Dear Kielana,

Certification Requirement

Housing counseling required under or provided in connection with HUD programs must be provided only by certified housing counselors who work for organizations approved to participate in HUD’s Housing Counseling Program. In order to be certified, an individual must both pass a standardized written examination covering six major topic areas, and work for an agency approved to participate in HUD’s housing counseling program. In other words, you can take the certification exam without being employed at a HUD-approved agency; however, to become certified you must pass the exam and work for a HUD-approved agency.  

Please visit the HUD Exchange to learn how to become a HUD Certified Housing Counseling Agency. For steps to certification visit the HUD Exchange website and view the HUD Certified Housing Counselor Application Process.

Compliance

See Housing Counseling: New Certification Requirements Final Rule on the HUD Exchange for more information. On August 5, 2020, HUD published an Interim Final Rule on the Federal Register website to announce a delay in the deadline for housing counselors to become HUD certified. The new final compliance date was August 1, 2021.

For information related to applying to become a HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agency visit the HUD Exchange or complete the Become a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency Learning Pathway collection of webinars.

For other questions related to HUD policies or updates, please contact your agency's HUD Point of Contact (POC), visit HUD.gov, or call 800 333 4636.

Sincerely,

TheHUDhousingcounselors.hud.gov Support Team