“To amend the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to provide reforms to housing counseling and financial literacy programs.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section reforms HUD's housing counseling program (i.e., authorized under 12 U.S.C. 1701x to provide information, advice, technical assistance, and counseling to support low- and moderate-income housing development, operations, and homeowner/tenant responsibilities) by (1) revising grant recipient selection criteria in subsection (a)(4)(C) to require geographic diversity including urban and rural-serving organizations (from prior emphasis on adequate distribution to mitigate high foreclosure rates); (2) adding subsection (e)(6)-(8) to establish periodic performance reviews of participating agencies and individual counselors—comparing counselor performance for pre-purchase counseling on covered mortgage loans (i.e., FHA-insured under title II of the National Housing Act or guaranteed under sections 184/184A of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992) against default rates in comparable markets—and authorizing remedial actions including education, retesting, or permanent certification suspension after two failures; (3) inserting subsection (i)(3) to authorize denial of assistance renewal for noncompliant organizations or counselors based on such reviews, subject to 60 days' notice and an optional informal conference; and (4) adding subsection (j) to require offering housing counseling to borrowers 30+ days delinquent on covered mortgage loans (i.e., FHA-insured, sections 184/184A-guaranteed, VA, or USDA loans), with FHA counseling costs covered by the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund if statutory requirements are met.