed to improve and standardize the quality of counseling provided by HUD-approved housing counseling agencies, multi-state organizations and state housing finance agencies.
