HUD awards $64,000 in counseling grants to help families find and keep housing in Arkansas, Helena, Jonesboro, and Russellville receive grants

As part of its continuing effort to help families find decent housing and to prevent future foreclosures, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced $64,521 in housing counseling grants to 3 organizations in Arkansas.  As a result of this funding, Arkansas households will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep their current homes. 

“The HUD-approved counseling agencies this funding supports are crucial in helping struggling families on a one-to-one basis to manage their money, navigate the homebuying process, and secure their financial futures,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.   “We fought hard to persuade Congress to restore funding for housing counseling in HUD’s budget and now we’re working to make these important resources available as quickly as possible.”

Nationally, $42 million in housing counseling grant funds was announced today that will directly support the services of 468 organizations, including:

27 national and regional organizations;

6 multi-state organizations;

16 State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs); and

419 local housing counseling agencies.

Included in that amount is $4 million that was awarded to agencies to assist senior citizens seeking reverse mortgages or Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM).  These agencies will provide counseling for the rapidly growing number of elderly homeowners who seek to convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs, and other living expenses.

HUD housing counseling grants will support the following Arkansas state and local agencies (a link to summaries for each grantee is at the end of the release): 

 Arkansas Grants

Helena	Southern Bancorp Community Partners	$20,620
Jonesboro	Jonesboro Urban Renewal and Housing Authority Housing and Community Development Organization (JURHA HCDO)	$21,211
Russellville	Universal Housing Development Corporation	$22,690

State Total  $64,521

Housing counseling grants assist families in becoming homeowners, many for the first time, and remaining homeowners after their purchase.  They also provide assistance to renters and the homeless, and offer financial literacy training to individuals and families.

Grantees also help combat predatory lending by helping unwary borrowers review their loan documentation, and avoid potential mortgage scams, unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and even foreclosure.  Likewise, foreclosure prevention counseling helps homeowners facing delinquency or default employ strategies, including expense reduction, negotiation with lenders and loan servicers, and loss mitigation, to avoid foreclosure. With foreclosures at critical levels nationwide, these services are more important than ever.

National and regional agencies distribute much of HUD’s housing counseling grant funding to community-based grassroots organizations that provide information and guidance to low- and moderate-income families seeking to improve their housing conditions. In addition, these larger organizations help improve the quality of housing counseling services and enhance coordination among counseling providers.