As you may have read or learned through our marketing materials, HOME, Inc. is a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) certified housing non-profit. That is all fine and dandy, but what does that mean? As HOME, Inc. has recently been re-certified we realized that we should let you know what that means, what services we provide, and how the certification can further help you and our community.
HUD is a federally governed organization that helps create standards to help housing organizations succeed. For this year’s National Homeownership Month, HUD decided “to support stable and sustainable homeownership, … it is making $43 million in grants available to support hundreds of housing counseling organizations across the country.”
Some of the resources HUD certified organizations provide are “helping homebuyers evaluate if they are ready to buy a house, understand their financing and down payment options, help families find affordable rental housing, navigate through issues associated with Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), and offer financial literacy training to help struggling families repair credit problems.” HOME, Inc. is proud to provide all of these programs and services to help homeowners, people who are struggling with homelessness, renters, landlords, and the general public.
A HUD-certified organization must be a non-profit 501-C3 organization that serves everyone in their community regardless of identity. The housing counselors all must be HUD certified which means they have specific knowledge about “pre-purchase, rental assistance, foreclosure intervention, reverse mortgages, homeless assistance”.
In Iowa, there are a total of 12 HUD-certified agencies. HOME, Inc. is the only HUD certified non-profit in the Central Iowa area.
We are so thankful to be HUD-certified and continue learning about how we can help our community!