HUD announces nearly $42 mil in housing counseling grants

Grants were awarded to 18 national and regional organizations and about 362 state and local housing counseling agencies.

The money will be used to help families become first-time homeowners or to remain homeowners after their purchase.

“These organizations will provide counseling services that will help meet the president’s goal of increasing minority homeownership by 5.5 million families by the end of the decade,” Jackson said.

Of the nearly $42 million in housing counseling grants, $2.5 million is specifically to combat predatory lending and to help borrowers avoid unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms and other conditions that can lead to a loss of equity, increased debt, default or foreclosure.

Another $1.4 million of the grant total is specifically for counseling in conjunction with HUD’s Section 8 Homeownership Voucher Program, which allows low-income individuals to use rental vouchers to purchase homes.

Grants for the elderly

A $3 million supplemental grant for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage counseling is being awarded to the AARP Foundation in partnership with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and Money Management International to provide counseling for the growing number of elderly homeowners who seek to convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs and other living expenses.

HUD awards annual grants under the housing counseling program through a competitive process. Organizations that apply for grants must be HUD-approved and are subject to biennial performance reviews to maintain their HUD-approved status.

HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS.