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WASHINGTON – June is National Homeownership Month, a time to recognize the importance of homeownership to the U.S. economy and the benefits owning a home have on building household wealth for families. To support stable and sustainable homeownership, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it is making $43 million in grants available to support hundreds of housing counseling organizations across the country.

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies will use these grant funds to support a broad array of counseling services to help individuals and families find and keep their homes, including: those seeking to buy their first home; searching for affordable rental housing; or households trying to avoid foreclosure or eviction. Read HUD’s new funding announcement.

“HUD-approved housing counselors can make all the difference in helping families find and keep stable housing,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “Research demonstrates that housing counseling helps people make informed housing choices and can be the best preventative medicine to avoid housing problems down the road.”

HUD estimates that every federal dollar invested in housing counseling stimulates six dollars from other state and local sources. Working through a network of more than 1,700 approved counseling agencies, it is expected that more than one million households will receive the counseling services they need.  Read more about the services offered through HUD’s Housing Counseling Grant Programs.

In addition to the grant funding announced today, HUD will also make an additional $2.5 million dollars available through its Housing Counseling Training Grant Program to support basic and specialized housing counseling training for housing counseling agencies.

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies help 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 tools to help families improve their use of credit, reduce debt, and increase savings.

There are many ways to find a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Visit HUD’s website or call (800) 569-4287 for our interactive telephone directory.