Housing Counseling Process Evaluation and Design of ... - HUD User

y HUD, the survey asked which of the following types of standards should be established nationally
either by HUD or by another entity:
• Certification standards for staff;
• Curriculum standards for education sessions;
• Data tracking and reporting standards;
• Formal service delivery standards.
For all types of housing counseling and education, the survey found there is substantial support for
national standards of some type. Exhibit 9-1 summarizes the percentage of agencies reporting that
national standards of some type (i.e., in any of the four categories above) are needed. Support for
national standards is highest for predatory lending workshops and foreclosure mitigation counseling,
but a substantial majority of agencies reported that standards are needed for the other types of
homeownership-related counseling as well. For rental and homeless counseling, however, only about
half of agencies said that national standards are needed. On average, across all types of counseling
and education services, 73 percent of agencies reported the need for national standards of some type,
which implies that just over one quarter of agencies are satisfied with existing standards.
Exhibit 9-1.
Percent of Agencies Reporting That National Standards are Needed
Predatory lending workshops (N=197) 81%
Foreclosure mitigation counseling (N=549) 79%
Counseling related to HECMs (N=232) 78%
Mortgage refinancing counseling (N=284) 77%
Pre-purchase homebuyer counseling (N=808) 76%
Homebuyer education workshops (N=757) 76%
Post-purchase homeowner workshops (N=237) 75%
Assistance on fair housing issues (N=113) 72%
Rental counseling (N=452)
53%
Homeless counseling (N=207) 51%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Percent of Agencies
Source: Abt Associates survey of HUD-approved counseling agencies.
Note: “N=” indicates number of survey respondents for that category.
Chapter 9. Policy Considerations 149