HUD Makes $40 Million Available for Housing Counseling Grants

Investor Update
February 19, 2016

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced it is making $40 million in grants available to support hundreds of housing counseling organizations across the country that assist families, including those buying their first home, struggling to locate affordable rental housing or seeking to avoid foreclosure.  It is estimated HUD’s housing counseling grants, and the additional funding they leverage, will reach more than 1.5 million households through a network of approximately 300 national, regional and local organizations. See HUD’s new funding announcement.

“We know that housing counseling can make all the difference in purchasing and, most importantly, keeping a home,” HUD Secretary Julián Castro.  “The grants we offer today will help ensure families and individuals make more informed housing decisions, whether it means buying their first home, avoiding foreclosure, or finding affordable rental housing.”

HUD is offering $40 million to directly support the housing counseling services provided by national and regional organizations, multi-state organizations, State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs) and more than 200 local housing counseling agencies that assist low- and moderate-income families improve their housing conditions. Grant winners use the money to help homebuyers evaluate if they are ready to buy a house, understand their financing and down payment options, and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process.  Grantees also help families find affordable rental housing and offer financial literacy training to help struggling families repair credit problems.

The comprehensive housing counseling housing grants funding announced today will be competed through the Department’s two-year (FY2016 – FY2017) Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published February 18, 2016.  The application deadline is April 4, 2016.

In addition, HUD is also making $2 million available in FY2016-2017 Housing Counseling Training Grant Program funds to support basic and specialized housing counseling training for housing counseling agencies. The application deadline is April 4, 2016. Read the housing counseling training fund announcement here.

The national and regional agencies distribute much of the housing counseling grant funding to the community-based organizations. The larger organizations also help guide and improve the quality of housing counseling services and enhance coordination among counseling providers.

In addition to providing counseling to homeowners and renters, the organizations assist homeless persons in finding the transitional housing they need to move toward a permanent place to live. Grantees also assist senior citizens seeking reverse mortgages or (HECM,) providing counseling for the rapidly growing number of elderly homeowners who want to convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for home improvements, medical costs, and other living expenses.

Housing counseling agencies also support fair housing by assisting borrowers in reviewing their loan documentation to avoid potential mortgage scams, unreasonably high interest rates, inflated appraisals, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and even foreclosure.  Likewise, foreclosure prevention counseling helps homeowners facing delinquency or default employ strategies, including expense reduction, negotiation with lenders and loan servicers, and loss mitigation, to avoid foreclosure.

Recent research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Urban Institute continues to find substantial benefits to housing counseling for families who purchase their first homes and those struggling to prevent foreclosure.  Read more about research evidence on the role housing counseling can play in reducing mortgage delinquency and foreclosure and helping first-time buyers access and sustain homeownership.

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.   Get the free housing counseling i-phone app from the app store (not yet available for android).  Watch HUD’s video on how housing counseling can help families find and keep housing.

Source: HUD

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CEO

Alan Jaffa

Alan Jaffa is the Chief Executive Officer for Safeguard Properties, steering the company as the mortgage field services industry leader. He also serves on the board of advisors for SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.

Alan joined Safeguard in 1995, learning the business from the ground up. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2002, and was named CEO in May 2010. His hands-on experience has given him unique insights as a leader to innovate, improve and strengthen Safeguard’s processes to assure that the company adheres to the highest standards of quality and customer service.

Under Alan’s leadership, Safeguard has grown significantly with strategies that have included new and expanded services, technology investments that deliver higher quality and greater efficiency to clients, and strategic acquisitions. He takes a team approach to process improvement, involving staff at all levels of the organization to address issues, brainstorm solutions, and identify new and better ways to serve clients.

In 2008, Alan was recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business in its annual “40-Under-40” profile of young leaders. He also was named a NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award finalist in 2013.

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Esq., General Counsel and EVP

Linda Erkkila

Linda Erkkila is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Safeguard Properties, with oversight of legal, human resources, training, and compliance. Linda’s broad scope of oversight covers regulatory issues that impact Safeguard’s operations, risk mitigation, strategic planning, human resources and training initiatives, compliance, insurance, litigation and claims management, and counsel related to mergers, acquisition and joint ventures.

Linda assures that Safeguard’s strategic initiatives align with its resources, leverage opportunities across the company, and contemplate compliance mandates. She has practiced law for 25 years and her experience, both as outside and in-house counsel, covers a wide range of corporate matters, including regulatory disclosure, corporate governance compliance, risk assessment, compensation and benefits, litigation management, and mergers and acquisitions.

Linda earned her JD at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She holds a degree in economics from Miami University and an MBA. Linda was previously named as both a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire and as a “Leading Lady” by MReport.

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COO

Michael Greenbaum

Michael Greenbaum is the Chief Operating Officer of Safeguard Properties, where he has played a pivotal role since joining the company in July 2010. Initially brought on as Vice President of REO, Mike’s exceptional leadership and strategic vision quickly propelled him to Vice President of Operations in 2013, and ultimately to COO in 2015. Over his 14-year tenure at Safeguard, Mike has been instrumental in driving change and fostering innovation within the Property Preservation sector, consistently delivering excellence and becoming a trusted partner to clients and investors.

A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mike earned a degree in Quantitative Economics. Following his graduation, he served in the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Branch, where he specialized in supply chain management. Before his tenure at Safeguard, Mike honed his expertise by managing global supply chains for 13 years, leveraging his military and civilian experience to lead with precision and efficacy.

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CFO

Joe Iafigliola

Joe Iafigliola is the Chief Financial Officer for Safeguard Properties. Joe is responsible for the Control, Quality Assurance, Business Development, Marketing, Accounting, and Information Security departments. At the core of his responsibilities is the drive to ensure that Safeguard’s focus remains rooted in Customer Service = Resolution. Through his executive leadership role, he actively supports SGPNOW.com, an on-demand service geared towards real estate and property management professionals as well as individual home owners in need of inspection and property preservation services. Joe is also an integral force behind Compliance Connections, a branch of Safeguard Properties that allows code enforcement professionals to report violations at properties that can then be addressed by the Safeguard vendor network. Compliance Connections also researches and shares vacant property ordinance information with Safeguard clients.

Joe has an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University’s Honors Accounting program.

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Business Development

Carrie Tackett

Business Development Safeguard Properties