NRMLA Meets With HUD on Counseling Issues

On April 13, NRMLA President Peter Bell and Associate Director Darryl Hicks met with representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, AARP, National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), Money Management International (MMI) and National Council on Aging (NCOA) to review the status and performance of the HECM counselor network.

It has been six months since the publication of Mortgagee Letter 2005-44, which expanded the HECM Telephone Counseling Network to include counselors from NFCC and MMI. The various intermediaries reported on the number of counseling sessions completed since then and discussed other performance data. AARP said it has trained 396 counselors since last fall. Of that total, 247 individuals, or 56 percent, have passed AARP's exam, allowing those counselors to provide telephone counseling on a nationwide basis. To pass, a counselor must get 80 out of 100 questions correct.

On the issue of counselor funding, the Department is considering a long-term solution that would have FHA pay for counseling sessions out of its own operating budget as an FHA administrative expense. This solution would require Congressional approval in an appropriations bill for next year (FY 2008). In the interim, HUD is considering issuing a mortgagee letter that would permit a borrower-paid counseling fee to be disbursed out of loan proceeds.