- DSNews - https://dsnews.com -

HUD Seeks to Expand Housing Counseling to Tribal Areas

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Housing Counseling has published a proposed rule [1] in the Federal Register outlining housing counselor certification requirements for housing counseling conducted in connection with the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) [2] and the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) [3] programs. When final, HUD expects that the rule will help expand the number of certified housing counselors serving Tribal communities.

HUD intends to conduct additional Tribal consultation before issuing a final rule in the future.

“This proposed rule is important to strengthening the participation of Tribes and Tribal organizations in HUD’s housing counseling program,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon [4]. “Having counselors who understand the unique needs of those residing in Tribal communities will help increase access to homeownership for Tribes whose members have long been underserved by the mortgage market.”

The Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 [5] required that all housing counseling conducted under HUD programs be carried out by HUD-certified housing counselors. HUD delayed the applicability of this certification requirement to HUD’s Native American Housing Programs so that it could conduct consultation with Tribal leaders. This consultation was to ensure that the unique needs and conditions of Tribal Nations were considered in HUD’s execution of its certification responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank statute.

The proposed rule [1] was developed following multiple Tribal consultation and listening sessions where Tribes provided input and feedback on HUD’s existing housing counselor certification requirements and the ways in which they should be tailored to meet Tribal needs.

“It is thanks to the outstanding partnership with HUD’s Office of Native American Programs and the strong engagement by Tribal representatives during the consultation sessions that we have arrived at a set of proposals to more fully integrate the unique needs of Tribal entities into our housing counseling certification and approval processes,” said HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling David Berenbaum [6].

Through the proposed rule, HUD will:

Public comments on the proposed rule are open through March 27, 2023, via the submission methods outlined in the Federal Register [7].