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HUD-Approved Housing Counseling
This program, administered through our CCCS division, provides individual counseling to potential homebuyers, to homeowners who are behind or are in danger of falling behind on their mortgage payments, and to senior citizen homeowners who could benefit from a reverse mortgage.
First-Time Homebuyers
Clients are often overwhelmed by the knowledge and preparation needed to buy a home for the first time. We offer several services at our agency to ease this process:
First-time homebuyer workshops - we offer a full day (9 am to 5 pm) of training to prepare clients for that big purchase. Our counselors cover budget and credit topics, while invited experts discuss mortgage qualification, working with a realtor, buying home insurance, and ordering a home inspection. Attendees receive a certificate at the end, which can help qualify them for down-payment assistance funds.
Individual counseling - clients can meet with a counselor to discuss how to fit a house payment into the budget, how to review and repair credit items that the mortgage lender has flagged, and how to make changes to the family financial lifestyle to deal with ongoing mortgage payments, maintenance and repair costs, and home improvements.
Mortgage Default
Because of the economy, many clients today are struggling to keep up their mortgage payments. While the information is available for clients to fill out all required information and work with their lender to achieve a workout plan, we can offer some ways to speed that process and raise the probability level that the lender will agree to an affordable mortgage payment for the client. Click on one of the following links to answer your question:
Need to apply for a loan modification to lower your mortgage payment?
Need mortgage assistance while unemployed?
Have you been referred to us by the NC Commissioner of Banks?
Need a workshop to help you obtain a mortgage workout with your lender?
Reverse Mortgages
A reverse mortgage offers a way for senior citizens (aged 62 or higher) to tap into their home equity and receive a loan that does not have to be paid back during their lifetime.
Key counseling facts for our clients:
National HUD certification - our reverse mortgage counselors are certified by HUD to complete the required counseling and to issue certificates.
NCHFA state certification - our reverse mortgage counselors are also certified at the state level by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.
Free counseling - while HUD permits agencies to charge up to $125 for the counseling service, our policy at Triangle Family Services is to offer reverse mortgage counseling for free.
Face-to-face sessions - our state certification requires that we perform all counseling face-to-face (telephone counseling is not allowed). We conduct all our counseling at our Blue Ridge offices, but we can refer to other agencies for those who are disabled or with health issues and require a home visit.
HUD requirements - effective September 11, 2010, HUD has made changes to the required counseling protocol: all clients must receive information about reverse mortgages from our agency before they come for an appointment; at the counseling session, clients must demonstrate a minimum level of comprehension to show that they understand the basic facts about reverse mortgages; in addition, all clients must complete a budget evaluation form for review and suggestions by the counselor.
For additional information about reverse mortgages, follow these links:
HUD website - explains some of the features of reverse mortgages in a question and answer format and includes other links to additional educational material and online calculators. Additional facts and details in bullet form can be found at this HUD link.
AARP website - the AARP has always been a source of good information about issues and products that affect senior citizens. Reverse mortgages certainly fall into that category, with the AARP presenting information in a news headline format.
NRMLA website - The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association sponsors a site that includes a significant amount of information about reverse mortgages, written by the lender side of the industry.
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