Pre-purchase one-on-one counseling offers personalized advice and suggestions to potential home buyers to overcome barriers to homeownership. As part of your counseling session, your counselor will explain the full costs of homeownership and help you create a budget that balances your new obligations by creating a realistic written action plan. Your counselor will also highlight available resources that may be useful in meeting your financial needs regarding credit and debt.
Housing Options & Planning Enterprises, Inc. Services
Overview
H.O.P.E. Inc. believes that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Homeownership is the primary means for working families to build assets, and H.O.P.E. offers a wide range of services designed to increase financial literacy and expand access to sustainable homeownership. H.O.P.E.’s education and counseling programs are designed to foster self-sufficiency and help people find and keep the housing that meets their needs.
Housing Counseling Services
Our Housing Counseling Program delivers a wide variety of counseling services to homebuyers, homeowners, and low- to moderate-income renters to expand housing opportunities and improve financial wellbeing. Services provided include counseling on foreclosure intervention, homebuyer education, and financial capabilities.
One-on-One Counseling
H.O.P.E. provides one-on-one personalized counseling to help people who have fallen behind on their mortgages and assist them in taking the steps they need to save their home from foreclosure. Our goal is to maximize home retention for borrowers that are in default on their mortgage and to reduce foreclosures. Crisis intervention had been a major component of our programs, but the demands of the community and economy has shifted.
H.O.P.E.’s financial capability program is designed to help consumers adopt or improve upon good financial behaviors, such as saving consistently and making good use of financial products. The program teaches skills for saving, reducing debt, budgeting, and maintaining or rebuilding good credit.
In short, H.O.P.E. assist households better manage their finances and attain financial stability.
Pre-Purchase Homebuying Counseling
Financial Capabilities Counseling – Financial Coaching Packet (click here)
Foreclosure Prevention Counseling – Home Retention Intake Package (click here)
Education Programs
H.O.P.E. provides group education services about topics including the homebuying process, ongoing home maintenance and upkeep, and financial management. Programs also cover predatory lending and credit problems. The demand for first-time homebuyer education has significantly increased, and we support consumers who understand that knowledge is empowering and the foundation of successful, sustainable homeownership.
All counseling and education services can be offered in-person (one-on-one or in classes) or via telephone, web-based platforms, and video conferencing.
Pre-Purchase Homebuying Group Education
Post-Purchase Homebuying Group Education
Financial Literacy Group Education
Development Of Affordable Housing And Management Of Supportive Housing
H.O.P.E. currently operates residential developments for special populations using funding provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Section 202 and 811 housing. These three residential developments (Charles, Mudd, and Werner) house the elderly and disabled.
H.O.P.E.’s Development Division revitalizes communities through façade improvement projects and by acquiring and rehabilitating vacant and foreclosed single-family homes through its resale, rent, or rent-to-own programs. The overall goal of the program is to make affordable housing available through sale and/or rental opportunities to eligible individuals and families.
Community Development Financial Institution (Cdfi) Financing Tools
As a Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), H.O.P.E. can respond to affordable housing needs in Prince George’s County with financing tools. H.O.P.E. can 1) deliver capital (debt and equity) that lowers the cost of housing, 2) provide and preserve available inventory of affordable housing, and 3) ensure that persons of modest and fixed means have access to decent, affordably priced dwellings to call home.
Pre-purchase home buying education provides general information about the home buying process and the benefits of purchasing a home to a group of potential homebuyers in a classroom or virtual setting. This includes but is not limited to information on credit requirements, down-payment assistance programs, closing costs, title companies, home inspections and various financing options.
Post-purchase Education provides information on how to sustain homeownership through upkeep of your home like home maintenance and financial management. Other topics include:
- Avoiding predatory lending and other attractive traps of available credit as a homeowner.
- Understanding common credit problems that could lead to delinquency and foreclosure.
- Creating a realistic budget to lay a solid financial foundation.
- Understanding property taxes and insurance; and
- Protecting and maintaining your home.
Financial Literacy counseling helps people become self-sufficient and achieve financial stability. This includes being able to save money, distinguish the difference between wants and needs, manage a budget, pay bills, buy a home, pay for college, and plan for retirement. Financial Literacy explores the three most important parts of client’s financial wellbeing by:
- creating proper budgeting techniques.
- discussing the importance of saving and the various savings vehicles available
- evaluate current credit and debt as well as how to use it properly
Counselor and client together will develop a realistic action plan regarding client debt.
Financial Capabilities Counseling helps clients to acquire financial knowledge, understanding, skills, motivation, and confidence to make financial decisions which are appropriate to one’s personal circumstances. Counseling deals with the following:
- making ends meet
- keeping track of your finances
- planning ahead
- choosing financial products, and
- staying informed about financial matters.
Per the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), foreclosure prevention counseling provides guidance and solutions to homeowners experiencing difficulty paying their mortgage payments. Foreclosure prevention counseling is essential to a homeowner facing foreclosure as it helps them navigate through the foreclosure process and provides information on the options available for their particular circumstances. This type of counseling typically addresses the consequences of default and foreclosure, budgeting, and credit counseling, obtaining recertification for mortgage subsidy, and establishing reinstatement plans. It may also include helping clients affected by predatory lending, providing referrals to other sources; and assisting clients with locating alternative housing.
Rental counseling offers clients advice on analyzing a client’s affordability to rent as well as responsibilities of being a good tenant. Counseling also addresses tenant’s delinquency, assisting a client to create an action plan to address delinquency and avoidance of eviction. Client will learn about fair housing laws, basic eviction process, timelines, and documents associated with the process for eviction. Also, landlord intervention and referrals to alternative housing once eviction is finalized.
Predatory Lending Counseling focuses on assisting potential home buyers and existing homeowners how to detect, report, and protect against these mortgage scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it probable is….
Don’t
- Don’t send mortgage payments to any company that is not your loan servicer.
- Don’t sign any documents without having them reviewed by a lawyer or independent expert.
- Don’t stop making mortgage payments.
- Don’t forget that real help from the government is always free.
- Don’t give anyone your personal information, Social Security number, or bank information. Only share if you’ve confirmed their identity and that they represent a legitimate company.
- Don’t fall for rent-to-buy schemes or other mortgage fraud schemes.
CONNECT WITH US
If you have a need for housing and credit counseling, please let us hear from you. You may call us at 301-567-3330 or you may contact us by email at hope@hopefinancial.org
Housing Options & Planning Enterprises, Inc.(H.O.P.E.)
6188 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 700
Oxon Hill, MD 20745
301-567-3330 (Office)
301-710-0607 (Fax)