Georgia Housing Authority Partners to Get $1 Million for Counseling

Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded nearly $40 million in housing counseling grants to help over one million individuals and families access HUD-approved housing counseling to help them avoid foreclosure and make more informed homebuying and rental choices.

Georgia will receive just over $1 million of that funding.

The grants awarded today will directly support the housing counseling services provided by 204 HUD-approved local housing counseling agencies, national and regional organizations, and state housing finance agencies (SHFAs). Recipients of these grants competed through the Department’s two-year (FY 2019 and 2020) Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published May 24, 2019.

“HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are on the front lines of helping individuals and families struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “These housing counselors help individuals and families in need to get mortgage payment relief assistance now, and to take the steps necessary to save their homes in the future.”

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies provide services to address a full range of housing counseling needs. This includes assisting homebuyers in evaluating their readiness for a home purchase and navigating through the homebuying process. Nearly half of the state and local counseling agencies that were awarded HUD grants received preference because they will provide counseling to individuals and families within designated Opportunity Zones (see attached list).

“Today’s funding reinforces HUD’s commitment to the important role counseling plays in helping families make responsible choices to address their housing needs,” said Acting Federal Housing Commissioner Len Wolfson. “In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, HUD-approved counselors are there to assist millions of homeowners and renters nationwide and help them keep a roof over their heads.”

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies also help households find affordable rental housing, offer financial literacy training to individuals and families, and provide foreclosure prevention counseling. In addition to providing counseling to homeowners and renters, HUD-approved housing counseling agencies support emergency preparedness and disaster recovery efforts, assist homeless persons in finding transitional housing, and help seniors determine whether a reverse mortgage makes sense for them.

In Fiscal Year 2019, HUD-approved housing counseling agencies served 1,015,911 households. Approximately 52 percent of those households were minorities, including 38 percent African American and 10 percent identified as multiple races. Additionally, 19 percent of households served were Hispanic.