Housing counseling agencies have always had strong and innovative partnerships with other service providers in order to meet clients’ needs and achieve their housing goals. This edition of The Bridge features a myriad of partnerships and collaborations among housing counseling agencies and housing stakeholders including federal and state government agencies, REALTORS® and and real estate professionals, government-sponsored enterprises, community groups, faith-based organizations, and civic associations.
Expert and impartial housing counseling offers value to the real estate industry and to other community stakeholders in many ways, illustrated by the programs you will read about in this issue. Research has shown that housing counseling benefits creditors, servicers and investors by improving mortgage performance, use of credit, and savings behavior. Lenders have created innovative downpayment assistance programs and foreclosure & prevention programs in partnership with housing counseling agencies. Housing counselors work with landlords to help new renters to save for the security deposit or overcome credit issues. Local governments partner with housing counseling agencies to increase awareness of fair housing rights and affordable housing resources. The examples are endless.
The Office of Housing Counseling knows the importance of collaboration. We meet regularly with businesses and trade associations representing the real estate industry, lenders, servicers, home builders, GSEs, mortgage investors, and many others. The very essence of what we do cannot be done without collaborating with our partners, stakeholders, and housing counseling agencies. We all must work together to fulfill our mission to help families obtain, sustain, and retain their homes.
These collaborations have produced unique programs to enhance financial literacy, secure rental housing, address homebuyer preparedness, homeowner preservation, foreclosure prevention, and fair housing awareness among others. Public, private and nonprofit groups have partnered together with housing counseling agencies to conduct neighborhood outreach, hold community events, and host volunteer activities. These efforts not only benefit and bring together the individuals and families we serve, they also benefit our neighborhoods and the greater community.
The Office of Housing Counseling will continue to highlight and support successful collaborations that benefit the families we ultimately serve.
Sarah
Sarah Gerecke
Deputy Assistant
Secretary
Office of Housing
This article was originally published in The Bridge, Volume 3, Issue 2.