Hi there, I was wondering to become a HUD certified counselor/agency, can I have provided housing counseling for a year prior to passing the exam to be approved or do I need to provide counseling for 1 year after the exam in order to be certified? To put the question another way, if I/my organization has been providing counseling before having an official certification, can we immediately be HUD certified after passing the exam since we met the criteria of offer counseling for 1 year before the exam. Let me know if you need further clarification.