HUD approved housing counseling agencies in Illinois offer professional services to homeowners and homebuyers on such topics as credit repair, home financing, maintaining a home, obtaining a reverse mortgage, predatory lending, landlord-tenant education and foreclosure prevention.

To locate the HUD approved housing counseling agency near you, click: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm?webListAction=search&searchstate=IL

Organizations that are interested in becoming HUD approved housing counseling agencies are required to fulfill HUD specified requirements.

Prospective agencies must:

- Function as a private or public nonprofit organization, which must be specified by adherence to Section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code

- Have successfully administered a housing counseling program for at least one year

- Have functioned for at least one year in the geographical area that will be served by the agency

- Demonstrate its capacity to execute its proposed counseling plan

Interested agencies can apply for status as a HUD approved agency by printing and submitting the online application: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/forms/files/9900.pdf

Additionally, information concerning the process of becoming a HUD approved housing counseling agencies is available at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof13.cfm

At this time HUD does not “certify” individual housing counselors.

Scholarship opportunities: NeighborWorks® America through the NeighborWorks® Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are working together to provide training opportunities to all HUD approved housing counseling agencies. Specifically, HUD approved housing counseling agencies are open to receive tuition scholarships for the NeighborWorks® Training Institute.

Complimentary to this effort, Housing Action Illinois and the Illinois Housing Development Authority work together to bring NeighborWorks® Place Based Trainings and other nationally and locally recognized professional trainers to Illinois, so housing counselors and their organizations may have access to local, affordable trainings throughout each year.

To view our upcoming schedule of trainings, click here.

For more information on contacting your local HUD approved housing counseling agencies, how to become a HUD approved agency or training opportunities through Housing Action Illinois, please contact Katie Gottschall Donohue at katie@housingactionil.org.